Parler Paris and Parler Nice are long-standing brands of the Adrian Leeds Group. They are in no way associated with the social platform Parler, nor do they share any of the philosophies of that platform.

Your taste of life in Paris!

Subscribe and don't miss an issue!

Bringing Home the Euros…The American Entrepreneurial Way

The good old-fashioned American entrepreneurial spirit surrounds us here like a fresh, leafy forest with warm rays of sun pouring down through the foliage. I have been particularly aware of it this past week via friends who are networking to build clientele, colleagues with new Web sites offering new services and clients who have come to consult with me on what areas of business still aren’t being provided here in France.

In my quest to understand the nuances of entrepreneurship, I found this great definition of the French word “entrepreneur” at http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/:

“The concept of entrepreneurship has a wide range of meanings. On the one extreme an entrepreneur is a person of very high aptitude who pioneers change, possessing characteristics found in only a very small fraction of the population. On the other extreme of definitions, anyone who wants to work for himself or herself is considered to be an entrepreneur. The word entrepreneur originates from the French word, entreprendre, which means “to undertake.” In a business context, it means to start a business. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary presents the definition of an entrepreneur as one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.”

Interestingly, the French haven’t been an entrepreneurial culture at all, at least not until recently, and my conclusion is that the reason for that is “risk.” This more socialist society has preferred in the past to seek a less risky and more secure lifestyle. In the past few years, however, I have witnessed a serious change in the young French — I believe as a result of the Internet, globalization and the desire to keep up with today’s fast-paced technologically-based industries. Just yesterday I received a letter from a Frenchman named Frédéric LeRoux who informed me of a non-profit organization in Paris called the “Agency Regionale de Developpement” that advises and assists international companies in starting, expanding or relocating business activities in the Paris region (Paris Regional Development Agency, http://www.paris-region.com/, http://www.paris-region.com/ard_uk/default.asp for the English version). Wow! Take advantage of this valuable resource.

North American entrepreneurs are the most likely personality types to have what it takes to make the move to France successfully, unless they’re retiring with enough funds to live on or were lucky enough to have companies that moved them here for their work. Those of us who have to find a way to earn a living in a society where getting the right to work is near to impossible (as difficult as getting a “green card” in the U.S.), we are forced into finding ways to depend on our own livelihood, recreate ourselves in such a way that we can fit in and bring home the euros, legally, illegally or whatever way we find to pay the rent for our pied-à-terres and daily croissants.

When you scroll down to the community calendar to read about what’s going on in the City of Light the next few weeks, notice how many of our American friends are offering opportunities for you while making a life for themselves. As an illustration, here are just a few I’ve had immediate contact with this past week:

Patricia Laplante Collins’ Sunday Soirées and Wednesday Networking meetings have been hosting opportunities for years. Old friend from New Orleans and American-trained psychologist Dale Novick Gaber will be speaking this coming Sunday on “Why Men Have Affairs” (she says she has a two-hour talk to condense into one and we’re sure it will be fascinating). She (like the others who speak at the soirées) offers her advice in an effort to let everyone know she is now accepting private clients.

Colleague Lorin Kalisky recently launched his new Web site, http://www.Franglo.com, to provide Expats with an online classifieds resource (you can link to it directly from /parlerparis/, too), so that you’ll now have Internet access to all the services we entrepreneurs would need to make the move here, plus lots more. He also co-authored “Living, Studying, and Working in France: Everything You Need to Know to Fulfill Your Dreams of Living Abroad” which you can buy by clicking on /parlerparis/books/booksaboutfrance.html

Al Stewart of Business Mentors, Inc, http://www.business-mentors.com/, spends his time between his Paris, Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale homes to work with clients who want to achieve new career goals, make critical decisions about mid-career changes, strengthen leadership skills and become more influential with others, start their own business or become a professional consultant and of course, relocate to a new city (!) and more.

Harriet (Hat) Sternstein moved here several months ago after attending a Working and Living in France Conference with me here in Paris and is in the throws of starting “Mon Bon Chien,” her new gourmet pet bakery! What a novel idea! We hope the French will love it.

And Tracy James, our newest “Calendar Gal” who has volunteered to edit the weekly calendar, moved here from

Washington state with a background in mortgage brokering and a desire to make it work for her here. I can’t wait to connect her with the other Americans in town who can offer her opportunities in this field.

I could go on and on and on. And I was about to say, “but I won’t bore you,” and then I remembered — that it’s exactly the opposite of “boring.’ These multitudes of entrepreneurial personalities living here are the most fascinating people on the planet. They are risk-takers. They have lived in many places. Often they speak many languages. They aren’t afraid of venturing out into unknown territory and are willing to risk their savings and their futures on the opportunity to create a life here in Paris and other parts of France. And they have a real passion for what they are doing — since it’s so challenging in this environment!

At the upcoming Living and Investing in France Conference, we’re going to be exploring this topic at length, during the session titled “Starting a Business in France” with John Howell, who is just about to release his new book, “Starting a Business in France,” published by Cadogan Guides. Who better than John to explain in detail what it takes to fire-up your entrepreneurial spirit in France? (Visit /frenchproperty/conference/LIF_NOLA/LIF_NOLA_home.html for more information and to register now to get the early bird discount.)

As I write this, I await the arrival of my “K-bis” — the official document that proves the existence of my new French company, and then I will be even more of an entrepreneurial American living in the land of “liberté, egalité, fraternité.”

A la prochaine…


Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris

P.S. A few reminders of upcoming events not to miss:

Come for Gazettes des Rois, Vin Chaud, conversational exchange and membership discounts Saturday, January 15th, 2005, to the Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group. Visit http://www.parlerparlor.com/ for more information.

Parler Paris Après Midi meets Tuesday, January 11th from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at La Pierre du Marais. Visit /parlerparis/apresmidi.html for all the details and to read the report from last month’s meeting

====================
Further resources:
====================

* Getting a mortgage in France is easier than you think. Let us help.
/frenchproperty/insider/mortgage.html

* Meet with Adrian Leeds for a personal one-on-one consultation to learn how to make your dream to live in France come true. Visit /parlerparis/services/consultationservices.html

* Get to know the Parler Paris Professionals who can help you make your dream to live in France come true. Visit /parlerparis/services/index.html

====================
Calendar #39
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Paris, France
====================

Special note:

If you wish your community announcement to be listed in the Parler Paris Previews, continue to please provide the text in ENGLISH just as you’d like it to appear and send it to Lynda Sydney at [email protected]?subject=Calendar_Listing. We reserve the right to edit as necessary.

Thank you, Adrian

====================
Strictly Entertainment:
Comedy, Plays, Movies
====================

MOVING PARTS Play Readings In English

DUSK
by Charles Borkhuis

When a failing, middle-aged writer cum petty criminal and his confused teenage son visit the writer’s parents in a small college town, they disturb a hornet’s nest of unresolved family conflicts. The writer’s mother has recently suffered a paralyzing stroke and is cared for by the writer’s starkly humorous and at times punishing father, who is a retired professor. In a series of savagely funny and darkly ironic variations on a birthday visit, we are exposed to the stories of several generations of males who have rejected their fathers, while identifying with their grandfathers. The wounded but resolute psyches of the writer’s mother and wife form an eerie parallel that stares across generations in an attempt to heal the family’s deep lacerations and deadly silences. The last scene of the play occurs two years before the mother’s stroke, when the same characters collect for another birthday party.

Starring

MADELEINE BARCHEVSKA
ROBERT BARR
ROBERT BRADFORD
ROD EVANS
KIM TILBURY

Sunday, 9th January at 7:30 p.m.
Carr’s Pub & Restaurant
1 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris
Metro: Tuileries

The following further readings have been organized by MOVING PARTS
with the kind permission of Carr’s Pub & Restaurant
Always on Sundays, always at 7:30 p.m.

Plays in English:

23rd January Elena Kaufman “Mothership”
20th February Rachel Ollagnon “Coupling”
6th March Kenneth Hickey “The Train Set”
13th March Paul Delmont “The Interrogation of Miriam of Nazareth”
20th March Mary Bruton-Sandifer “Hunting Season” (2nd reading)
17th April NC Heikin “FE-MAIL”

Plays in French:
6th February Michael Diantonio “Epidéo”
3rd April Romain Bisseret “Mariage d’Amis”
1st May Pascal Loison “Intimités”

Contact Stephanie to book a reading of YOUR play. June 2005 onwards dates available.

Latest version always available on the website: http://www.scamparis.com
or send an e-mail to Stephanie [email protected]

For further information contact Stephanie Campion 06.14.67.18.58

——————

DRAMA TIES THEATRE COMPANY present a play in English at Comédie Bastille, 5 rue Nicolas Appert, Paris 11th:

PRINCE ACADEMY
by Kester Lovelace
Inspired by the classic Mark Twain novel, The Prince and the Pauper.
Britain is in crisis, after the abdication of its two Princes. A new TV reality show, Prince Academy, is launched to find the young man who can sing, dance and charm Princesses. The favorite to win changes places, unseen by the cameras, with a math geek. The audience will get to vote to decide the end of the story.

Monday 10 January 2005 – 2:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Thursday 13 January 2005 – 10:00 p.m. & 1:30 p.m.
with Maja Bieler, Elena Kaufman, Simon-Timothy Marozzi.
Directed by Kester Lovelace
Songs by David Stanley

Tickets: 13 euros and 35 euros (families)

All Bookings:
Drama Ties Theatre Company
Tel: 01.45.86.30.52
[email protected]
http://www.drama-ties.com

——————–

On Stage at the Théâtre de Nesle through January 2005

TRAVELLIN’LIGHT by Nicholas Calderbank
A free-wheeling comedy suitable for ages and linguistic levels.

8 rue de Nesle, 75006 Paris, Métro: Odeon
10 euros/8 euros for students and unemployed
Reservations: 01.46.34.61.04

====================
Musical Interludes
====================

JAY GOTTLIEB, piano

Saturday, January 22 8 p.m.
L’Atrium Daniel Magne
12 rue Charlot, 75003 Paris
Metro: Filles du Calvaire

Tickets: Free

====================
Literary Events
====================

ALESIAN LITERARY SALON By Toby Brothers

January 10th 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.- NOW is the time to register. Below you will find the spaces left in each Salon as of Monday Jan 3.

Bleak House- Charles Dickens- Monday Evenings 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. Start date January 10th. Spaces remaining: 4
The Sound & the Fury- Tuesday afternoons 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Start date January 10th. Spaces remaining: 7
The Sound & the Fury- Tuesday Evenings 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. Start date January 13th. Spaces remaining: 3

Website: http://literarysalon.free.fr
Call 06.85.13.81.27 or email [email protected] for more information.

==============================
Trade Shows, Exhibitions
==============================

Les Nuits Parisiennes 2005

Start 2005 with panache at Les Nuits Parisiennes at the Carrousel du Louvre on January 27th and January 28th. Join over 8000 visitors and experience 70 expositions including music, visual shows, lingerie, magicians, dance and delicacies to name a few! Participate in the “Allumez vos bougies” on January 27th and light up the city, and sashay into the stunning La soirée de clôture on January 28th.

For more information visit: http://lesnuitsparisiennes.fr

——————

MUSÉE DAPPER-the premier space in France dedicated to ancient and contemporary art of Africa.

Musical performance of “Issa, longues jambes” by la Compagnie Vertigo. Inspired by a traditional African story, the tale reunites words, music and dance.

Sundays: 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th January
Wednesdays: 19th & 26th January at 3:00 p.m.

Entry Fees: 8 euros; Reduced Fee: 6 euros for children under 12

CIRQUE: Balabala Street

Désiré N’Goma (acrobat, équilibriste) et Vincent Mézières (juggler) presented by la Compagnie Chapiteau d’Afrique

MUSÉE DAPPER
35, rue Paul Valéry 75116 PARIS M° Victor Hugo
Open every day except Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Tél.01.45.00.91.75
http://www.dapper.com.fr

====================
Bonnes Soirées and Great Gatherings
====================

PARLER PARIS APRES-MIDI
/parlerparis/apresmidi.html

Next Meeting: January 11th, 2004 and Every Second Tuesday of the Month 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This is your opportunity to meet every month, often with local professionals who can answer your Working and Living in France questions. You are invited to come for drinks and share your questions and comments about what it takes to create a life here, own property and enjoy what France has to offer. It is also an opportunity to network with other Parler Paris readers.

Upstairs at La Pierre du Marais
96, rue des Archives at the corner of rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris
Métro Lines 9, 3 et 11, stations Temple, République or Arts et Métiers

———————

Paris Networking Cocktail

Paris Networking Cocktail and guest speaker every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Buffet. Make contacts for business, career opportunities, self-development. Bring lots of Business Cards to exchange with others. You must bring a card.

COCKTAIL BUFFET. FOLLOWED BY GUEST SPEAKER*

Wednesday 5 January
6:30 P.M. TO 8:30 P.M.

Our guest speaker will be:

Naomi Beckler
Professional Organizer
“Getting Organized For Success”

NAOMI EPHRAIM BECKLER became a professional organizer after managing teams and projects for 15 years in industries as diverse as chemistry, finance, and tourism. For Naomi, being organized has been one of the critical factors for her success. This Wednesday Naomi will dispel some of the myths around being organized and creating an approach that makes it simple, straight forward and satisfying.

BUFFET: GOOD WINE. FUN CANAPES. AFTER THE TALK, PASTA OF THE DAY
FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO STAY.

CONFIRMED RESERVATIONS ARE NECESSARY.
Thanks for reserving via return email! If you don’t receive an email
confirmation by Sunday, please call Patricia’s Tel: 01.43.26.12.88, E-mail: [email protected]

———————–

Paris Soirée Dinners
Every Sunday

Patricia Laplante-Collins has international dinner parties on the Ile St-Louis. There is always a Guest speaker, perhaps a Writer, Actor, Historian — you name it, Patricia hosts them all. Patricia is proud to have a 21st Century Parisian Salon. Our mission is to simply enlarge our circle of acquaintances in a safe and stimulating atmosphere while promoting Cultural Achievement, The New Age and Paris Personalities. And we have fun! We are THE gathering place for the International Community of Paris. Enjoy! Discuss! Meet new and interesting people.

SUNDAY 9 JANUARY
Featuring Psychotherapist Dale Novick Gaber

“Men Who Cheat On Women. Why Men Have Affairs.”

Dale Novick Gaber’s training and expertise in the field of psychology covers a diverse and profound array of experience. In addition to teaching psychology at three colleges, she has worked with penalized criminals (forensics), the physically and mentally disabled, couples relationships, situational problems and people in transitions. She has additional expertise in administering and evaluating the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the most widely used measure of personality in the world. Publication of her doctoral dissertation is pending, “Computer Addiction as a Function of Temperament.” She is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana and has moved to Paris where she will be able to see private clients for counseling.

BUFFET: GOOD WINE. FUN CANAPES. AFTER THE TALK, PASTA OF THE DAY
FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO STAY.

CONFIRMED RESERVATIONS ARE NECESSARY.
Thanks for reserving via return email! If you don’t receive an email
confirmation by Sunday, please call Patricia’s Tel: 01.43.26.12.88,
E-mail: [email protected]

——————-

27 Years Of Dinner Chez Jim Haynes

Jim’s atelier becomes a salon every Sunday night where about 70 peop

le from all over the world meet, dine, drink and enjoy themselves. Telephone on Saturday or Sunday for your invitation, directions and the door code.

Jim Haynes
Atelier A2
83, rue de la Tombe Issoire
75014 Paris
01.43.27.17.67, email [email protected]

====================
Services
====================

Have your portrait painted by American Portrait Artist, Kathy Burke
For samples of her great work, visit /parlerparis/art/index.html

====================
Knowledge is Power — Conferences, Workshops and Seminars
====================

CHILD DEVELOPMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Seminar Series on Children and Mental Health at the AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS

January 19, 2005, 8:00 p.m.

Dr. Bénédicte de Boysson-Bardies – Development of Language in the Young Child Human beings belong to a species endowed with a remarkable capability: the ability to communicate using an articulate language that allows the rapid transmission of complex information. The infant acquires this knowledge very quickly. How is this possible? What are these innate abilities, how do they develop in the course of the two first years of the infant’s life, and what factors in the infant’s familiar environment assist in this process? Dr. Bénédicte de Boysson-Bardies will speak in French with questions in both languages.

These programs are free and open to the public.

The American Library in Paris
10 rue du Général Camou, 75007 Paris
01.53.59.12.60 or e-mail [email protected]
http://www.americanlibraryinparis.org

Metro: Alma Marceau or Ecole Militaire

——————–

DEMOCRATS ABROAD FRANCE & REPUBLICAN ABROAD FRANCE

January 25, 2005, 6:45 (for 7 p.m.)
At the Chambre de Commerce & Industrie de Paris
2 Place de la Bourse, 75002 Paris
Métro Bourse (parking across the street)

THE DOLLAR: WEAK OR STRONG?
A DEBATE

What does the decline of the dollar mean for the US and the world economy? Is it pointing toward a world financial crisis?
Is it simply a reaction to current trends in the American economy? Where does the dollar go from here? Are the Bush administration
and the Fed pursuing the right policy with regard to the dollar? The answers tend to divide along political lines. Perceptions
about the performance of the American economy (GNP, inflation, savings, interest rates, federal spending, deficits and taxes)
figure and differ, particularly among Democrats and Republicans. International economists, bankers and businessmen will discuss
these crucial issues and other related ones.

Ronald Freeman, European real estate/emerging markets investor, former partner investment banking head, Solomon Brothers/Citigroup, VP of ERBD Banking Department

Paul Horne, Independent Market Economist, European rep for IBEC financial services, economic-financial correspondent for Newsweek and The Times

Robert Pingeon, Chair, Republicans Abroad France, President Conti International, formerly managing director for Cigna in Europe and managing Director of Chubb France

4Th person to be announced Moderator: Axel Krause, Paris correspondent of Transatlantic Magazine, and secretary general of the Anglo-American Press Association of Paris, formerly, Corporate Editor of the International Herald Tribune

20 euros includes cocktail after the discussion.

RSVP: [email protected]
To reserve, send 20 euros or $27 to Democrats Abroad France, 240 bis bd St-Germain, 75007 Paris

====================
Learning la Langue Française
====================

Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group
http://www.parlerparlor.com

Celebrating our 7th Year in Paris

KING CAKE PARTY (Galettes des Rois)

Saturday, January 15, 2005, 11 a.m.
at Eurocentres – 13 Passage Dauphine, 6th
OPEN TO EVERYONE!

Come for conversational exchange and celebrate the New Year over Galettes des Rois with Vin Chaud. Make new friends, practice speaking French and English and get to know the members.

SAVE 10 EUROS OFF A 10-SESSION CARD
AND 20 EUROS OFF A 20-SESSION CARD THAT DAY!

Join us at the Parler Parlor conversation group in Paris France for free-form conversation with native French and English speakers. Practice speaking 45 minutes in French, 45 minutes in English. Make friends, discuss interesting topics, learn about other cultures, progress in understanding and speaking, naturally and easily, in groups of six to eight, each in its own acoustically sound private room.

Parlor Times — 3 Times A Week In Two Locations

Berlitz Opera – Tuesdays 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
38 Avenue de l’Opéra
2nd arrondissement, Paris
Opéra, RER A Auber

At Eurocentres – Wednesdays 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
13 passage Dauphine (entrance between rue Dauphine and rue Mazarine),
6th arrondissement
Métro Odéon, Saint-Michel

Membership And General Information
http://www.parlerparlor.com
Email: [email protected]
Elisabeth Crochard, Tel: 01.44.19.76.61
Adrian Leeds, Tel: 01.40.27.97.59

====================
Astro-Paris by Eric Francis
====================

Expat Stars

For those of you wondering what the fuss is, there continues to be a lot of pressure coming from Sagittarius, the official sign of ‘I’ve got to get back to France.’ In essence, everything now happening has an international theme. Even though the Sun is in Capricorn and the days are getting longer and it’s officially winter, there are still remnants of the Sagittarius experience, including newly arrived Mars, Pluto, Venus, and Mercury about to wrap up the very end of its two-month retrograde experience.

In my view, the retrograde is officially over when Mercury enters new territory for the first time, which happened to be way, way, way back on Nov. 20, 2004. God that seems like an eternity ago, just two weeks after the election, in another lifetime. I think Mercury plays games with time and/or is in part responsible for our perception of time.

Set your watch; the big moment is Friday, Jan. 7 at 10:03:28 p.m. CET. The unusual thing about this particular ending of Mercury retrograde is that it’s coincidental with this planet crossing the core of the Milky Way galaxy, where it made an exact station (appearing to stop and turn backwards, hence, retrograde motion) on Nov. 30. This an this alone was a sufficient clue that something really big was up. It’s just difficult to see precisely what that something might have been in advance.

We’ve also had quite unusual vibes coming with the combination of
eclipses and exact occultations of planets by the Moon. And the earthquake and tsunami came hours before the exact Full Moon. Follow my coverage of that at http://cainer.com/

Harper’s magazine reported this week that Norodom Sihanouk, the retired king of Cambodia, said his country had been spared thanks to the warnings of his astrologer. That’s cool, because maybe some of my warnings will save the United States from a fate it’s been vigorously courting. Let me put it this way. It is Act Two of the Bush administration that contains the surprise ending. But it’s one of those surprises where everyone will say, ‘Well, I’m not surprised.’

Happy Birthday, Capricorn!

You can finally afford to put your fears behind you. There are no problems without solutions, and everything in this world is subject to the conscious intentions you bring to the many situations of your life. Only one thing is required, which is that you believe in yourself. One gets good at this by daily practice. Everything becomes an opportunity to withdraw faith in yourself, or to increase that faith. At the moment you have plenty of wind in your sails and more than a few rock-solid accomplishments behind you. You have faced some of your worst fears in actual, real-life situations, and you’re still walking, living, learning and loving. Quite honestly, all the evidence is stacked in your favor.

Eric Francis is an astrological consultant with 10 years experience, and an astrological writer whose work appears across the United States, the UK, Spain, Australia and France and up and down the Internet. He has served as the personal astrologer to the Crown Prince of Antarctica, and the cousin of the Duke of Lichtenstein’s butler. He charges a heck of a lot for his work, but they say it’s worth it. You can reach him via his United States office at (206) 567-4455 during Eastern business hours (you will speak to Ms. Bottinelli), or in Paris at 01 4329-0834. You can visit his web page at http://planetwaves.net/ where you can subscribe to the long-awaited 2005 annual horoscope.

Read more writing by Eric Francis at http://PlanetWavesWeekly.com/ or subscribe to Planet Waves Weekly directly by calling (877) 453-8265. Planet Waves Weekly is my (twice) weekly astrology news service devoted to covering world events from a personally relevant angle, with much information about healing, astrology, astronomy and more; plus my weekly Sun-Sign horoscopes. International, call (206) 567-4455 during Eastern business hours.

SHARE THIS POST

Leave a Comment




Let Us create a custom strategy for you

You can live or invest in France-now.

Property for sale

Read & Subscribe

Dive into more by reading Parler Nice & French Property Insider.

Better yet, subscribe to one or all and get the updates delivered to your inbox.

Global Money Services

Our contacts will help you invest in France.

Moneycorp a foreign exchange and international currency specialist
OFX Global logo

Join us at our monthly Après-Midi.

Become a part of the Paris community.

See Adrian on HHI

Find out how we can help you invest in your own piece of France.