French culture and life in France - Champs-Elysees Blog

Thank you Michael

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:06:25 -0600

Michael Schofield I have never watched the American series "Prison Break", being more of a "Lost" man myself. However I do know that the lead character of PB goes by the name of Michael Schofield,...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

bruni and sarko

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:23:41 -0600

It's all over the papers in France this morning, and it'll be all over the papers around the world tomorrow, so let me get my oar in quick. Sarkozy's new bint is the flute-voiced, feline ex-model...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

Porn Hell is X-rated

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 08:52:09 -0600

The BNF's new show is x-rated A fulfilling morning at the Bibliotheque Nationale reading porn and (unusually) not feeling guilty. Here you can while away the hours looking at pictures of tumescent...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

More on the bike saga

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:38:40 -0600

Bikes are not always welcome in Paris Following up on my last rant, here is the latest in the saga about how in the supposedly "green" 14th arrondissement things conspire against us bikers. You...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

I don't like Novembers, and why Parisians sometimes do suck

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:19:15 -0600

I really do want to shoot the whole month down. November is hell in Paris. Every year it is the same. The mood changes, and all the petty-minded, semi-fascistic, ungenerous instincts of this...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

Sex and War

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:19:11 -0500

Sex and war at the army museum The Invalides military complex is a pretty fusty place. The armies museum, which occupies much of it, contains the usual assortment of captured Ottoman helmets,...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

Enormous!

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 06:07:55 -0500

Chabal Dashing off a quick blog so that I can get off my chest the incredible, mind-blowing, delirious and generally large-scale sense of joy at watching France beat New Zealand at rugby. It was...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

The DNA row - racism or good sense?

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:33:26 -0500

Not for the first time in France, I find my moral compass spinning out of control as a result of a bitter row over immigration. It all starts with a recent proposal from the ruling centre-right to...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

SAS Malko Linge

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:40:24 -0500

A classic cover A certain book to be published this week in France can expect to sell between 100,000 and 200,000 copies -- but, oddly, don't expect to read any reviews. "Hostage of the Taleban"...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

Rugby the world cup and the jeu-à-13

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 08:42:25 -0500

Le jeu-à-13 I bow to no man in my love of the game of rugby, and this month's World Cup is proving a wonderful antidote to the blues of "la rentrée". But the opportunity is too good to miss, so I...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

Paris does it again

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:38:31 -0500

Velib A brief paean of praise for the wonderful new bike scheme in Paris. The capital has a record of innovative ideas that make life better and more interesting, and this is definitely one of...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

What's wrong with the arts in France

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:36:02 -0500

A recent personal experience helps explain what I perceive to be a major problem in modern French society: a lack of creativity, a fear of taking risks, a reluctance to innovate. At my eight...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

Is there something wrong with me?

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:00:55 -0500

Les Enfants du P. Funny how tastes change, or maybe it's just that I am a freak. I saw Les Enfants du Paradis last night in a bid to educate myself about French film. In the latest edition of...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

Who was the real Guy Moquet?

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:43:35 -0500

Guy Moquet A fascinating article this week in Le Monde about Guy Moquet. He was a 17 year-old executed by the Germans in October 1941 along with many others as a reprisal for the killing of a...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.

More on that woman

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:29:55 -0500

Sego Regulars to this blog (if there are any) will know that I am not a fan of Segolene Royal. Latest events have only confirmed my prejudice. You may recall that on the evening of the...

Champs-Elysees Blog - daily reflections on French culture and life in France, from writer and journalist Hugh Schofield. Visit the website to discover more.