Neoz’Arrivants is about the country rather than the paperwork: how the place is arranged, what the year does, and the habits that turn out not to be preferences. Thirteen mainland regions since 2016 where there used to be twenty-two; ninety-six départements underneath them; nearly thirty-five thousand communes underneath those, each with a mairie that keeps the register.
The pieces are grouped into five sections. Regions covers what survived the 2016 reform and what did not. Everyday covers bread, markets and the pharmacy rota. Rail & Roads covers the network that radiates from Paris. Words covers Breton, Occitan, Alsatian and the Académie. The Year covers la rentrée, the ponts and the August shutdown.
Every piece names real places and real institutions, and links out to the primary sources where a reader will want to check something. Photographs are of the places named.
