On Aug. 21, 1789, just a month after the storming of the Bastille that launched the French Revolution, France’s new governing body, the National Assembly, approved the first article of its historic Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

Graham Robb writes history on two wheels and in four dimensions. Almost 30,000 miles of “gentle cycling for weeks on end” have fed his delightfully off-center books about the French past and the hidden byways of the nation’s culture. For Mr. Robb ...

A “counter-monument” unveiled last week in the city of Nancy invites viewers to reflect on a dark chapter in French history and acknowledge traumas that have long been silenced. Bringing a fresh perspective to the debate on colonial monuments in public ...

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to ...

French Guiana’s January carnival is normally a fun and festive occasion. But this year, a young man was severely beaten by ten other teenagers during the procession, marring the celebrations. The violence prompted Cayenne’s mayor to forbid anyone who ...

Installation view of ‘Louis Style: French Frames, 1610–1792’ (courtesy J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles) Walk into a gallery of 17th- or 18th-century French paintings and prepare to be blinded by the gilding that encircles each work like an ...