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.

For Cyril Daniel, freestyle rollerblading is more than just a hobby. The twenty-year-old Parisian has been rollerblading for half of his life!

These brief interviews on the streets of Lille were conducted in order to test the waters of the tricky dispute over the banning of burqa-wearing in public.

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?

This Parisian poetry fair sees poets young and old, from all walks of life. Perhaps poetry is, as one attendee says, a link extended across space, time, and people.

We’re all a part of this big, happy family that is humanity. Now if only we could get our “universal citizen” passports…

Hélène and Célia tell us about their musical influences, origins, and inspiration. When they encountered prejudice about Africa and Africans upon coming back to France, Les Nubians used music to paint a truer picture of African culture.

In this video brought to us by Allons en France, a French government program that encourages students to learn the language and culture of France, young people from all over the world tell us about what learning French means to them.

Corrine shares some more with us about the rich culture of the South of France, and she even puts on her best southern accent for us!

Fanny and Corrine tell us all about the merits of their hometowns. Crepes and parties? Or hot weather and bouillabaisse? Either way, you get some lovely beaches!

Meet Jean-Phillipe Talbot, pizza man at Montréal’s F&F Pizza. F&F is a gourmet pizza shop, owned by the multi-talented company Rhinoceros, where Francophones and Anglophones alike can come to savor a slice (those who can afford it, that is).

We’re back in Central Park! This time, French teens Barbara and Lorraine discuss politics, including the recent controversial Contrat Première Embauche and President Nicolas Sarkozy. (Love him or leave him? The girls don’t quite agree…)