Crêpe!

Mind you, it's in two sections. I got from ancient Gaul to European Union in 425 words. Which means I covered the entirely of French art and architecture in 325. Any shorter, and it becomes a bulleted list, people.

Crepe, indeed.

FRANCE:
Gauls, Romans, Asterix. Charlegmagne, Pepin, monarchy, barons, 100 Years War, Bayeux tapestry, Notre Dame, pope in Avignon, Jeanne d'Arc, Gilles de Rais = Bluebeard. Louis XIV, Versailles, Enlightenment, Three Musketeers, Poussin, Fragonard, Boucher, kill the Huguenots, Revolution, David, Danton & Charlotte Corday in a bathtub, Robespierre, the third Estat, Napoleon, Josephine, Escoffier, Delacroix, Ingres, orientalism, Barbizon, Millet, Manet, Monet, Degas, Odilon Redon. Colette, Coco Chanel, Picasso, Braque and Henry Miller.

Will that do or do they want verbs? ;-)

OK, and now I'm annoyed, because looking at the info we used to have posted, the history section is at least a THOUSAND words. Grr.

My boss is ridiculously knee-jerkily anti-.... long? Can one be anti-long?

Revolution, David, Charlotte Corday in a tub!
Robespierre, the third Estate, LEONARD BERNSTEIN!

Heh, that's exactly what was running through my head.

Maybe your boss is pro-short!

mgl: you forgot guillotine, Marie Antoinette, croissant and Jerry Lewis. Sacre Bleu!

Can one be anti-long?

I am! Notoriously so. It's the reason I did so well in J-school. Short, sweet and to the point, baby! I could probably reduce your 750 words to a haiku.

(Seriously, though, if you're having a hard time paring down, I'd be happy to take a look at it.)

Thanks for the offer. I'm actually in the midst of pitching an understated fit about keeping it long; it's ridiculous to say we provide background info about these places and then try to fit all of France's history into a paragraph. There's certainly a place for short prose -- and I'm actually usually pretty concise when I need to be, and have fought for text to be eliminated on some of the site -- but there are also times when having actual information is appropriate, and I strongly feel this is one of those times.

People who specifically seek out a section of the site called "Destination Information" would seem to, you know, want some information beyond "Woo, Monet!"

We'll see how it goes... This has been a constant battle over the years, with my wanting to do more in-depth writing with actual content and the department moving more and more toward headlines and 100-word blurbs. Which bothers me mainly because "educational" is actually in the name of the company, and I feel like they're just constantly underestimating students and teachers. "Kids don't want to read!" seems to be the subtext of every decision, and that sucks. Especially since our audience is mainly college-bound kids who probably *do* want to read.

Anyway. That's my ramble.

mygothlaundry: that was fantastic!

occhiblu: that's my Rant of the Week: the "News McNuggets" approach to both media AND education. Well and it doesn't help that I'm a crotchety old pedant, either.

I'm struggling with the fallout of this with one of the kids I'm coaching this spring. He has all the attention span of an ADD goldfish and trying to discuss goals and priorities and engage in actual thoughtful conversation with him has been a real challenge.

*sings MGL's comment to the tune of "we didn't start the fire"*