The French are not Mature enough for a Modern-day First Lady

And certainly not one as intelligent and independant as Carla Bruni, President Sarkozy’s wife and heiress to the fortune created by the Italian tyre manufacturing company CEAT. Before she married Sarkozy in...

French Trains – Classy Comfort, Chic and Smart, Speed and Space.

You have to hand it to them. When the French decide to ally elegance and ergonomics the results are often impressive to say the least. First, here are a couple of figures. The rail network in France is extremely...

Mexico. The Deplorable and Deathly Silence.

Mexico is dying as I write, and as you read, these words. And the International Community is almost nowhere to be seen. What are the United States and Europe doing about it? Why is the rest of South America...

The Streets of Lyon. (Applied and Accidental Art Attacks)

Why pay to get into an art gallery when art is everywhere? On the pavement and electrical substations, on trucks and houses, all over the place. This is a collection of ten photos. They represent what can be seen in...

(Psst, Wanna Brand New Law?) France has Bargains Galore!

France is well-known for its wonderful achievements in many fields of human endeavour, and one of  its most outstanding “successes” must surely be its capacity to churn out enormous quantities of...

Secret Passages. The Hidden City behind Anonymous Doors....

People hide in them, escape into them, enter them to be alone, they make love in them, pee in them, read a book in them, and also, for some...live in them.Houses? Nope. Old trains in a siding? Nah. Abandoned...

The Story of the Old and Lonely Man....

I knew an old man who lived in the same apartment building as me, here in Lyon. He had no money and he had no friends and he had no family,and he had no food.He was polite and discreet.Every night he would go down...

Subway Blues - Growing Older (almost) Gracefully..

I was brought up to be polite. So I do my best to be. I hold doors open for people, I hold elevator doors open, I walk on the outer side of the path to protect women from tyre-splashes, I look you in the eye when I...

The Future of Urban Transport. Less Petrol and Pollution...?

Air pollution in large cities represents a major health risk, and much of it is caused by cars. At the same time, and I don’t think I’m playing Cassandra here, we probably shall run out of usable oil in the...

Racial, Sexual, and other Stereotypes in French school books.

The Halde is an independant French Administrative Authority whose job it is to study and bring to light all forms of discrimination as defined by French law and applicable International law and conventions. Its...

Sad and Afraid, Young and Lonely....And Suicidal

Around 5% of French students try to commit suicide each year, and hundreds of them succeed. I was on a bus a short while ago. A sad looking young woman got on and sat down next to me. After a few moments she asked...

Lyon, France. City of Light. Beautiful Light....

This is what Lyon looks like every year during its annual Light Festival. It's an amazing and unforgettable spectacle, believe me. These nine photos are breathtaking, and you’d have a hard time believing that...

This is a Pile of Rags, Right ? Wrong. It’s a Home.....

Practical. You knew he was at home when it was all piled up like that, because he would be under it. And it was all flat and sad when he went elsewhere. But he has gone, and so has his home. It disappeared a short...

How to help the Environment and Make Money too!

No, this is not a spam article designed to get my grubby little hands on your hard-earned dollars or euros by getting you to buy phony bio products (of which there are more and more, unfortunately), but a quick way...

What is Sexual Attraction?

I don’t have the answer to that I’m afraid, so that’s why I thought I’d ask the question, in the form of two personal experiences.The first one happened when I was still with my last girlfriend. She invited...