What’s in a Name?

Do we look a little different? No “Parler Paris” at the top, you ask?

Nope, but it’s still me, Adrian Leeds. We’re making a change and you’re the first to know about it. The Parler Paris and Parler Nice “Nouvellettres®” are becoming just one: the Adrian Leeds Nouvellettre®!

Don’t worry. I’ll still be writing about Paris and Nice, the rest of France and even beyond, but as of today…all under one name. The word “Nouvellettre®” is a made-up French word taken from the English “Newsletter” coined by my dear friend and author, Timothy Jay Smith. I cannot take credit for his clever wordsmithing, blurted out as a joke over dinner one evening many moons ago. I liked it; it stuck; and then I trademarked it. So, here we are.

Why the change and why so suddenly?

In March of 1998, I started a French-English Conversation Group named “Parler Parlor” with a partner who was the Director of Berlitz Champs Elysées. At the same time, I started an internal “communiqué” called “Parler Paris” for the members of the group. That was the beginning of this “Nouvellettre®,” now in its 23rd year of existence. The word, “Parler” became the foundation for all of what ensued, including “Parler Nice,” “Parler Paris Apartments” (when we were actively representing short-term rental apartments in Paris) and two different French companies I’ve owned, one named “Parler France” and my current company, “Parler France Properties.”

Now, suddenly this year, along comes a social media outlet from out of the blue who decided that “Parler” is a pretty cool name…except that this social media outlet is the kind with which I would not like to be associated. This new alt-tech microblogging and social networking service is an alternative to Facebook and Twitter, but it has a substantial user base of conservatives, conspiracy theorists, and right-wing extremists.

Nope, that Parler is definitely not our Parler and has zero to do with us. Theirs is not even pronounced the same as ours even though it is also taken from the French word “Parler,” meaning “to speak.” in French it is pronounced “par-lay” and theirs, an anglicized version, is pronounced like “par-lor.”

There has already been some confusion with us on social media forcing us to have to defend ourselves. Trying to fight them for use of our name would take a team of lawyers and a whole lot of money, so we’ve decided that it was time to say “adieu” to the Parler brand once and for all.

Au revoir Parler! Here’s what you can expect:

• Readers of Parler Paris and Parler Nice will now be receiving the new “Adrian Leeds Nouvellettre®”! The content won’t change. It could be about Paris, Nice or anywhere or anything related to France! You’ll receive it every Monday and Wednesday, just like always.
• The archives of Parler Paris and Parler Nice will still be accessible on our website, but there will be a new page for the Nouvellettres®.
• You will only receive the Nouvellettres® for which you subscribed and your email address will never be shared with any third parties. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• If you are subscribed to our real estate Nouvellettre®, French Property Insider, then you will still receive it (with no changes to its name) on Thursdays; 50 issues a year. If you are not subscribed, then you might wish to now!

Meanwhile, you aren’t going to miss a beat and nothing really has changed…except the name. And as we all know (thanks to Shakespeare’s own brilliant wordsmithing), “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Thank you for subscribing and supporting our efforts. Do share our stories and Nouvellettres® with your Francophile friends and please continue to let us hear your thoughts and comments!

A la prochaine…