I'm back in New York, and my work here is ended. I'll close by noting that last time back, what struck me was how big the elevators are. This time, it is how late the stores stay open. A Parisian-style patisserie has opened on our corner, and we went by it to see. They're open until 10p, which is NOT Parisian at all. But I like it.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to see many of you soon.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Soyez Mon Valentin?
Valentine's Day is, to my slight surprise, celebrated in France.
For the most part it's done in their typically understated fashion. I haven't seen any greeting cards that specifically mention Valentine's Day (but then, this is not a greeting-card culture), and few places have put up tacky (or even tasteful) decorations.
The main point of the holiday seems to be, unsurprisingly, food. A number of restaurants have put up discreet signs advertising special "Saint-Valentin" menus, and my local luxury-food store was advertising (without actually citing the holiday) foie gras for two with sweet wine before the fire. (A bit different than the typical American menu, that.)
But there is one industry that loudly and publicly celebrates Valentine's Day -- the sex shops:
For the most part it's done in their typically understated fashion. I haven't seen any greeting cards that specifically mention Valentine's Day (but then, this is not a greeting-card culture), and few places have put up tacky (or even tasteful) decorations.
The main point of the holiday seems to be, unsurprisingly, food. A number of restaurants have put up discreet signs advertising special "Saint-Valentin" menus, and my local luxury-food store was advertising (without actually citing the holiday) foie gras for two with sweet wine before the fire. (A bit different than the typical American menu, that.)
But there is one industry that loudly and publicly celebrates Valentine's Day -- the sex shops:
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective French Restaurants
Want to open a truly authentic French restaurant in the United States? Here are seven things you should do that the American crowd will find impossible to believe:
1. Keep the lights on as bright as you can.
2. Don't serve the bread until the appetizer arrives.
3. Serve wine in the smaller glass and water in the larger glass.
4. Always undercook the meat.
5. Insist on taking the dessert order at the same time as the appetizer and main course.
6. Refuse to serve coffee until after the dessert has been finished.
7. Be closed on at least one weekend day, if not both, and for four weeks in either August or January.
1. Keep the lights on as bright as you can.
2. Don't serve the bread until the appetizer arrives.
3. Serve wine in the smaller glass and water in the larger glass.
4. Always undercook the meat.
5. Insist on taking the dessert order at the same time as the appetizer and main course.
6. Refuse to serve coffee until after the dessert has been finished.
7. Be closed on at least one weekend day, if not both, and for four weeks in either August or January.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
There's a Cork on the Road
It shouldn't surprise anyone that the French love for food and wine permeates their popular culture, including slang.
The word "bouchon" means a cork, but it seems to also be a term for traffic jam, as this sign warning of construction on a major southern highway indicates:
The word "bouchon" means a cork, but it seems to also be a term for traffic jam, as this sign warning of construction on a major southern highway indicates:
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sign of the Times
Twenty years ago it would have been shocking to see signs in the Paris Metro advertising English classes. But now, they're everywhere.
The biggest advertiser is an outfit named Wall Street Institute, but it seems their brand equity may no longer be what it used to be:
The biggest advertiser is an outfit named Wall Street Institute, but it seems their brand equity may no longer be what it used to be:
Saturday, February 7, 2009
La Cuisine Americaine
I was reminded today that the country I'm returning to in a week is, to the French, a foreign and even exotic land.
In the international section of the food hall of one of the big Parisian department stores is a shelf devoted to food of the United States and Canada:
If you look closely at the picture you can see what the French consider worth importing from North America: popcorn, pancake mix, peanut butter and roasted peanuts, barbecue sauce, cranberries, molasses and that harsh yellow stuff Americans call mustard. (The Canadian contribution, as far as I could tell, was limited to maple syrup.)
Truth be told, there is nothing on that shelf that I've missed in six months of living here.
In the international section of the food hall of one of the big Parisian department stores is a shelf devoted to food of the United States and Canada:
If you look closely at the picture you can see what the French consider worth importing from North America: popcorn, pancake mix, peanut butter and roasted peanuts, barbecue sauce, cranberries, molasses and that harsh yellow stuff Americans call mustard. (The Canadian contribution, as far as I could tell, was limited to maple syrup.)
Truth be told, there is nothing on that shelf that I've missed in six months of living here.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Voulez-vous un sandwich?
I think it was Paul Theroux who said that the French get the same frisson from using certain English words as English-speakers do when they use the word frisson.
"Sandwich" is certainly one of those words.
Sandwichs, to use the French plural (no "e" before the "s") are very common here but they are almost always made on split baguettes rather than sliced bread:
Popular fillings include ham and cheese, salami or similar types of dried sausage, tuna salad and occasionally chicken. The first sandwich I ever had in France, in 1988, was made with pate but that is very hard to find now, for some reason.
They are made and served in virtually every bakery and cafe, usually for less than 5 euros ($6.50) apiece. "Sandwichs" are not luxury or exotic items by any stretch of the imagination.
Still, nearly every bakery sells them in specially labeled bags just in case you might not understand what's inside:
"Sandwich" is certainly one of those words.
Sandwichs, to use the French plural (no "e" before the "s") are very common here but they are almost always made on split baguettes rather than sliced bread:
Popular fillings include ham and cheese, salami or similar types of dried sausage, tuna salad and occasionally chicken. The first sandwich I ever had in France, in 1988, was made with pate but that is very hard to find now, for some reason.
They are made and served in virtually every bakery and cafe, usually for less than 5 euros ($6.50) apiece. "Sandwichs" are not luxury or exotic items by any stretch of the imagination.
Still, nearly every bakery sells them in specially labeled bags just in case you might not understand what's inside:
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Start a New Life
If any of you have a past you want to run away from, the French Foreign Legion awaits you ...
... yup, it's still in business after all these years ...
... yup, it's still in business after all these years ...
Monday, February 2, 2009
Winter Wonderland, for 45 minutes
It snowed today! Apparently we got the edge of a big storm that paralyzed London.
Snow was falling and about a half-inch was already on the ground when I got up to go to the gym at about 8 a.m. (i.e. before sunrise). When I got back, the sun had risen and it had turned to rain and started melting, so the pictures didn't come out all that well, but here they are:
Snow was falling and about a half-inch was already on the ground when I got up to go to the gym at about 8 a.m. (i.e. before sunrise). When I got back, the sun had risen and it had turned to rain and started melting, so the pictures didn't come out all that well, but here they are:
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Still Breathtaking
Even after six months here, sometimes I see something that just takes my breath away:
This is a view from place de la Madeleine, home to some of Paris's top food shops, up the boulevard des Malesherbes to the church of St. Augustine. I was walking around the plaza and just stumbled on this yesterday.
This church isn't even mentioned in my guidebook's chapter on "The Major Churches," which must tell you something all by itself. Maybe there's nothing worth seeing inside, but it's still startling to round a corner and see something like this.
I'm guessing that we have Baron Haussmann to thank for this -- he's the guy who rebuilt Paris in the 1860s into a city of boulevards, and what he seems to have done is just taken the existing landmarks and bulldozed boulevards strategically between them. So you get vistas that you don't get in, say, London, which also has a pretty good selection of landmarks but (for better or worse) never had a Haussmann or a Napoleon III to open up the vistas.
Just something else to love about this place.
This is a view from place de la Madeleine, home to some of Paris's top food shops, up the boulevard des Malesherbes to the church of St. Augustine. I was walking around the plaza and just stumbled on this yesterday.
This church isn't even mentioned in my guidebook's chapter on "The Major Churches," which must tell you something all by itself. Maybe there's nothing worth seeing inside, but it's still startling to round a corner and see something like this.
I'm guessing that we have Baron Haussmann to thank for this -- he's the guy who rebuilt Paris in the 1860s into a city of boulevards, and what he seems to have done is just taken the existing landmarks and bulldozed boulevards strategically between them. So you get vistas that you don't get in, say, London, which also has a pretty good selection of landmarks but (for better or worse) never had a Haussmann or a Napoleon III to open up the vistas.
Just something else to love about this place.
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