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Paris Pitfalls


When you’re in the conference room of a Holiday Inn, you could be
almost anywhere, let alone Paris…until you crack the window to let
in a cool breeze, only to hear a demonstration going on in the Place
just below!…or until you realize that the recurring phrases you
hear start with "Here in France…"


Since Friday afternoon, we’ve been surrounded by enthusiastic
Francophiles who came to Paris for the Working and Living in France
Conference–the first of its kind and certainly not the last. Well
said by one of the participants: "…together a great cast of players
to help me make my dream come true. Merci beaucoup!"


Agora Publishing CEO, Bill Bonner, opened the Conference with a list
of pitfalls he ran into after moving here, purchasing his Château
d’Ouzilly near Poitiers and renovating it
(http://www.internationalliving.com/chateau)–an American version of
the Peter Mayle tale. That was only the beginning.


Speaker after speaker offered information and advice on how to avoid
them…the pitfalls, that is. Jean Taquet, legal advisor and author
of "The Insider Guide to Practical Answers for Living in France,"
kept everyone taking furious notes ("Jean [Taquet] was such a wealth
of information!") while chuckling over his half Anglo/half French
anecdotes and analogies. His illustrative technique to providing a
clear understanding of the complicated French bureaucracy kept us all
from becoming depressed by it!


During Thirza Vallois’ four-hour non-stop bus tour of Paris, she told
a few anecdotes herself, one of which was shockingly explicit and
left us laughing as much as two days later. Have no fear–it’s all on
tape!


Ed Flaherty of Prime Cut Productions had his camera focused most
often on the presenters for the 10-hour Live On Video cassette set of
the Conference, but explained at the end that he had caught some
great "slips of the tongue" on camera, including Thirza’s recount of
something actress Arletty once said. Now we’re rushing to see what
else he has on his tapes!


The Conference ended with a tour of apartments in Paris anxious to
find new inhabitants. We split into three groups to each concentrate
on a different area of Paris. Six flights up to a roof-top garden
apartment on the Ile Saint-Louis was a "WOW," but the "piece de la
résistance" may have been the antique dealer-owned Marais apartment
with a stainless-steel kitchen and golden-toned walls. We are all
ready to move in except for the hard-to-swallow price.


Real estate prices in Paris continue to climb, but rental manager
Glenn Cooper (Cooper Paris Flats) explained that it’s still very
reasonable compared to other major cities worldwide. He simply said,
"If you find a property you like and can afford it, buy it." Schuyler
Hoffman added, "…but be sure you’re not paying more than you
should, regardless!"


Earlier this morning we climbed aboard the TGV for Montpellier and a
five-day tour of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France to see
even more properties. I’m sure to have plenty more tales to tell next
week, so stay tuned.


A la prochaine fois,


Adrian


P.S. For information on the next Working and Living in France
Conference in Paris, scheduled for June 2003, get on a special
mailing list NOW! Please send an e-mail to:
mailto:[email protected]?subject=JuneWorkingConference


To read more of what Conference participants had to say at the end of
their days, click here:
/parlerparis/liveinfrance/comments.html To read more
about Conference presenters, click here:
/parlerparis/liveinfrance/presentersbios.html


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Parler Paris
/parlerparis/
Written and Edited by Adrian Leeds


Published by International Living
http://www.internationalliving.com
E-mail: [email protected]


Issue Number 61, October 22, 2002


In this issue:


*** The Conference in All its Glory–Live on Video
*** Electronic Paris Eroticism
*** The Magic Door Near the Tuileries Gardens


*** WORKING AND LIVING IN FRANCE CONFERENCE LIVE ON VIDEO


If you couldn’t attend the Working and Living in France Conference
here in Paris October 18 – 21, you haven’t TOTALLY missed out. Both a
two-hour events souvenir video and a ten-hour multi-cassette set of
the ENTIRE CONFERENCE LIVE ON VIDEO are available from International
Living and Prime Cut Productions in both U.S. format (NTSC) and
European format (PAL).


You’ll have the opportunity to see and hear for yourself the essence
of all the professionals speaking at the Conference–almost as good
as having been there!


TO ORDER YOUR VIDEOS, you may go directly to our online secure
payment order form at
http://www.insiderparisguides.com/order/videosorder.html or e-mail
mailto:[email protected]?subject=ConferenceVideos


EDITOR’S NOTE: You may also come to the next Working and Living in
France Conference here in Paris scheduled for June 2003. To be placed
on a special mailing list to be notified about the June conference,
please send an email to:
mailto:[email protected]?subject=JuneWorkingConference


*** THE ART OF SEDUCTION AND ROMANCE IN PARIS
— Roger Le Blanc and Madeleine Rousseau


Paris is a city built for walking, for lounging about–wasting
time–sitting in the café, watching the world walk by, strolling
through the Jardin de Luxembourg. It is a little more difficult
lounging about in New York or London or Tokyo because your peers
believe that you should be busy (usually working and making money)
but in France it is an essential part of life and necessary to the
pursuit of seduction. The slower pace of life in France facilitates
loves, passion and romance.


France is a Latin culture and Latins are more direct and effusive in
their pick-up attempts. American women may consider this to be
aggressive behavior but it is simply the way it is done. Get over
it–and do as French women do, accept it as a compliment. You still
have what it takes to attract a man.


For the French, sexual desire is the source of the feelings of love.
Says Pascal in Discourse on the Passions: "Passion cannot be
beautiful without excess. When one does not love too much, one does
not love enough."


So it is with springtime in Paris. Printemps a Paris is synonymous
with romance the world over. One strolls about the city and observes
couples engaged in enthusiastic displays of affection in public. They
are seen rolling in the grass in the city’s many parks and gardens.
Unlike their American counterparts, the French are not shocked but
are pleasantly amused by public displays of affection even when it
may be more a public display of lust.


Riding on the last Métro home in the evening (12:45 a.m.) one may
find that he is sitting across from a passionate couple that is
totally incapable of waiting until they get home to begin their
lovemaking. They are delightfully oblivious of those around them.


This is all part of the Parisian sense of seduction and romance. The
intoxicating mix of architecture, gardens, and ancient bridges across
the Seine are all part of the charm that intensely arouses the
passion of visitors and residents alike.


Paris is an erotic force–surrender to it.


EDITOR’S NOTE: The above text is an excerpt from the
soon-to-be-released INSIDER GUIDE TO EROTIC PARIS. For more
information about Insider Paris Guides visit
http://www.insiderparisguides.com or to be notified the moment it’s
available, e-mail mailto:[email protected]?subject=Erotic


*** A PARIS STREET UPCLOSE: RUE DU MARCHE ST-HONORE
— David Applefield


Rue du Marché St-Honoré. But that’s not what this is about. Well, not
directly, anyway.


It’s about the magic door that opens when you get off at the
Tuileries Métro stop, find rue du Marché St-Honoré and follow it to
place du Marché St-Honoré–where, straggling out around that glass
monstrosity of a shopping complex (whose construction several years
ago made the architectural purists wince and the surrounding
merchants rejoice), like the frazzled random strands of a ball of
yarn the cat left behind, is a warren of captivating streets (how
’bout names like rue Casanova and rue St-Hyacinthe?), eateries (the
Belle Epoque’esque L’Absinthe used to be the "in"est place in
town–how quickly they forget!), one-of-a-kind designer
ateliers/boutiques (some breathtaking finds!), and, as everywhere in
Paris, historical gold mines (Napoléon Bonaparte was married in what
is now the BNP Paribas building at 3, rue d’Antin, then he and Jo
lived in the neighborhood for a while).


In these parts you’re also not too far from the Opéra Garnier, the
famous department stores, the Bourse and, depending on what you
consider "far," Les Halles, whose destruction several decades ago
made the architectural purists rejoice and the surrounding merchants
wince.

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