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The War
I have taken a break from writing about France, partly from fatigue and partly from the fear that what I am sharing has become too personal. But I am increasingly overwhelmed by the power of what I am seeing, …
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Returning to Paris–the marche d’Aligre
I was heading back to Paris, by high speed train from Amsterdam remembering my first visit many years ago. Paris was not on my first trip to Europe. Mom took us to Rome in about 1967 and maybe …
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A side trip to Amsterdam
I’ve taken a side trip to visit some younger friends in Amsterdam. I know them from the year they spent in New York—Brune, the daughter of friends in Paris, and her boyfriend Frederic, working respectively in solar-panel marketing and …
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Returning to France–the Vink sisters
It is impossible to convey my love for France without writing about the Vink sisters. Both are now married, with husbands, children and grandchildren, but of course that was not how they were when I met them. Therese …
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Looking at France’s cities: Marseille
Marseille, July 29, 2018 Despite its mixed reputation, I was hoping to like Marseille. I took a hotel room in an attractive, not-too-expensive place recommended by a friend of young friends, in a residential area not too far …
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Looking at France’s cities: Montpellier
Montpellier, July 25, 2018 After Bordeaux, I took intercity rail service to Montpellier. The train line passes through Toulouse and continues to Marseilles, but I stopped in Montpellier to see one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in France. …
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Looking at France’s cities: Bordeaux
Montpellier, July 22, 2018 From Arcachon, I took the train into Bordeaux. After the importance and elegance of Paris, and the evident, nearly uniform affluence of Arcachon and Pyla, I was initially taken aback. Of course, Bordeaux is much …
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Returning to France and why it matters
Bordeaux, July 21, 2018 My trip began sixty years ago, in a very different generation and place, when my mother found me a French tutor in Los Gatos, the northern California town where I grew up. (I don’t know …
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Money laundering and compliance in Europe
For those of you who do business in Europe, I post the attached article on money laundering and compliance issues as recently addressed by the French government. The author, Alexandre Marion, is a compliance attorney in Paris, a friend and …
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Protected: Re-entering New York
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