Sell, Meet, Bid

HAVE A HOME IN FRANCE TO SELL?

Because we’re primarily Property Consultants, we won’t sell a property that we don’t recommend buying. That’s our motto. And that’s the reason we haven’t had many “listings” like traditional real estate agencies. It’s also why when we do have a property to sell, it sells very quickly, in most cases.

Jennifer Parrette, a Search Consultant working with our team in Nice for the last few years, has taken over as our Sales Manager. She will be working to secure listings of properties all over France that fit our client base and those that we would recommend buying! We have also added partners to our team that help expand our market for those sales by working with large, international agencies that have a broader reach than we do.

Before coming to work with the Adrian Leeds Group, Jennifer had been living in France for several years, during which time she had launched her own real estate company called Cathar Country Houses. It provided sales and relocation services for international clients as well as French natives in the South of France. She is an experienced professional with a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth who has built business teams in both real estate and the entertainment industry. Jennifer happens to be married to internationally acclaimed jazz vocalist and songwriter, Vinx, who grew up in the midwest alongside our staff member, Patty Sadauskas.

Learn more about Jennifer here.

If you have a home in France to sell, and wish to get an estimate for our sales services, contact Jennifer by email.

JOSEPHINE BAKER MEETS JAMES BALDWIN

In Monday’s Nouvellettre® I wrote about an event that took place that evening at the swank restaurant, Bambou, to honor Josephine Baker and the 98th Anniversary of the mythic show La Revue Negre.

The weather was so beautiful that evening that I walked to Bambou from home, about a 20-minute walk. On the way I got lost in thought, thinking about how the American community in France does not see color. We do not distinguish between us as Americans who are black, white or pink. We are simply Americans and have this in common, while all other labels we might place on ourselves disappear. It doesn’t matter what color, what religion or what sexual orientation we have—we’re first and foremost Americans and nothing else matters. It’s one of the things I love so much about living in France, having come from New Orleans where it does matter…or it did when I was growing up.

Then, I also realized that the French embraced that same idea. They didn’t love Josephine Baker because she was Black. They loved her because she was who she was—an amazing performer, a political activist, a spy for the Allies during WWII, a humanist who adopted a dozen kids (the “Rainbow Tribe”) and someone who stole our hearts with her bold and brazen life and her electric personality. It’s one reason, though, that so many African-American artists have had huge successes in France, when they were treated so differently in their home country.

I walked into Bambou after they had already started with a bevy of fabulous performers to bring us into the Baker spirit. The room was filled to the brim, but I spotted a small padded stool in one corner and those at that table were good enough to let me sneak in. A couple on my left whispered that it was because of my Nouvellettre® that they were there and thanked me for such notices. The woman on my right had the most beautiful dreadlocks, slightly graying and amazingly her eyeglasses matched her hair. I couldn’t wait to tell her how much I loved her look.

It turned out that she, Tara Phillips, is the new Director of La Maison Baldwin. “La Maison Baldwin is a French nonprofit organization founded to honor and celebrate James Baldwin’s life and legacy by developing, supporting, and promoting Black writers and artists through conferences, writers residencies and partnerships to advance the fight for social justice and equity.”

We had just been talking about the Maison Baldwin Sunday night at the Paris Writer’s Group monthly meeting with author, Jake Lamar…and here was the director, sitting next to me with her fabulous hair and matching glasses! When we started to talk, she also found the coincidence funny because she had just been discussing me with her friend, Nicole, who just happens to be our bookkeeper/accountant and who was hoping to attend with me that evening. The coincidences were getting almost silly! And I knew right then and there that I was in the right place at the right time. We made an instant connection.

If you don’t know who James Arthur Baldwin was, then get up to speed! He was an American writer who lived in Paris and died in France in 1987. He was a well-known public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States. Frustrated by the racial bias he encountered in America and desiring to have his identity and writing appreciated beyond the confines of an African-American perspective, he made the decision to leave the U.S. at the age of 24 and establish himself in Paris. Baldwin aimed to avoid being solely categorized as “just a Black man” or even “just a Black writer.” Additionally, he sought to confront his feelings of sexual uncertainty and break free from the sense of despair that many young African-American men, like himself, faced in New York. (Source: Wikipedia.org)

Baldwin’s story is pivotal for African Americans living everywhere, particularly in Paris and France. He has inspired the African-American community on a similar level as has Josephine Baker. And it inspires all of us, even if we’re not part of the African-American community. I may be white-skinned, and Jewish by birth, but I am still part of the American community here in France and we, Americans living in France, embrace everyone…regardless.

Special note: Jake Lamar will be speaking at Après-Midi in Paris in April 2024, so mark your calendars now! Meanwhile, his newest book is now available in the US. This marks the first time in 17 years that he’s publishing a book in his native country. Viper’s Dream is a hard-boiled crime novel set in the jazz world of Harlem between 1936 and 1961. The book has had wonderful receptions in France, where it was published two years ago, and in the UK, where it was published in April.

Here’s where to find it.

Then, come to Après-Midi and get your own signed copy!

LEARN FRENCH, LIVE FRENCH, LOVE FRENCH!

Here’s your chance to schedule a one-on-one personal consultation with me and benefit the USA network of 100+ Alliance Française chapters all at the same time!

I’ve donated a two-hour consultation to their annual online fundraising auction—open for bidding through November 15th.

Browse their offerings and make your bids for the perfect gift for the Francophones and Francophiles in your life (including you)! Choose from the top immersion programs in France, luxury items, Alliance Française logo merchandise, food and restaurants and more…such as our Consultation.

The proceeds from this event will be dedicated to a national grants program, so your bidding will directly benefit Alliance Française chapters in the U.S. All bidders are welcome! Bidding is online only and will end on November 15th at 8 p.m. Pacific, 10 p.m. Central, 11 p.m. Eastern.

Visit this website to see all the items.

The auction is sponsored by the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA. I hope you enjoy participating!

A la prochaine…