Almost a week has passed since the American election and still French newspapers are harping on, albeit a little more generally, about their beloved Amérique. This weekend’s Lifestyle section was crammed with Franco-American connections: the new expo at Paris’ Hotel de Ville  called Paris, Seen from Hollywood (a post forthcoming about this); or the great friendship between our Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, and pre-revolutionary France; or even still the current rage Michelle Obama’s wardrobe is having on her French counterparts.

The story that grabbed my attention, however, was tucked in the top corner of the paper, an article entitled “Comme un Américain… en France!”  Like an American… in France. Beside the title was a picture of the White House, only it was not as white as I remembered it being and it was surrounded by foliage where the great lawns were supposed to be. I turned to my…