@americanintours.bsky.social
American retiree living in Tours, France, and loving it.
No! That’s why I retired to France in 2023. So far, no regrets, but much concern with the current French government situation.
October 10, 2025 at 12:18 PM
No! That’s why I retired to France in 2023. So far, no regrets, but much concern with the current French government situation.
I began my career in television news at CBS at the end of Cronkite and the beginning of Rather. Dick Salant must be spinning in his grave. This is so sad. Weiss is a snowflake conservative and a shill for Netanyahu. Thank God my cable company in France doesn’t have CBS.
October 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
I began my career in television news at CBS at the end of Cronkite and the beginning of Rather. Dick Salant must be spinning in his grave. This is so sad. Weiss is a snowflake conservative and a shill for Netanyahu. Thank God my cable company in France doesn’t have CBS.
Perhaps the current damning-with-faint-praise policy of The Economist when writing about the Trump administration is an attempt to avoid MAGA outrage, but when these policies blow up the US economy, The Economist will have more egg on its face than when the lies of the Iraq War were revealed.
July 3, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Perhaps the current damning-with-faint-praise policy of The Economist when writing about the Trump administration is an attempt to avoid MAGA outrage, but when these policies blow up the US economy, The Economist will have more egg on its face than when the lies of the Iraq War were revealed.
Democrats lack a sense of direction, but Republicans lack a spine. Congressional Republicans should rename their party the Rubber Stamp Party.
June 29, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Democrats lack a sense of direction, but Republicans lack a spine. Congressional Republicans should rename their party the Rubber Stamp Party.
I am tired of little Pete Hegseth trying to act like a big brave man with his talk about warriors. Me thinks the lady protests too much.
June 27, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I am tired of little Pete Hegseth trying to act like a big brave man with his talk about warriors. Me thinks the lady protests too much.
C’est le 19th siècle aux États Unis.
June 27, 2025 at 10:37 PM
C’est le 19th siècle aux États Unis.
He may be the future in New York, but I don’t think he will play well in Peoria. His campaign tactics may be something candidates everywhere can use.
June 27, 2025 at 10:35 PM
He may be the future in New York, but I don’t think he will play well in Peoria. His campaign tactics may be something candidates everywhere can use.
Now Congress needs to do its job and control the imperial presidency. We have much more to fear from a president run amok than the judiciary.
June 27, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Now Congress needs to do its job and control the imperial presidency. We have much more to fear from a president run amok than the judiciary.
The excessive and vulgar Bradley-Martin ball in 1897 New York City resulted in widespread public condemnation and raising the taxes on the rich attendees. If only that could happen today.
June 27, 2025 at 1:17 PM
The excessive and vulgar Bradley-Martin ball in 1897 New York City resulted in widespread public condemnation and raising the taxes on the rich attendees. If only that could happen today.
After the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic republics, it deported many of their citizens to Siberia, which was a death sentence for many. This is the regime that the French communists supported. The SU moved in Russians, so this was a form of ethnic cleansing.
June 26, 2025 at 8:13 AM
After the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic republics, it deported many of their citizens to Siberia, which was a death sentence for many. This is the regime that the French communists supported. The SU moved in Russians, so this was a form of ethnic cleansing.
For me, Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union are two sides of the same totalitarian coin. Support or alignment with either cannot be morally justified. Some estimates suggest that Stalin killed more than Hitler. Hitler is the more offensive because of the racial purity motive.
June 26, 2025 at 8:04 AM
For me, Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union are two sides of the same totalitarian coin. Support or alignment with either cannot be morally justified. Some estimates suggest that Stalin killed more than Hitler. Hitler is the more offensive because of the racial purity motive.
Check your dates. That was about the French Revolution. The Commune was 70 years later after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 when the Second Empire collapsed. The 3rd Republic had not begun. France was in chaos.
June 26, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Check your dates. That was about the French Revolution. The Commune was 70 years later after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 when the Second Empire collapsed. The 3rd Republic had not begun. France was in chaos.
The communists did not come on board until the invasion of the USSR, which was the following year. They were as bad as the Vichy regime. It took De Gaulle a while to build his reputation and become the face of France. I think the united resistance dates from 1942 or 43.
June 26, 2025 at 12:01 AM
The communists did not come on board until the invasion of the USSR, which was the following year. They were as bad as the Vichy regime. It took De Gaulle a while to build his reputation and become the face of France. I think the united resistance dates from 1942 or 43.
Certainly the French military was trying to reclaim their position, and the military is always conservative. What did the Commune achieve other than death and destruction? They represented a small portion of the French population. This was an urban revolt that was not widespread and lacked support.
June 25, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Certainly the French military was trying to reclaim their position, and the military is always conservative. What did the Commune achieve other than death and destruction? They represented a small portion of the French population. This was an urban revolt that was not widespread and lacked support.
I’m not an expert on the Commune, but I do know there’s a long history of the mobs of Paris. I know that the communards executed the archbishop of Paris. This was a very tumultuous time. France had just been defeated. The French outside Paris may have had a different view of the Commune.
June 25, 2025 at 11:49 PM
I’m not an expert on the Commune, but I do know there’s a long history of the mobs of Paris. I know that the communards executed the archbishop of Paris. This was a very tumultuous time. France had just been defeated. The French outside Paris may have had a different view of the Commune.
But it seems they did have a nation, the Soviet Union. They were silent when the Germans invaded France, but were moved to action when the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union. NAZIs were OK as long as they were aligned with the Soviet Union. It is hard to accept Hitler or Stalin, but they accepted both.
June 25, 2025 at 11:40 PM
But it seems they did have a nation, the Soviet Union. They were silent when the Germans invaded France, but were moved to action when the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union. NAZIs were OK as long as they were aligned with the Soviet Union. It is hard to accept Hitler or Stalin, but they accepted both.
Also, check out Ophuls’ other documentaries. I think “The Memory of Justice” is his greatest. He shows how the nations who were the judges at Nuremberg were not pure themselves. It’s a pot calling the kettle black sort of theme.
June 25, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Also, check out Ophuls’ other documentaries. I think “The Memory of Justice” is his greatest. He shows how the nations who were the judges at Nuremberg were not pure themselves. It’s a pot calling the kettle black sort of theme.
I have never understood why a Frenchman would have allegiance to the Soviet Union instead of France, particularly after Germany invaded France. My city, Tours, is still scared by the German bombardment. My father and uncles fought in WWII, so allegiance to a foreign nation is hard for me.
June 25, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I have never understood why a Frenchman would have allegiance to the Soviet Union instead of France, particularly after Germany invaded France. My city, Tours, is still scared by the German bombardment. My father and uncles fought in WWII, so allegiance to a foreign nation is hard for me.
Btw, the Americans refused support DeGaulle because they felt he was too close to the socialists, and also because they thought he wanted to run the country. He wanted a powerful president, and the constitution of the 4th Republic had a weak one. He was kind of in retirement from 46 to 58.
June 25, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Btw, the Americans refused support DeGaulle because they felt he was too close to the socialists, and also because they thought he wanted to run the country. He wanted a powerful president, and the constitution of the 4th Republic had a weak one. He was kind of in retirement from 46 to 58.
If you want to know about France during the occupation, watch “The Sorrow and the Pity “ by Ophuls. It was banned in France for 25 years. It showed the collaboration of many on the right, and the role of the communists, who refused to take up arms before the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
June 25, 2025 at 10:13 PM
If you want to know about France during the occupation, watch “The Sorrow and the Pity “ by Ophuls. It was banned in France for 25 years. It showed the collaboration of many on the right, and the role of the communists, who refused to take up arms before the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
De Gaulle saved France during WWII and again in 1958. He was out of touch by 1968, but he never fled France. He resigned and Pompidou assumed the presidency. When he died several years later, it was a national day of mourning. BTW, Pompidou was a Gaullist.
June 25, 2025 at 9:57 PM
De Gaulle saved France during WWII and again in 1958. He was out of touch by 1968, but he never fled France. He resigned and Pompidou assumed the presidency. When he died several years later, it was a national day of mourning. BTW, Pompidou was a Gaullist.
I have never voted for any presidential candidate, I have always voted against them. Even when I cast my vote for Obama, I was voting against McCain and Romney. De Gaulle was a great statesman. There has been no great American statesman in my lifetime.
June 25, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I have never voted for any presidential candidate, I have always voted against them. Even when I cast my vote for Obama, I was voting against McCain and Romney. De Gaulle was a great statesman. There has been no great American statesman in my lifetime.
I read a biography of De Gaulle. He believed in the republic, but he acknowledged the stability that a constitutional monarch gives to a country. He admired Queen Elizabeth. The Japanese emperor also provides stability. I hate instability and chaos. That’s why I have always voted against Trump.
June 25, 2025 at 9:47 PM
I read a biography of De Gaulle. He believed in the republic, but he acknowledged the stability that a constitutional monarch gives to a country. He admired Queen Elizabeth. The Japanese emperor also provides stability. I hate instability and chaos. That’s why I have always voted against Trump.
I’m sorry you had negative experiences with the church. In the 60s, my nuns were very much in the vanguard of the civil rights movement. I learned nothing from priests, but from the nuns, I learned the importance of kindness and respect towards everyone. I always feel guilty when I am not kind.
June 25, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I’m sorry you had negative experiences with the church. In the 60s, my nuns were very much in the vanguard of the civil rights movement. I learned nothing from priests, but from the nuns, I learned the importance of kindness and respect towards everyone. I always feel guilty when I am not kind.