France
Bon Appétit: The Two Words Americans Never Say
In France, everyone says it before eating. In America, nobody says anything. Dana investigates the quietest culture clash at the table.
Read →Two Speeches, One Podium: Macron and Trump's UN Split Screen
Hours apart at the UN, Trump claimed victory in Gaza and Macron called it a spectacle. Julien on what each man needed the week to mean.
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The American Paddle in the French Gym
Pickleball crossed the Atlantic in a tennis bag and landed in the French salle polyvalente: the French Tennis Federation took charge of the sport in January, licensees number in the thousands, and village tennis clubs from Châtillon to Aucamville are converting courts. France is learning the dink — reluctantly, then all at once.
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The Boulangerie and the Drive-Thru
In France, the morning bread run is a pilgrimage performed on foot, sometimes twice a day; in America, the morning food run happens at speed with the engine idling. Both are about the first meal of the day — they just disagree about whether it should require leaving the car.
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The Diesel Mène
Washington threatened to shut off diesel exports unless Europe opened its emergency reserves; on October 2, after a call with Trump and a G7 videoconference chaired by Macron, the allies agreed to release 100 million barrels. A mène played with fuel instead of boules — and the shooter holding the biggest threat.
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A Boycott in Orbit
Four American space companies pulled out of Emmanuel Macron's Paris space summit under pressure from Washington — and France answered by drawing its own circle in the sky.
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The Pique-Nique
The French pique-nique is an all-afternoon riverside ceremony built from a baguette, some saucisson, and a good knife; the American picnic is a potluck with a sign-up sheet and a canopy. Both end up on the grass — they just disagree about nearly everything else.
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The Abyss Is Not for Sale
Washington has ordered a fast track for deep-sea mining in international waters. Paris calls it a violation of international law — and France's ambassador for the oceans has an answer: the abyss is not for sale.
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The Sunday Market
France treats the Sunday market as a secular liturgy of pleasure; America treats the farmers market as a virtuous community project. Both leave with heavy bags — they just disagree about what the point was.
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Terroir
The great untranslatable French word: soil, climate, and know-how — and why it has no English equivalent.
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The Café and the Commute
France treats coffee as a place to sit. America treats it as fuel for the road. Both are right — and both are missing something.
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The Hundred-Percent Tir
Washington is threatening 100% tariffs on French wine and champagne to force Paris to drop its tax on American tech giants — the biggest tir in a trade mène that has been running since 2019.
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