Society

Florence Aubenas brings passion to prison reform

It was one of those rare, friendly, informal meetings with a top French journalist: Florence Aubenas, the prize-winning war correspondent and former hostage in Iraq, whose best-selling book Quai de Ouistreham, recounts her six months living as a lower-class cleaning lady, notably on an English ferry boat. A dozen members spent two hours with her at Member John Morris' Marais apartment March 15,…


Members discuss wine crisis, worst in 35 years

As Joe Ray wrote recently about a subject dear to many of our hearts, they say it's the worst wine crisis in France in 35 years. In Bordeaux, they say that it's the worst in 150 years. The problem? The numbers are down. Wine consumption within the country is beginning to lose out to beer and responsibility behind the wheel, while beyond French borders the rest of the world's winemakers are…