As Christmas nears, our university neighborhood has become much quieter. Students have gone home for the holidays, and the street on front of our apartment is no longer a place for smokers to gather outside the bars. Yes, even France has banned smoking inside public places.
The days of the winter soltice here are very short. The sun sets before 5 p.m., but does not rise until nearly 9 a.m. We just can’t seem to wake up before light, so our days inevitably start late. So what…