Life, we all know, isn’t fair. Amiens and Chartres are each only about an hour from Paris by train, and each has a spectacular cathedral. So when’s the last time you urged visiting friends or relations to make the trip to Amiens? Chartres – which, face it, is pretty much a one-site burg – hogs most of the tourists. Amiens languishes by comparison, in the unjustly maligned north, despite its charmingly restored artisans’ quarter, its ancient network of water gardens and, leave us not forget, its outstanding example of the French Gothic style in full flower, which happens to be the country’s largest cathedral.
Paris Fashion Skin Deep
Fashion has fallen on difficult times. A stagnant economy has weakened European women’s purchasing power. The more affluent American is no longer investing heavily in her wardrobe, and designers in markets from New York to Seoul are inching the French out of their own stylish ball game. With all this working against her, Madame Mode has done what any self-centered diva would do in a time of crisis: strip naked, get her picture taken and call it a return to femininity.
French Intellectuals Contemplate the Web
Last month I was invited to participate in a public debate at the new high-tech campus of Paris VIII in Montreuil. The subject, believe it or not, was formulated as the following question: “Internet: Faut-il brûler ou le développer?” Much more interesting than the sluggish volley of comments was the question itself. Discussing whether the Internet and its spectacular Web should be destroyed or developed revealed a lot not only about the French ambivalence toward the Net, but also about the larger difference between French and American societies in terms of control.
Steve Buscemi’s “Happy Hour”
The cushy bar of the Hotel Manchester on rue de la Paix has nothing in common with the Trees Lounge, the eponymous watering hole of actor Steve Buscemi’s directing debut, renamed “Happy Hour” for its French release (Oct 16). But this far posher locale is where I spent a happy half-hour speaking with the 38-year-old thesp about his leisurely, enjoyable ode to the drawbacks and vicissitudes of being 30-something and aimless in suburbia.
Strolling Canal St Martin
Napoléon Bonaparte, wanting to do something for the Parisians, was told by Interior Minister Jean-Antoine Chaptal that he should “give them water.” In 1802 he ordered the city’s canals built. The idea was not only to bring more water into the city, but also to transport fresher and cheaper food and provide an alternative route for barges. The final stretch of the Canal St. Martin was completed in 1825. Today it and the Canal de l’Ourcq provide a healthy morning’s promenade.
Paris Rentree… Back to Grey Paris
People tend to complain bitterly about the rentrée in Paris because the long-awaited vacation is over and the drudgery of daily work kicks in. It takes a good six weeks to catch up on the backlog of mail and phone messages, faxes and e-mail and to get the sand out of your loafers and ticks off your Wallabies. It takes another two weeks to find a place to hide your suitcases for another year in your crowded apartment. For many of us, there are the intense and illogical arguments to battle out at the local post office, tracking down the registered letters and packages that were returned to unknown senders. All par for the autumn course.
All Aboard for Bordeaux
Guidebooks and visitors disagree wildly on its physical attractions: to one, it’s grimy, squat and uninteresting, to another it’s a harmonious 18th century gem. Never mind them. You only need one reason to go to Bordeaux, and that’s Bordeaux.
Paris Relocation…California Dreamin’
Q: Our family relocated to Paris from California in June 1995, and I was really excited about the move. But more than a year has gone by, and I find myself dreading the coming months, especially since returning from my recent summer trip home. I really miss California and my life there, and am sick of hearing people tell me how lucky I am to be here, or how wonderful Paris is. I don’t feel that way at all, and wonder if there are others like me out there.
William Wharton: The Man Who Got a Life
William Wharton is the pseudonym of a man whose life is one of the great success stories of expatriate living – not that of the international public servant or manager sent to France on a lucrative contract, complete with apartment in the 16th arrondissement, but rather the success of the foreigner who comes here of his or her own accord, in search of a certain way of life or perhaps, as current idiom has it, to “get a life,” one wherein such archaic words as “freedom” and “identity” take precedence over more accepted terms such as “annual income” and “job security.”
Artist’s Homes Become Paris Musems
This summer take the time to discover some of Paris’ hidden art treasures. For adventurous spirits the rarefied atmosphere of well-known artists’ studios, now open to the public, can’t be beat. The following suggestions will take you off the beaten track to some interesting homes and studios where famous artists once lived and worked.
We’ll Always Have Paris…
It’s summer and you’re here for the first time. Or maybe you’re back again. If you hadn’t noticed, take a look around: you’re not alone. In fact, over five million Americans flit over to France each year and another whopping 19 million francophiles cross over or tunnel under the Channel, making the “Hexagon” the number one destination of choice for anglophones.