France Remembers

History

We don’t do a very good job in the United States of remembering, especially wartime events. It’s a different story in France which was devastated by both world wars.There are memorials everywhere. Most small towns have a monument in their center square...

Henri, le chat noir

Cats and Dogs

Don’t we all miss the existentialist cat, Henri le chat noir? If you haven’t seen him before, catch him on his YouTube channel (11 videos). He passed away in 2020, but lives on in the hearts of cat lovers around the world. As one commenter noted,...

Gougère

Food, Drink, Pastry

Une gougère, made with chou pastry and gruyère cheese, is a Burgundy specialty. It’s different from the little puff pastry appetizers you find in the US. Those are often small, pinball-sized thingies that are perfect as hors d’œuvres. But the Bourguignonne...

Holidays – Les Etrennes – New Year’s

Holidays

In the US, we often give small monetary gifts at Christmas time to certain people who supply services, such as hairdressers or housecleaners. In France, this is done at New Year’s and the gifts are called ‘les etrennes’. Some of the recipients  are...