
Visiting Leila Menchari’s garden in Tunisia
An Hermès exhibit to honor Leila Menchari and my journey to her beloved garden in Tunisia

Young man with pitchfork, Studio Maignet, Paris, date unknown
I collect old portrait cards all over the world but it was the semiotics of this one that intrigued me

When I stumbled into John Galliano’s greatest show
On John Galliano’s return, a memory of seeing one of his greatest moments

Portrait of a boy, Paris, early-20th C
A magnificent portrait found in Paris leads to two legendary photographers

In Paris, this photo is illegal
Street photography is against the law in the place in which it was born

In Paris, the Olympics are all about judo
Jingoism is bad enough but someone else’s jingoism is truly excruciating

Vietnam Chante revolutionary songs, Paris, France, c1967
Employing everything from martial chants to opera in support of revolution in Vietnam

Good coffee arrives in Paris at last
Parisians will one day have the heated partisan debates about coffee they now have about macarons

There’s a soixante-huitard feel to these Occupy protests
Will Zuccotti Park be the Blvd Saint-Michel of our era? These posters suggest a similar spirit

Where tourists and locals go in Cairo
Genius mash-up map uses Flickr photos to reveal insiders’ favorite areas in cities around the world
Reading about Sarkozy and French nativists
French cultural insecurity eviscerates the universalism of the Rights of Man

New Year’s surprise: Paris, France, c2006
A gift from Paris that came each New Year’s setting the tenor of the year ahead

Guerlain container: Paris, late-19th century
A 19th C container by Guerlain, the French perfume house, ends up on the Bowery in New York