Feeling Out of Fashion in Paris
It’s fashion week in Paris. That means the city is being overrun by skinny models, preening celebrities and anxiety-ridden fashion designers. Actually, that sounds like any other day in Paris. Except now there are tents up in the Tuleries, the Hôtel de Ville is crawling with fashionistas, and, well, you try getting a reservation at Kong this week or next. (more…)
I Really Don’t Have a Plan
I’ve never been a planner. Other than personal and professional commitments, I have never tried to plan out my life, choosing instead to live by the philosophy “let’s see what I see.” Leading an unexpected life brings far greater rewards than if I stuck to a single path, where I’d miss out on so many wonderful surprises. (more…)
I Google Paris
As a rule, most people use commercial breaks when watching TV to grab a snack or to run to les toilettes. But the Superbowl in the U.S. is an exception. This is when advertisers supposedly pull out all the stops on creativity. After all, when you’re paying a million dollars for a 30-second spot, it pays to create something people will be talking about the next day. There are those who actually pay as much attention to the ads as they do to the game. Sometimes more. (more…)
Nutty for Nutella
Today is World Nutella Day. Don’t bother sending a card. All I want is one of those industrial-sized jars of this orgasm-inducing, hazelnut-chocolate nectar of the gods. (more…)
Pack Your Paris Suitcase
Five years ago, I started playing around with the idea of creating a website dedicated to all things Paris. At the time, though, I didn’t have a clue what I wanted that website to be. It was only during one of my extended stays in Paris—at a private party—that it all came together. I wanted this website to be like a grand salon in old Paris—a place where people came together and shared insider information. And thus was born Parisien Salon. (more…)
Is it Really Better in France?
I may be biased, but I find it impossible to refute the announcement from International Living that, for the fifth year in a row, France has the best standard of living in the world. Even on a hot summer day, as I sit in a Paris apartment sans air conditioning, I find life in Paris (and France) to be of a superior quality to the U.S. (more…)
Moving Forward, Looking Back
I’m having a hard time fathoming how we managed to speed through an entire decade so quickly, let alone a full year. (more…)
The New Fear of Flying
My first thought after hearing about the thwarted Christmas Day terrorist attack on the Delta flight into Detroit was, “Thank goodness everyone was okay.” My second thought wasn’t quite so full of gratitude as I tried to imagine the new security measures enforced upon us weary travelers. I had no idea how ridiculous they’d become. (more…)
Striking Out in Paris
Anyone who has ever lived in or visited Paris has likely encountered la grève—what we Americans call a “strike.” Now, in the U.S., strikes are fairly rare. There may be one strike every few years in places like New York City. But in Paris, strikes come and go like cold fronts. (more…)
You’ve Got Voicemail
My voicemail is stalking me.
In Paris (and I assume the rest of France), they really want to be sure that you know you have a voicemail message. It doesn’t matter who the call is from—your mother or Nicolas Sarkozy—cellular providers clearly feel it’s important, imperative even, that you listen to your voicemail messages.
While having a meeting over tea in a café the other day, my cell phone rang. I ignored the call. A minute later, the phone rang again. The caller ID was “123,” the number I call to get my voicemail. I hit “ignore” again. Less than 15 minutes later, though, my voicemail called me again. I apologized to the two women I was interviewing and hit “ignore.” But my voicemail would not be ignored, and called twice more over the next half hour. Not only that, it sent a text message: “Répondeur SFR: 1 nouveau message … Rappetez 123.”
Given the persistence of the voicemail system, you would think that my presence was needed to diffuse a major global crisis. Au contraire, it was merely a new ami checking to see if I’d be able to attend a show on Sunday. He (my friend) only called once. There is no option in voicemail to let the caller choose how many times I’d be notified that they’d left a message, so this isn’t a case of “stalking by proxy.” The last time I was nagged like this, it was my mother asking if I’d cleaned my room and finished my homework.
I haven’t decided how I feel about this particular “quirk” in the French cellular system. In almost all regards, French cellular service is far superior to its American counterpart. The calls are clear and the signals strong—even in the Métro. Texting is free, incoming calls free, but it’s outgoing calls that will drain your bank account (bills average $150 a month). Those who have iPhones can’t get the “visual voicemail” that Americans get, so I suppose the continual reminders is their way of saying, “We care about you.”
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Thanksgiving in Paris
I love Thanksgiving in Paris.
To the French, it’s business as usual, a typical Thursday—and that’s just the way I like it. It’s not that I’m anti-Thanksgiving. I’m not. But my childhood Thanksgivings were, at least in memory, idyllic. It was a time when my whole family—aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother—came to our house for a feast that made gluttony look amateurish. We played. We frolicked. We ate. A lot. (more…)
Ten Things I Love About Paris
1. The church bells up the street play Ode to Joy at noon.
2. Apple juice is sold in refrigerated milk cartons and tastes just like cider.
3. When Métro stations are announced on the train. I love learning the right pronunciation.
4. The Christmas windows at Galeries Lafayette always outdo themselves. (This year: dancing, swimming, performing and cooking teddy bears.)
5. The multiple orange smoke stacks atop Paris rooftops.
6. Fresh flowers and fresh baguettes are routine, not “occasions.”
7. Hidden courtyards that hold unexpected treasures.
8. The women flaunt their confidence and the men love it.
9. There are whole stores dedicated to umbrellas.
10. Papa Sarkozy and Carla Bruni are just so darned cute together
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I’m Ready for Paris … I Think
A few months ago, I had a dream that I was in Paris but found myself wandering the streets without my camera. I can still remember how frustrated and how lost I felt without my camera. I’ve had a few similar dreams since then, where I forgot my passport or didn’t have any money…or I didn’t have a place to stay. And now, on the day that I’m actually leaving to return to Paris, I’m feeling—for the first time ever—a little apprehensive about my trip. (more…)
My New Math
Ten years ago, I became a bag lady.
After finding myself face-to-leather with the most exquisite Marc Jacobs mini-satchel, I entered a new phase of my life that I now refer to as my Leather Period. I grappled over the purchase, given a price tag that equated to over half a month’s rent. But once I went home with my new bag, there was no turning back. And in the decade since, I’ve fed my addiction (Michael Kors and Francesco Biasia galore) and supplemented it with shoes. (more…)
This week was a good news/bad news kind of week in Paris for the U.S. Saving All My Energy for Paris
Let’s face it: we Americans aren’t always the smartest consumers. And I’m not talking about buying things. I’m talking about energy and resources. Although, when it comes to buying things, I’m not always the smartest consumer… judging by the 20-odd appliances I’ve purchased over the years that are still in their boxes in my kitchen cabinets, or the 200 different hair gels, face creams and nail products cluttering up the space below my bathroom sink. But I digress… (more…)
Would You Like Some Frites with Your Delacroix?
Photo by eatmedaily.com
There’s no shortage of controversy in the French capital. Most Parisians will still hotly debate I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre, more than 20 years after its completion. By the way, if you’re ever asked by a Parisian what you think of the pyramid, please note that there’s no right answer. If you say you like it, then you’re accused of having no taste. If you say that you don’t like it…well, you’ve insulted the French. (more…)
Why I Love Paris (Reason #173)
I have a love/hate relationship with driving.
On the one hand, I really love nothing more than taking my German-engineered car out on the open road and embracing my inner Mario Andretti. I do so like precision handling, particularly as I surpass all legal speed limits (and most illegal ones, too.) (more…)
Paris Tango
I’m in heaven.
A few years ago, I stumbled upon the book My French Life in, of all places, Anthropologie (the American version of a concept store). The book, written by Vicki Archer and photographed so beautifully by Carla Coulson (both transplanted Aussies), absolutely mesmerized me. (more…)
Paris Mythunderstood
After writing about this “rumor” going around that the people of Paris were unfriendly, I realized that there are so many more misconceptions about Paris… myths that have no basis in the reality of the city. I call them “mythstatements,” and I’m going to take them on one-by-one. (more…)
Rumor Has It
Photo by Virginia Jones
Who started this rumor that Parisians are unfriendly? Even my father, who hasn’t met a single Parisian, let alone been to Paris, believes this to be true. (more…)
A Love Affair With Juliette Binoche
I was just reading an interview with La Binoche (that’s “Juliette Binoche” to the rest of you), one of my favorite actresses. She’s starring in “Paris” - a movie that was released last year in Europe but that opens in the U.S. today.
I don’t know about you, but the moment I heard that Ms. Binoche was starring in a movie simply called “Paris,” I was ready to get in line. If you haven’t heard about this film, the actress said, “It’s about a lot of different people living in Paris, and a mix of many sides of life, not all happy ones. If you don’t go to the bottom, you don’t know what joy is, and to explore life you have to plunge head first and take risks. And the way we’re brought up with this whole view of life as black and white, good and bad, is completely false, because in life everything is transformable, and something bad can actually be very good, and vice versa. So it’s about all those ideas.”
She plays Elise, a single mother who moves in with her brother Pierre (a dancer) while he waits for a heart transplant. And while he’s waiting, he looks down from his window, watching the lives of others unfold around him.
Paris is very much one of the main stars of this film, and the interviewer (Iain Blair of Reuters) asked Juliette what the city means to her. She replied, “I just moved back, and even though I was born there, I didn’t actually live there until I was 16. But it was always the dream city for me, because it meant art, independence, meeting different kinds of people — so it was very exciting.
“But then the reality of it was quite rough, because of the Metro, no money, hard winters — just the harsh reality of daily city life. But later when you’re an adult, all your memories are of love stories, first kiss, first betrayal. Then of first meeting this director, or this scene and where you shot it, and somehow it becomes a map of your heart. And that’s the same for anyone and the history of where they came from. I’ll always love Paris, but I also hate it because it’s noisy, polluted and stressful.”
An interesting answer from a very interesting lady.
Read the full interview here.
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Au Revoir La Bise?
The French like their kisses. Anyone who knows anyone in Paris is familiar with the quick cheek-to-cheek greeting, an ageless ritual entrenched in the social fabric of French society.
But the swine flu has the French government a little freaked out, apparently. They’re asking people - French people - to forgo this ritual to help slow down the spread of the virus. In the schools, teachers are asking their young charges to place notes of affection into “bise boxes” instead of offering friendly pecks to their classmates.
Is it possible that the French will actually take the government’s suggestion to heart? The answer remains to be seen, but the truth is that it’s highly unlikely. Sure, they gave up smoking in restaurants without a fight, but that was a law. When it comes to “suggestions,” the rebellious heart of the French people is likely to take over. Give up la bise? Non, non, non! Not until it becomes the kiss of death. Or law.
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Parlez-vous Français?
J’étudie le Français, and it hasn’t been easy. I wish I was one of those people whose brains were wired to easily learn new languages but I’m not. I can memorize a song by the third time I’ve heard it and then remember it for the rest of my life. So I’m not quite sure what the block is when it comes to French. As it is, I’ve been marginally conversant for the last few years. At one point, I thought my accent so horrible that I didn’t want to speak it at all.
But I’ve been working to remedy that. I’m determined to become fluent in French. I’d love to spend a month at the Institut de Français outside Nice, where it’s all about immersion. But who has the time? I can’t even take half a day at this point to immerse myself in French. I can spare an hour a day, 90 minutes tops, studying the language.
So that’s what I’ve been doing. And to make it more fun, I’m trying out different ways to learn la lingua.
First, there’s Rosetta Stone. They recently launched a new program called TOTALe, and it’s pretty impressive. It combines their standard interactive learning program with some pretty cool enhancements. You can sign-up for hour-long classes (they call them sessions) where “coaches” interact with a small group of students, conducting conversations exclusively in French. You can also practice with other students one on one, through conversations or by playing games with each other (or on your own). There are three levels, each with four units offering four lessons that take you through vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and writing. There’s no English translation at any point, because Rosetta Stone takes the approach that learning a language the way babies learn it (through visual and auditory cues) is the best way.
I’ve also been working with the Living Language Ultimate French program. Structured more like the class you’d take in high school, Living Language comes with a whole lot of CDs: four that follow the textbook and four that you can listen to on the road (I’ve loaded them onto my iPhone). It also comes with a CD that has the computer version of flash cards on it, but since they also sent me their Flash Forward program with takes the flashcards to a higher level, that’s what I’ve been using. I also have the iKnow French program on my iPhone, letting me take those Flashcards with me everywhere. I’ve gotten some pretty funny looks from people while I go through them at airports, in doctors’ waiting rooms…on the checkout line at the supermarché.
My goal with both of these programs is to get conversant enough to be able to take online classes with eLycée. After my free one-on-one session with them, it was determined that I was stuck in French limbo somewhere between beginner and intermediate. I’m hoping to move out this linguistic purgatory and be able to feel comfortable in those more advanced classes.
I’ll tell you how it goes.
-Linda Donahue, Editor in Chief
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