life in France these days

Rodger Simon (mystery and screenplay writer) recently returned from a few weeks in Paris and is blogging about his experiences... bq. I have visited Paris frequently in my life�between 1990-1992 alone at least a half a dozen times, ranging in length from a few days to a few weeks�but it had been ten years before this visit and the City of Lights seemed different�. Perhaps it was the odd lack of Christmas ornamentation in the streets (compared to New York and London) or the empty tables at the temples of gastronomy (I didn�t go anyway). Or that I listened to too many stories of decline from people like longtime (twenty-five year) resident American writer Nidra Poller�. and more: bq. Strange as this sounds, it reminded me in a way of some of my visits to the Soviet Union in the late eighties. The range of opinion in the press is about as extensive as the difference used to be between Pravda and Izvestia. Of course, that�s an exaggeration, but I had the sense more than ever of a society ruled by a nomenklatura (who more Politburo-like than Chirac and de Villepin) with, in this case, a populace of semi-employed drudges whiling away hours smoking, drinking watery espresso and debating Derrida in grimy cafes. and more: bq. The French Jewish culture, which gave our world, among so many others, Modigliani, Soutine, Chagall, Proust, Bergson and Serge Gainsbourg may soon be gone. Sad in a sense - they are facing a long decline...