“Meeting Up in Paris…Making Decisions, Learning the Language and the Lore”

Last night I attended the annual Copropriété (homeowner’s) meeting for my rue Charlot rental apartment. Most people HATE attending them. I get a real kick out of them…they are sooooo FRENCH.

Pascal Fonquernie, of Parismarais.com, who owns three apartments in the building and is ceaselessly concerned with esthetics, campaigned for a new door leading to the courtyard, even though the present one works perfectly well. The discussion over the door was a good 20 minutes among the dozen owners there. Shockingly, they voted (me included) to spend four times the price to have a classic Marais wrought-iron door replace the current one rather than simply alter what was there. Pascal also managed to ram-rod carpeting in the tiny stairwell of our building (there are four buildings surrounding one courtyard) to reduce the noise of vacationers hauling up their luggage. He manages to get a lot accomplished and it shows, as the building is perfectly maintained and managed…it helps keep the apartments well rented, so you will hear no complaints from me.

Not everyone who owns an apartment in Paris has the luxury of being available once a year for these important meetings. We happen to have an attorney working closely with us who can attend on your behalf and who will review and translate the meeting agenda and discuss with you the issues of concern/voting, plus prepare a summary of meeting. (See
/frenchproperty/consultation/apres_vente.html for more information.)

If you want to attempt the meeting on your own, you better brush up on your French! Now’s your chance…at Lutèce Langue. We have finally solidified our new Saturday location for the Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group beginning June 2nd (it’s closed this coming Saturday for the Pentecôte holiday weekend) at Lutèce Langue, Ecole de Langue Française de Paris. Lutèce Langue is a small school with a warm and friendly atmosphere teaching French in small groups of three to six, and it happens to be in a great location in the heart of Paris near Châtelet and the Centre Pompidou on boulevard de Sébastopol. visit the Lutèce Langue site at http://www.lutece-langue.com/ to sign up for French lessons then plan on practicing all you’ve learned at Parler Parlor. Parler Parlor is FREE to all students of Lutèce Langue. Read more about it at http://www.parlerparlor.com/

To practice up on your knowledge of Paris and the Ile Saint-Louis, put on your agenda Friday and Monday night’s readings by murder mystery author Cara Black…Friday, May 25th at The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore (22, rue St Paul, 4th, http://www.theredwheelbarrow.com) at 7 p.m. and Monday, May 28th at Shakespeare and Company (37 rue de la Bucherie, 5th, http://www.shakespeareco.org) at 7 p.m.. Cara will be reading from “Murder on the Ile Saint Louis” with a discussion following. She will be also be speaking at the upcoming Living and Investing in France Real Estate Conference during the Celebration Dinner along with a presentation by author Leonard Pitt…”A Night in the Marais” on Saturday, July 7, 2007, at 8 p.m. at La Cave French Bistrot (1345 Bush Street, Between Polk and Larkin Streets in San Francisco). It’s open to everyone so even if you’re not attending the Living and Investing in France Real Estate Conference, you will want to come and hear Cara and Leonard, our special guest speakers. Visit /frenchproperty/conference/LIF_SF_AF_July_2007/dinner.html for more information and to register.

A la prochaine…