Hello All!
Happy Holidays!

I'm gearing up for a Christmas visit stateside after sweeping Thanksgiving under the rug, dining on French fare rather than sacred turkey and dressing. Amid the holiday stir, here in Paris we've all been enduring the strike that has paralysed public transportation for the past two weeks. Read about my response to it, then visit this NY Times link http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/business/media/26strike.html to contrast it to the Writers Guild's circus of a strike in California and New York.

Here are the latest articles:

Abusing the Right to Strike
Take to the streets. Raise your signs and voices in a chorus of contempt. The habitually flaunted right to strike falls second only to tennis as the French national pastime. During a grève, those motivated to work must forage passage as metro grills close and trains are annulled.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10772.asp

La Fleche d'Or - Free Live Music in Paris
The Fleche d'Or is a rare club that offers a diverse scheduling of music, several shows booked into an evening, all free to those willing to line up. I arrived early for a serenade from songbird Alela Diane on the dawn of the release of her album in Europe.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art34668.asp

Otherwise, send me a hello or visit the forum to post your favorite French recipe.

Melissa Demiguel, French Culture Editor
http://frenchculture.bellaonline.com