Paris is Pure Pleasure
A friend of mine visits Paris from time to time as part of his 360 days a year of traveling for work. Often I hear one side of the conversation while he’s on his cell phone — the same conversation over and over. It goes like this:
Caller (I imagine): Where are you?
Friend (what I hear): Paris.
Caller (I imagine): Why are you there?
Friend (what I hear): Pure pleasure. Paris is pure pleasure.
Then the word “pleasure” started cropping up when least expecting it. Last Tuesday at our monthly coffee gathering of “Parler Paris Après Midi,” Victoria Strong made a reappearance after an absence of about four years. She had been busy those four years…and handed out her business cards which read:
Divine Feminine Touch |
There was that word again: Pleasure. This time, it described a kind of coach. I know what is a “Life Coach,” a “Career Coach” and even a “Football Coach.” But a pleasure coach?
It turns out there aren’t many of them around. In fact, if you do a search on the Net, the only one you’ll come up with is Victoria, Pleasure Coach, Paris. So, what’s a Pleasure Coach and why only in Paris?
Intrigued, I wanted to know more about Victoria’s secret. Over dinner I learned more about what she does, which is quite different from most coaches I knew. And while I understood that clients seek her to learn how to “heighten sexual pleasure, increase passion and desire, achieve an elevated state of awareness and sensitivity, reduce stress and negative energy, overcome sexual blocks, improve skills, self confidence and vitality as well as connect deeply to your masculine or feminine essence” (all that Victoria’s Web site explains), what was even more fascinating was our discussion comparing what the French culture thinks about ‘pleasure’ compared to our own Anglo Saxon culture…mot just sexual pleasure, but pleasures of all the senses.
Paris is pure pleasure on many levels. Let’s take the five senses. Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch. I dare you to name any one where Paris is NOT pure ‘pleasure.’
Sight: One of the most addictive aspects of Paris is its beauty. You can’t deny it. In fact, I think it’s what draws us here first and foremost and keeps us coming back for more…the sheer magnificence of the city. The French are every bit as addicted to its beauty and the beauty of EVERYTHING around them. They admire beauty in every aspect of their lives.
Ask any American woman in Paris what it’s like to suddenly have men actually LOOKING at them!…ADMIRING them! At first they feel awkward because it’s taboo in the American culture for men to stare. But not in France. Men look. Women love it. Before you know it, the women get used to it and enjoy all the attention. Then they go back west and get ignored again. Sad, but true. (Men, take notice.)
Sound: Listen to that sexy language: French. Notice how softly they speak and yet be heard. Every word sounds like they’re making love with their vowels. Even the harshest of concepts can sound sweet…and we have such a hard time getting those French “ehr’s” to casually roll out of our throats like they do, sounding like the soft “purrrrr” of a kitten. Doesn’t that make you swoon?
Smell: Well, the French didn’t invent perfume, but they perfected it. Catherine de Medici brought her own perfumer, René le Florentin from Italy. It was so important to her that his laboratory was connected with her apartments by a secret passageway, so that no formulas could be stolen en route. France is still home to many of the world’s best selling perfumes and the industry in France is still very much at the forefront. What’s your favorite? Chanel No.5? Shalimar by Guerlain?
Taste: Of course, the French will tell you that no cuisine compares to theirs. And whether that is true or not, they certainly rank cuisine as one of life’s greatest pleasures. Most of the world’s greatest chefs were schooled in France. Check the Wikipedia.org list of famous chefs and food experts throughout history. Note how many are French!…Alain Ducasse, Guy Savoy, Joël Robuchon, Paul Bocuse…to name only a few. And don’t we come here salivating over that three-star meal at Arpège, Taillevent or L’Ambroisie? Or even any simple bistrot meal for a pittance?
Touch: This is where the French really excel. Men kiss women. Women kiss women. Men kiss men. Kissing is done all the time, even by strangers who are greeting one another for the first time. I witnessed the highest level male French officials kissing one another at an important state occasion. Can you just see that happening at the White House!? “Quel horror!”
But it goes beyond the kissing, of course. It is normal for a French lover to uses his skills of touch in the art of seduction. (Victoria’s secret?) Even French fabrics have a special “hand” (feel or touch).
Pure pleasure. And what’s wrong with experiencing pleasure in our lives? Who was it who said we shouldn’t enjoy ourselves fully in these short little lives of ours? I want to meet that person and give him a ‘piece of my mind’…so that I can have ‘peace of mind’…and pleasure.
A la prochaine…
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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P.S. It is not possible to live in this world — this world being the American community in Paris — and ignore the politics. Some readers would prefer to “…keep this site focused on the joys of France and not use the address list for broadcasting politically oriented news.”
Guess what? The politics of our living here IS part of life in France for an American. That’s my goal — to bring you a slice of life here in Paris through American eyes. Read again. I have NEVER expressed any political opinion — only reported on what I see, hear and experience. What you think of that is your own to think and express…as is mine. It never ceases to amaze me how many of those who ‘disagree’ can’t ‘agree’ to ‘disagree.’
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