Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, June 17, 2024

“I’ve just returned from Paris, which was abuzz in preparation for the Summer Olympics. At a cafe one evening hiding from a deluge of rain, when it became obvious my French did not extend beyond bon soir, the waiter asked where I was from. “There’s a Paris in Texas,” he smirked. I can easily imagine a similar jab coming from a Texan should a Parisian come to visit: “We’ve got all the Paris we need right here, thank you very much.”

After all, France has long been regarded as the embodied vision of the American left. In Paris (you know which one), people of all ages are riding bikes with baskets down the streets, some wearing fashionable trench coats. All the cars are electric, no gas-guzzling SUVs to be found. Everyone carries reusable bags, and water-bottle caps use so little plastic they’re more akin to a flap. . . .

. . . . But on this visit to Paris, I wasn’t imagining these progressive ideas spawning similar experiments stateside. If anything, I was surprised to find three very conservative aspects of the culture I hadn’t noticed before.

For example, did you know that in many parts of France there is no school on Wednesdays? In “liberal” cases, there’s school on Wednesday mornings, but still none in the afternoons. That time is reserved for family and extracurriculars. I spoke with many mothers who have Wednesdays with their children. In the States, it tends to be conservative Christian schools that prioritize parental time over a full-time, institutionalized learning.

As a result, the French have less of the modern parental shuffling to organized activities after school with fast-food dinner in car seats. Family dinners tend to be preserved. Students also have up to an hour and a half for lunch at school the other days, during which time they can go home. In Dallas ISD, I was allowed to have lunch with my second-grader once this whole school year and never with my kindergartner.”