J’ai appris cette semaine que les transports publics de ma ville sont soutenus par la RATP, ce qui m’étonne pas mal.

[Mit einem Glasdach überdachter Vorplatz des Staßburger Bahnhofs, by Dr.-Ing. S.Wetzel, is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0] I don’t remember exactly where we were, but I’m pretty sure it was near the Strasbourg train station. Maybe we were in the station, or maybe we were somewhere nearby. We must have come to Strasbourg from Colmar, where we spent most of our time. It was a shop of some kind: Were we buying breakfast?

Such an interesting book. I’m going to have to get a copy to read one day. link to ‘Maxwell Institute Podcast #157: Latter-day Saints in the French Imagination, with Corry Cropper, Daryl Lee, and Heather Belnap - Neal A. Maxwell Institute’

chenséliser \ʃɑ̃zelize\ (verbe intransitif) : se balader à Paris comme touriste

Among my least typical but most cherished souvenirs of the time I lived in Europe are the legal and quasi-legal documents I picked up along the way. In my campus office, I have a French residency permit, a Swiss driver’s license, lots of public transportation passes…

Hier soir, juste avant de me coucher, quelqu’un a posé une question sur r/French: Pourquoi les non-Francophones choisissent-ils d’apprendre le français ? J’ai vu la question peu après qu’elle a été posée, et j’ai dit la vérité : On m’avait offert le choix entre les cours de français et les cours d’espagnol. Il y avait plus de monde qui voulaient étudier l’espagnol, et j’avais envie de contrarier. J’ai donc choisi le français comme acte de rébellion.

I have never understood the panic about burkinis. It’s one of many examples where French laïcité goes further than appropriate and desirable secularism. link to ‘There’s a legal battle over burkinis in France : NPR’

Today, I heard from a student that I had a couple of semesters ago asking for a letter of recommendation for a master’s program. I only had the student in one class, his attendance was spotty, and I didn’t have a lot of sustained interactions with him, so I am questioning whether I would be the best letter writer for him. However, while I said as much to the student in my reply, I also told him that despite all of that, I would still be willing to write him a letter.

Interesting read on potential stakes of France’s presidential election. link to ‘Marine Le Pen Victory Would Threaten European Alliances’

Faut pas oublier ces liens quand-même. [link to ‘Présidentielle 2022 : le ralliement d’Eric Zemmour gêne la stratégie de camouflage de Marine Le Pen’](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-radio/l-edito-politique/presidentielle-2022-le-ralliement-d-eric-zemmour-gene-la-strategie-de-camouflage-de-marine-le-pen_5052049.html

Keeping an eye on France’s elections in April and then Idaho’s in May, I guess. link to ‘Extremist Republicans like Ammon Bundy face opposition from moderates : NPR’

This is worrying. There’s a long tradition of open far right movements in France, and if the U.S has something to teach them, it should make us think twice about what’s happening here. link to ‘U.S. Antigovernment Groups Are Influencing the French Far Right - The New York Times’

Passing a car through an intersection or keeping up with it in a roundabout is one of the greatest pleasures of commuting by e-bike. link to ‘Anne Hidalgo demande aux cyclistes de ne pas dépasser les automobilistes pour éviter de les humilier’

Spent my morning commute today thinking about how U.S. Christian nationalism and French laïcité (secularism) sometimes end up serving similar functions.

This passage about the anti-Semitic Dreyfus Affair (from a book I’m reading on the French Third Republic) is coming to mind today: Long before the end of the Affaire, as the French called it, the question of the guilt of Dreyfus became almost lost in the melee, giving way to a fundamental conflict over the very moral concepts of French society which cast its shadow over the Third Republic from then on to the end.

Just learned that there’s a French cover of “Raindrops Falling on My Head,” and now I want to know if they use it in the French dub of Spider-Man 2.

I hope the Disney+ Ms. Marvel show will have an episode set in France where Kamala fights a local super who believes her burkini-based costume to be « une atteinte à la laïcité »

Il y a une cathédrale magnifique qui brûle, et le président américain se permet de donner des conseils aux sapeurs-pompiers. Je n’en peux plus.

Highlight of Paris airport this morning is the Scottish “hey Europe, can we still be friends?” ads that I keep seeing.

J’ai déjà atterri à Roissy, j’ai déjà fait le contrôle des passeports et la douane, mais je viens d’entendre le « jingle » de la SNCF, et c’est donc maintenant que je sais vraiment que je suis en France 😍🚉

Thanks to my upcoming presentation at a conference in France and the different ways different countries do Daylight Savings, I have the dubious honor of getting to “spring forward” twice this year.

Je viens d’acheter des billets pour visiter le Québec (pour les vacances) et la France (pour un colloque) au mois de mars. J’ai trop hâte !

Lexington has a sister city in Normandy, so I’m currently applying to our sister cities organization in the hopes it will provide opportunities to keep up my French. 😊🇫🇷

I think my favorite takes on La Marseillaise are the 1812 Overture and that scene from Casablanca.

Currently planning travel to an academic conference in France. Rule of thumb when flying to Paris is always to worry about consequences of disgruntled employees, but this time it’s the American ones I’m worried about.