FRANCE
There is, I think, something that sets France apart from many other parts of the world. I know of no other country that is so fascinating yet so frustrating, so aware of the world and its place within it but at the same time utterly insular. A nation touched by nostalgia, with a past so great—so marked by brilliance and achievement—that French people today seem both enriched and burdened by it. France is like a maddening, moody lover who inspires emotional highs and lows. One minute it fills you with a rush of passion, the next you’re full of fury itching to smack the mouth of some sneering shopkeeper or smug civil servant. Yes, it’s a love-hate relationship. But it’s charged with so much mystery, longing and that French specialty—séduction—that we can’t resist coming back for more.
—SARAH TURNBULL,
Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris
