This - from my bilingual Franco-American colleague - is fascinating about how the brain navigates two languages. I do remain, however, extremely jealous of anyone who doesn't have to try and wrestle with the fucking subjunctive as an adult

Confession for the day - I actually quite enjoy crafting ultra polite replies to people who are needlessly rude on work emails. The skill is in finding the balance of extreme politeness but without tipping over into sarcasm

Happy Friday 13th! A day regarded as especially lucky in France 🐈‍⬛️🪜🧙‍♀️

The "luxury marriage proposal business" is, imho, the exact opposite of romance . . . (Never go into central Paris in mid February, you're constantly tripping over people proposing in front of some landmark)

🇫🇷 legal watchers say this appeal has virtually no chance (due to weight of evidence). So Le Pen will likely stay banned and far-right candidate in 2027 will be Jordan Bardella - a man universally described as 'young and handsome' in Anglo media, but who always reminds me of a malfunctioning cyborg

Train life . . .

Milan-Cortina 26, you are awesome 🥇

Books, podcasts, music, daydreaming, snacking, napping and beautiful views - taking the train makes the journey part of the holiday 🚆

Sudden spike in readers on this article from 2024. Wonder why 🤔

Well this could be interesting . . . The US government has already barred entry to the ex EU commissioner Thierry Breton who was instrumental in creating the Digital Services Act to regulate tech companies. Wonder what their reaction will be to Paris police and prosecutors doing their job?

We give the people what they want 😂

I always thought that those people who insist on trying to take souvenir WWI shells on the Eurostar and end up closing down Gare du Nord win the prize for the dumbest use of historic munitions. I was wrong . . .

It's unfashionable to stan politicians, but I do think that Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and her predecessor Bertrand Delanoë deserve enormous credit for how they transformed the city (Yes, I am aware that it isn't perfect and cyclists are sometimes annoying, quand même)

Once again, extraordinary things happening on the social media of the German foreign ministry www.instagram.com/reel/DUGW47K...

An important story by @katyinparis.bsky.social aris.bsky.social about a death at the hands of the French police that has too easily been ignored. "You’re strangling me," El Hacen Diarra told police, in the latest echo of Eric Garner's "I can't breathe". millefeuilleparis.substack.com/p/a-man-just...

😂💁‍♀️ (Also 🇫🇷 residents, check out the note perfect small print at the bottom)

One interesting aspect of this 👀-catching scheme, it's funded by the local authority winning a €1.3 million court battle against Airbnb

Learned what sounded like the most amazing 🇫🇷 fact - that Je t'aime . . . Moi Non Plus didn't get airplay in the US so did poorly in the charts. Peaking at . . . number 69! Unfortunately, I checked and it's not true, it got to number 58. Sometimes I hate myself for ruining good anecdotes like this

New podcast episode! 🇫🇷 The French train controversy, and how family-friendly is France? 🇫🇷 What to expect from this spring's local elections and what (if anything) they can tell us about 2027 🇫🇷 Plus crêpes, crazy French festivals and the French football team that sings about a sausage . . .

Sad for France prop Uini Atonio who has been forced into medical retirement at the age of 35. In better news for him, he has a brewery that produces some extremely palatable beers (tag - A blonde with a beard)

For anyone interested, the protest is this evening

Want to avoid American tech for music streaming, conference calls, cloud storage, document signing etc? It is possible!

My fellow Brits, we have made it into the Top 5 . . . (This is very exciting, UK is never top of the class at anything!)

That feeling when you suddenly spot yourself in some official data - that huge blue spike in 2020-2022 is all the Brits in France getting their post-Brexit residency cards

We are opening an investigation into Grok because we believe that X may have breached the DSA. We have seen antisemitic content, non-consensual deepfakes of women, and child sexual abuse material. In Europe, no company will make money by violating our fundamental rights. link.europa.eu/Fh8h84

Funnily enough we were just saying over beers on Friday that the left needs to hurry up and select a candidate . . . ('United' in the context of the 🇫🇷 left being, obviously, an extremely relative term)

Hello from 'Stalinist' Paris, which has embraced the 15-minute city concept since 2020 (You do sometimes have to queue at the boulangerie, so in that sense it's exactly the same as the USSR)

Got an email this week from an American asking if he should cancel his trip to France, worried about hostility. Fortunately it seems the French are easily able to distinguish between individual Americans and the actions of Donald Trump, and Americans still feel welcome here (as they should)

This (on a few trains only) has sparked quite the controversy, although SNCF says it gets 'numerous requests' to ban kids from all first class carriages

Good for Thibaud . . The France international won't be available for the opening match of the Six Nations because he and his wife are having IVF and, as he explains, 'the timing is based on the menstrual cycle, so we cannot control it'

New podcast! 🇫🇷 Budget latest 🇫🇷 The problems of hazing in French universities 🇫🇷 And how rising international tensions are affecting the lives of Americans in France

This week in my newsletter: I figured out how the Paris electoral system works so you don't have to (Actually, if you've got a vote in these elections you unfortunately still have to, but I hope this newsletter makes that process a bit less painful) millefeuilleparis.substack.com/p/the-paris-...

This is, genuinely, why I ❤️ France so much - a serious country that can also be deeply, deeply silly and where people commit very seriously to the silliness

So today I learned that France has an annual 'world championship seagull impression' contest 🤯 The videos are *incredible* www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Rn...

"I wish only ze best for ze other band members of DiscoPop Alors but I am, how you say, embarking on un career solo."

For anyone wondering why Macron is wearing sunglasses indoors at Davos, it's apparently because he has a 'mild eye condition'

OPINION: This is a 1938 moment for Europe, but the war will be a trade war

What is Article 49.3 and how does it impact French politics?

This should be on the French citizenship exam - if you can explain the linguistic and political context, you get to be 🇫🇷

🇫🇷 Ministries - ignore queries, take months to respond but eventually will answer your question 🇬🇧 Ministries - reply within 24 hours with a one-line statement vaguely related to the topic, but not actually answering your question. Refuse all requests for clarity by simply repeating the same line

Key points - The UK govt is threatening everything from 'travel delays' to denied boarding to British dual nationals who do not have a current UK passport - The law does not appear to support what they are saying - Dealing with the Home Office press office makes me want to grate wasabi into my eyes

'God's justice' decided last night's African Cup of Nations final, apparently. Was lively in my neighbourhood, fireworks until 1am 😴

Highly recommend the Berthe Weill expo at the Orangerie, life story of a fantastic forgotten woman and a real 'all star' collection of modernist paintings from 20th Century artists

The days of surprise winter sunshine are, imho, Paris' best days 😎

The growth of Paris from 250 AD to the present day in 3 minutes. 🔎 CITY 3D TIMELAPSE

My parcel is apparently not only waiting for me, but waiting a well-behaved/patient fashion . . . To quote In Bruges 'it's a fucking inanimate object'!

This person clearly does not live in 🇫🇷 - loitering at a café table for hours with a single espresso while reading, day-dreaming, people-watching is a vital part of the culture here (albeit some cafés are imposing rules on laptop use)

Another day, another parliamentary crisis in 🇫🇷 (and it may say something about the current political context that we have pieces already written on both of the emergency constitutional powers - Article 49.3 and Article 47 - that the PM is now resorting to)

So cheering when the mimosa arrives in French florists every January. It's like a little message from spring going 'don't worry, I didn't forget you' 😎

New podcast episode Was Charles De Gaulle right all along to mistrust the USA? Plus - the Le Pen latest, French Alps avalanche risk and how landlords get away with renting out terrible apartments