Because of the great ethnic and cultural diversity within each of the countries as well as the interconnectedness of all these countries with one another, there are actually more than 200 languages spoken throughout Europe. How do you bridge political, economic, social, and cultural divides when the mere act of communicating in the same language might not even be possible?

“The Blue Line of the Vosges Mountains” (translated from “La ligne bleue des Vosges”), comes from the fact that after the Franco- Prussian War (the War of 1870), Germany annexed what we always refer to as Alsace Lorraine but was more precisely Alsace and Moselle (just a part of Lorraine), and the Vosges regained their status as a border between France and Germany. So this line became the symbol of the French revenge and animosity against the Germans and remained that way until the First World War. 

I stand there for a while, thinking about the poet's words that changed modern poetry, words that have been accompanying me through the city, taking me into his life, mind, and travels.  And I have combined my love for Patti Smith's and Rimbaud's work; it has been a perfect day. 

Think about the way you envision a stereotypical Frenchman: black beret, a striped t-shirt and a baguette under the arm.The beret is from the Basque country. The stripes are common in Brittany. But what about the baguette?

What could be more French than the traditional baguette? Even if, it is said, more are consumed in Algeria, a former French colony, than in France itself. The word baguette is, amongst other things, the French expression for a wizard’s wand, a conductor’s baton and a chopstick, the quintessentially traditional French loaf of bread simply taking its name from the shape.