France
The Debt Bomb
The Wall Street Journal calls France's finances a 'debt bomb.' French borrowing costs have climbed past Greece's. Both sides of the Atlantic have something to say about it — and neither side is being quiet.
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The Pharmacy
In France, the pharmacy is where you go when you feel sick. In America, it's where you go when you need batteries. Marion Ellis on the green cross and the long aisle.
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The Quiet Discipline
While the triplette gets the crowds, Europe's best shooters stand alone in a circle today in Loutraki for precision-shooting qualifying. Tommy Becker on the loneliest, purest test in pétanque.
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Greece, Thursday
The senior women's European pétanque championships start Thursday in Loutraki. France arrives with a rebuilt team, a new selector, and everything to prove.
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The Bise and the Handshake
In France you kiss people hello. In America you shake their hand and keep your distance. Betsy Callahan on learning the math of the bise.
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What They Want, What He Says
France's student protests now have two competing explanations: an education crisis, say the students and the French left; a warning about immigration and disorder, says Donald Trump and the right on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Service Included
In France the tip is already in the bill — by law. In America the tip is the wages. An expat on the strange relief of never doing math at the table, and the strange guilt of it.
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The 15-Year-Old Who Shot 59
Dawson Herlemann, 15, scored 59 in precision-shooting qualifying at the European juniors in Loutraki, Greece — one of the best scores in the discipline's history. Then he won his quarterfinal and semifinal, and took the silver medal in the final, losing 47-58 to Italy's Nicolo Dagati.
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The Mène France Isn't In
The Pentagon's number two convened five NATO allies in Poland to talk about the alliance's future. France, Britain and the Baltic states weren't invited. Critics call it a toxic precedent; nobody on the outside has said a word.
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Club Night
Every Saturday, in towns all over France, the boulodrome fills up for the concours — the weekly club tournament that is half competition, half neighborhood reunion. In America, the equivalent ritual is the ladder night. Same hunger, different scoreboard.
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The Lunch Hour
In France, lunch is a sit-down meal with a beginning, a middle, and no apology; in America, it is fuel consumed between obligations. Both cultures eat at noon — they simply disagree about whether noon is a pause or a checkpoint.
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The Piggy Bank
France's Europe minister went on television and said the 4.6-billion-euro fine extracted from Google should count as a 'new revenue stream' for the EU budget. The White House called it extortion. The digital-services tax fight has entered a new round.
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