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.
Visting Caen in Normandy
In June 1944, the spirit and visage of Caen were altered forever. June 6, D-Day, was also the beginning of the Battle of Caen, which left some 2,000 civilians dead and 75% of Lower Normandy’s capital in rubble. The city that rose from these ashes has dedicated itself to enhancing its surviving historical monuments, nourishing the arts and sciences and promoting peace. To visit it in June is a poignant experience.
Midi Break in the Drome Region
If the warm weather is not arriving quite fast enough for you, push the season by heading south for the weekend. The northern Provençal borderlands in the Drôme region, on the east bank of the Rhône River, are within easy reach by rail. And for a maximum of rays, consider spending your Midi break on a bike.
Chilling Out in Paris
Funny how a country with such great markets can be so prehistoric in its marketing mentality. That the French have had to borrow the term from l’américaine is no accident. Americans breathe marketing, whereas the French have to learn it.
A Russian in Paris
Paris has always held a special attraction for Russians. “For them, it is the cultural center of the world,” says one of the city’s most famous Russian inhabitants, Andreï Makine, the latest Prix Goncourt winner. “There have been quite a few Anglophiles in Russia, but they have always played second fiddle to this infatuation for France.”
Too Many Weekends with Inlaws
Q. I am an American businessman, recently married to a French woman who is quite close to her family. Her parents expect us to have a meal with them once a week, and as they live some distance from us, we can only go there on Saturday or Sunday. I find once a week excessive and would like to reduce it to once every three or four weeks, but that’s not acceptable to my wife. We can’t discuss the subject without getting into a huge argument. What do you think would be fair to us both?