In the Wake of the Paris Attacks

by Meredith Mullins on November 23, 2015

Le Carillon, one of the sites of Paris attacks of 13 November, with flowers and messages showing the spirit of French cultural beliefs. (Image © Meredith Mullins)

Flowers and messages surround Le Carillon, one of the restaurants attacked on November 13.
© Meredith Mullins

French Spirit and Cultural Beliefs Are Woven with Strength and Courage

We don’t usually foresee danger in our daily routines—in restaurants, bars, sports stadiums, or concert halls. We expect to be safe in movie theatres, office buildings, trains, churches, airplanes, and schools—even with past history embedded in our memory.

Sadly, at this time in a world where hatred, violence, guns, and insanity are more common than we could have ever imagined, the risk of danger becomes hauntingly familiar. The possibility plants itself at the edges of our consciousness. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/France (Paris)

May

Connecting Through the Universal Language of Music

by Meredith Mullins on May 4, 2015

Two dancers in white at the rue Mouffetard in Paris, showing that music is the universal language of connection. (Image © Meredith Mullins)

Sunday morning dancing on the rue Mouffetard in Paris
© Meredith Mullins

A Reminder of Old Paris: Singing and Dancing on the Rue Mouffetard

I want to make people cry, even when they don’t understand my words. —Edith Piaf

It’s Sunday morning in the Square St Médard in Paris. I am singing in the warm sun . . . belting out the words “Tant que l’amour inondera mes matins” from Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’Amour” (The Hymn to Love).

With my limited French, I don’t quite understand what the words mean; but the song swells up inside and puts a little lump of emotion in my throat. I feel an unexplainable nostalgia. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Cultural Encounters/France (Paris)/The World's Music