The signs of greening are everywhere. Paris has thousands of bicycles for rent—with the first half hour free (Velolib, it’s called), and there’s hardly anywhere in the city you can’t get to in a half-hour. There are bike lanes as well, though they’re in the middle of the sidewalks, so you must be alert. Almost no bike riders wear helmets for some reason ; maybe it’s the great health-care system. Cars in general are tiny, though there are way too many. Stores are full of « bio » (organic) products of all sorts.

The talk is all of Obama’s Nobel prize, with people here as preplexed as everywhere else at the timing. Obama himself is wildly popular, seemingly with nearly everybody. It’s quite refreshing not to be ashamed of being an American again after the past eight years’ nightmare. We send the best and will try to write again (from Turkey next time) soon.