Books–could not love them more.   I usually have two going at the same time.  One comes with me wherever I go and one sits on my bedside table waiting to help me unwind from a crazy day.  All topics make my list of what to read but I would have to admit that over the years France, Paris, French history or contemporary French literature have taken up much of my reading time.  I thought I would share what I consider some of the better reads I have come across and would look forward to any suggestions you might have! Old Paris (fiction):

• The Kill by Emile Zola
• Gardener to the King by Frédéric Richaud
• Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford
• The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham 
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
• The Red and the Black by Stendahl
• Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky
• The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
• Gigi by Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle

New Paris (fiction):

• A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke
• Merde, Actually by Stephen Clarke
• In the Merde for Love by Stephen Clarke
• Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
• The Mystery Guest by Gregoire Bouillier 

 Non-Fiction: 

•  Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnick
• Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology, by Adam Gopnick
• Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong by Jean-Benoit Nadeau & Julie Barlow
• Talk to the Snail by Stephen Clarke
• A Place in the World Called Paris by Steven Barclay
• The Flaneur by Edmund White
• The Secret Life of the Seine by Mort Rosenblum
• The Autobiography of Alice B.  Toklas by Gertrude Stein

Quirky, But Fun!

• Paris out of hand: a wayward guide by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
• A Writer’s Paris by Eric Maise

 There are so many more but didn’t have time to post them all.  As suggestions from you come in, I will keep mentioning them as we go, how’s that work?  The beautiful bookplate is custom-made by Daniel de Bruin.   

Post from: The Paris Traveler

September with a hint of autumn in the air. I love strolling along the Seine stopping every now and again to see if I can find a rare gem among the used books being sold by those ever present booksellers in Paris called les bouquinistes.

After hundreds of years of controversy, they finally became a permanent fixture as we know them today in 1891 on the Quai Voltaire and have grown to nearly 250 on both the Right Bank and Left Bank, selling old and used books, posters, post-cards, stamps, music albums, art prints, and more. What’s even nicer is having lively conversations with them about their goods. Wonderful moments that make up life in this beautiful city.

Photo Credit: Reya

Post from: The Paris Traveler

I really haven’t found this phenomenon used so extensively with any other language than French. Do people actually think it’s so chic, or that others will be so impressed, when they sprinkle in a word of French into their blog, their newspaper article, or their autobiography? Probably so! Otherwise, I see no other logical reason for them to do it!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for artistic expression and sometimes it’s imperative in a novel, song, or poem, but I see no value in placing a French word in every third sentence just for the hell of it, or for the reasons I’ve stated above! They don’t seem to take into consideration that if I’m annoyed and I speak French, how annoyed would people be who do not!

I had another blog at one point (which is on hiatus), but I wrote either my entire post in French or in English. I didn’t smatter a word of English here or there in my French articles, or vice-versa! It just drives me up a wall when people do that! I’m convinced (until proven otherwise) that the majority of people who are guilty of this ridiculous habit are people who actually do not have command of the language, but want others to believe they do.

If you go through my posts, you will find that the few times I’ve used a French word or expression, I have put the English translation in parenthesis, or else the French word is a word that you can find in an English dictionary, such as arrondissement, charcuterie, vis-à-vis, etc. I find so many anglophone blogs about France in violation of this crime that I’ve stopped reading them! (Lol, yes I can be dramatic at times!) A pity really, since some of them have interesting things to say; but they have a tendency of doing this constantly that it becomes too damn tedious and annoying to read!!!

When I was in Québec, I was very impressed with the fact that everything is written in French without so much as a smidgen of English cropping up here or there. If only these English speaking people who are guilty of this ridiculous habit could take the Québécois as an example, they may find that they would get a lot more readership!!!

Photo Credits: Flickr

Post from: The Paris Traveler

Being part of the “Baby Boomer” generation, World War II was something I read about in my history books at school, not something you constantly looked back on as part of your memories. Well, as the years have gone by and I can now look back upon my own life; we may regret the loss of certain things, such as smooth skin, thicker hair, less pounds, etc., but if we’re lucky, we gain knowledge and wisdom as time goes by.

Twenty-five, thirty years….it’s like yesterday, and now I understand that the war to many in France was just that – yesterday. Yes, Suite Française is a book about the Nazi occupation marching into Paris and occupying France, but it’s so much more when you realize that Irène Némirovsky, a young Jewish immigrant from Russia, was living her story as she wrote it.

I am not one of those people who read the last page to find out how a story ends before starting a novel, but I am going to suggest reading the preface, (which in the English translation of the book is in the back) and then the Appendix II before starting.

“Why?” you ask. Because the most poignant part of this book is in fact, in my opinion, the preface and the second appendix, which lets the reader see who the author truly was and sets the tone for the entire novel. The first appendix should be read after reading Suite Française to see where the author’s ideas were going with the characters.

Irène Némirovsky’s life in Russia as a young girl was sad and lonely. Her father, one of the richest bankers was never there, and her mother, who was only concerned about her own physical appearance, had no maternal instinct or love for her daughter.

As a child, Irène led a life of luxury; a beautiful home in St. Petersburg, summer holidays on the French Riviera, and a governess all of which gave no indication of what was to come. In 1917 when Irene was only 14, the Bolshevik Revolution broke out and the Némirovskys were forced to flee their country to Finland, then Sweden and finally to France.

Irène loved Paris, studied at the Sorbonne, and led a glamorous and exciting social life where she gambled at casinos, loved to dance, and got drunk with life, but it was also a time when she wrote. She became a successful writer publishing articles, short-stories, and nine novels.

In 1926 she met and married Mikhail (Michel) Epstein, a banker whose father was the President of the Union of Russian Banks. A few years later in 1929 she gave birth to her first daughter, Denise. By the time she had her second daughter Elisabeth, eight years later, one of her books, David Golder had been turned into a film.

Soon after war broke out, Irene and Michel sent their children to live with their nanny’s mother in Issy-l’Evêque. For two years Irène and Michel lived across the street from their children in a small hotel to be near them. As the days passed and things continously grew worse for the Jews, Irène continued to write. She began Suite Française in 1941, but the lucidity of her situation and the people around her gave way to an intuition and understanding that she might not be able to complete her novel.

The novel itself is broken into two parts: Storm in June and Dolce. Storm in June begins on the eve of the Nazi occupation of Paris in June 1940. We not only meet many of the main characters in the story, but we also see the French, as a people, reacting in dire situations; some heroically, others selfishly. Not since reading Jean-Paul Sartre’s Roads to Freedom: The Age of Reason, The Reprieve, and Troubled Sleep do we get an insider view of the fall and occupation of France.

Her characters start out hollow like single notes played with the right hand on a piano. Do we care about Mme. Péricand and her bourgeois ways, or the egocentric writer Gabriel Corte and his subservient mistress Florence? Not really. Even Father Philippe Péricand’s demise by the orphan children incites no strong reaction. Just like in a song, the melody being played does not evoke emotion until the left hand accompanies the right with its harmonic chords to create a fullness and a richness that touches you.

The harmony comes when Jean-Marie Michaud finds himself in a remote village and stirs up feelings in both Cécile and Madeleine and the story begins to resonate. In Dolce, we see a cohabitation between the people of the town of Bussy and the German soldiers. Irène brings a human side to the enemy, through Bruno von Falk, a married German officer, who’s a sensitive, well-mannered, musician who seems to find himself caught up in a war that was brought about by those in power; yet it’s the common man who must follow orders and suffer the consequences.

When Lucile Angellier, whose husband is a prisoner of war, and the German officer begin to have feelings for one another under the ever watchful eyes of Lucile’s mother-in-law, the story begins to build to a crescendo, but,….only to end abruptly.

End….as Irène Némirovsky’s life ended. On July 13, 1942 Irène was arrested and taken to a concentration camp first in France and soon afterwards was deported to Auschwitz in Poland. She died on August 17, 1942. In October Michel, her husband, was deported to Auschwitz and died a month later in the gas chamber on November 6.

Their young daughters, Denise (13) and Elisabeth (5) went from hiding place to hiding place; Denise carrying her mother’s journal as a memento the entire time, keeping only one step ahead of the police hunting them down until the very end of the war. Ironically their grandmother, Irène’s mother, had lived out these turmoiltuous times quite comfortably in Nice. When the children went to see their grandmother after the war she refused to open the door shouting that they should seek help at an orphanage.

It wasn’t until years later when the girls, now grown women with careers of their own, (Elisabeth following in her mother’s footsteps as a writer) decided to give Irène’s notebook to the Institut Mémoires de l’Edition Contemporaine.  Denise painstakingly typed the hand written notes only to discover an incredible manuscript in its first stages unfolding before her eyes. Elisabeth passed away in 1996 before being able to read it. Sixty-four years after Irène Némirovsky’s death, Suite Française has become a well-deserved bestseller.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Post from: The Paris Traveler

Actually treasure hunts are kind of fun where people start off alone, or in groups, finding clues which will lead them to some sort of treasure at the end. My family seems to be on a treasure hunt of our own this year. Everyone is gathering from different parts of the world; my mom who was in Paris with me in the spring, is now flying in from Hawaii as I write. At 84 yrs. old, she’s traveled half the world in half a year! (You go mom!)

So, where are we meeting and where is the treasure, you ask? Well, we’re meeting in Mexico. And the treasure? My nephew is claiming his bride! Yep! They’re getting married in Mexico. Why, I don’t really know? Afterall, he is American and so is his bride to be. (I think!) I believe they met in Chile, so perhaps they wanted to add a Latino flavor to their nuptials.

Hey, any place that has mariachi music playing and frozen margaritas flowing is all right with me! It’s in my blood afterall! My only complaint is they decided to get married on my birthday Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to the treasure hunt in Paris.

Different clues will be given to different teams all leading to the same treasure. Along the way, however, certain tasks must be performed in order to receive your next clue. You’ll encounter artists, shopkeepers, and other locals from the quartier all directing you to little known places, secret gardens and passages that you normally wouldn’t see.

Once you’ve received all your clues, put them all together and they’ll give you one final enigma to solve, which in turn will show you to your final destination. Participants will then be invited to place their name into an urn. To increase your chances you will be asked a question about something that happened along the journey. If you answer correctly you’ll receive additional coupons to place your name, which in turn will increase your chances of winning.

Prizes will be drawn and awarded at 16h30.

1st place: In each arrondissement: dinner (up to six) in a grand Parisian restaurant, or a night for two in a charming Parisian hotel.

2nd and 3rd place: Dinner (up to six) in a grand Parisian restaurant.

Jury Prizes:

Books from Découvertes Gallimard will be given to the Funniest Team, Most Motivated Team, Team Who Played the Fairest, The Most Lost Team, etc., plus many of the local shop owners will be offering prizes as well.

So what better way to enjoy my B-day then going on a treasure hunt! Besides, it’s a great way to feel like you’re part of the city rather than a tourist! It’s open to anyone and everyone, but teams cannot exceed six players. You can sign up in front of the town hall of either the 3e, 6e, 13, 18, or 19e arrondissement. The hunt begins at 10h and ends at 15h30. There’s no charge for participating, but I suggest going as early as possible to get a head start. The clues will be given in each of the five arrondissements until 13h. There will be several winners per area, but you must be back by the allotted time to win.

For more details, click here.  Good Luck to everyone! Cheers!

Photo Credit: Flickr and me!

Post from: The Paris Traveler

It’s one of those places where you can just hang out; put on headphones, listen to some great cds, all the while looking out the window, and watching the people strolling down the avenue. (Hundreds of thousands of people walk up and down the Champs-Elysées everyday!)

The selection of music is impressive where you can find just about anything from around the world and people are always striking up a conversation with you about their opinion of a certain type of music, or on what to buy. If you’re looking for a good book to read, however, the Fnac would be a better place to shop. (More on their stores in another post.) Dvds and videos have their own floor.

On June 6, Marc Levy will be meeting people and signing books at 6 p.m. His first book Et Si C’était Vrai was made into a film after meeting with Steven Spielberg. The English version, If Only It Were True became a so-so romantic comedy, entitled Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon. Levy has written several books which I have enjoyed, however, I believe only Et Si C’était Vrai has been translated into English. If you’re a fan of his, be sure to drop in and say hello!

Virgin Champs-Elysees
52/60 Avenue des Champs-Elysees
Paris 8
tel. 01.49.53.50.00
Open from 10h to midnight Mon-Sat
Noon to midnight Sundays
M° Franklin-D-Roosevelt
Buses: 42 73 83 and 93

Photo Credit: Flickr

Post from: The Paris Traveler