Interviewees on the streets of Paris protest the banning of the burqa in public places in France and offer their perspectives on this controversial issue.

The French Socialist Party held its second Fête de la rose (Rose Festival) in June 2011, thirty-three years after its first. The festival was filled with games and speeches (and cotton candy), in preparation for the French primary elections.

The Python-Duvernois neighborhood, in Paris's 20th arrondissement, is having a block party filled with games, music, and food. There's even a stand on alcoholism prevention, complete with beer goggles!

The locals interviewed at the Python-Duvernois neighborhood fair defend the reputation of their area and compete to win a roll of paper towels (or perhaps something a little more prize-worthy).

Our delightful young guide takes the opportunity to explain why she loves her neighborhood of Python-Duvernois. We meet some of the locals, including an aspiring Michael Schumacher and some young footballers.

Adrien talks to us about Paris's Rue des Martyrs [Martyrs Street]. There, a hapless bishop, Saint Denis, was decapitated. He supposedly carried his severed head in his hand all the way up the street. But rest assured, the street has none of this gruesome past. It's filled with restaurants, bars, cafes, and cabarets to keep you entertained and happy.

After multiple organizations refused to finance his film Un frère comme moi (A Brother Like Me), Alain Etoundi decided to speak out by making a short film called Allez tous vous faire enfilmer! (Go Film Yourselves!). He criticizes the French film industry for not doing justice to suburban black communities, preferring instead to churn out films with stereotypical black characters.

A black mother who joined the film project launched by Alain Etoundi is critical of movies that don't portray black people accurately and perpetuate stereotypes. She says there's a dearth of good movies with positive role models for young black people.

Aldo takes us to a very special house on 23 Rue Beauregard in Paris. In that house lived a shady character, Catherine Deshayes, who was responsible for the murder of thousands of infants. She and 36 others were burned at the stake by Louis XIV.

Arlette Grosskost, UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) representative and member of the Parliamentary task force on the burqa in France, advocates a law aiming to ban the wearing of the full-body veil in public. What’s your take on this controversial issue? Is it a question of women’s rights? Of religious freedom? Are arguments against the burqa perhaps another type of veil—to cover up underlying racism?

From dreams to reality, putting forth “a little bit of energy each day,” Annie Chartrand, a vocalist who debuted singing behind her bathroom door, burst onto the music scene in 2006. Here is an interview with the singer of Ma blonde est une chanteuse [My Girlfriend Is a Singer]—a group that's actually part of a love story…

The lovely singer tells us in franglais about franglais. She discusses her experiences growing up bilingual in Quebec, her international travels, and why it’s not always a good idea to tell someone if you’ve ripped your pants…

Lucile, aka “B-Girl Frak,” has been dancing most of her life. But it wasn’t until she discovered hip-hop that she realized what dancing as an art form really meant to her.

Lucile talks about how her incredible flexibility and break-dancing skills led to her being known as “B-Girl Frak.” Find out what your true hip-hop name is here.

Activist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo talks about racial tensions between the police and young people in French working-class suburbs. She calls for better police training and more accountability to prevent violence against young people of color.

Rokhaya Diallo draws a parallel between incidents of racial discrimination and police brutality in the United States and similar incidents in French suburbs. She notes that young people are mobilizing and becoming more politically engaged in the aftermath of the infamous Théo case.

No Quatorze Juillet would be complete without pétanque and Lillet—and that doesn’t just go for France. Here we talk with some of the people attending a Bastille Day celebration in New York City.

Remember Bertrand Pierre, the smooth crooner of “Si vous n’avez rien à me dire”? He’s back to tell us about his background as a musician, and how he stumbled across the Victor Hugo idea…

Bertrand Pierre is back to tell us more about his album: Autre Chose, a tribute to the lesser-known love poems of Victor Hugo.

Bertrand Pierre was inspired by Victor Hugo, and Victor Hugo was inspired by his very active love life. As it turns out, Hugo’s little love poems make for great song lyrics.

Nowadays, even monks need to make a living. These five pious men, from the parish of Mesnil-Saint-Loup, make theirs by selling beautiful handmade pottery and ceramics for anywhere between five and two-hundred euros. They even maintain a website.

Héla Fattoumi, originally from Tunis, has taken her feelings on the full-body veil to the stage, in her dance performance piece “Manta.”

Men, women, love: Charles-Baptiste tells us what’s special (and what’s universal) about his love life in New York, and lets us in on the secret to his success. You have to get your hands dirty!

Chef Christian Le Squer, takes us into the kitchen of his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Cinq. You will see the cooks at work making exquisite dishes. Le Squer wants the food cooked to perfection, even "sexy," as he puts it. His job is to taste only, but it's not as easy as it looks.