Raining on Our Paris Parade…and Other Messy Messages

VICTORY DAY

House Hunters International – A Parisian Place for Mother and Daughter

It’s a messy Victory Day in Paris today, May 8th. The annual military parade on the Champs Elysées was under pouring rain. President Emmanuel Macron stood without an umbrella during the ceremonies, looking rather miserable to be there. Security in the area around the Champs Elysees was extremely tight thanks to the recent Gilets Jaunes demonstrations and violence, so spectators on the sidelines were sparse. It was a rather sad turn of events.

Victory Day celebrates the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces. It was declared a holiday in 1953, then removed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1959, then removed again by President Giscard d’Estaing in 1975 (not sure how it can be removed twice?), then reinstated in 1981 by President François Mitterrand. Make up your minds, French presidents!

Either way, it’s a public holiday and that means banks, post offices and businesses are closed. The streets are particularly quiet, not just because of the rain, but because the French are taking the day off. In usual month-of-May style, many will “faire le pont” — or bridge from the holiday through the weekend to take many days off. “C’est le mois de mai en France!”

EATALY SHMEATALY: EAT MY WORDS

I stand to be corrected from Monday’s Parler Paris Nouvellettre®. After digging deeper, here are a few fun facts about the giant food retailer from their site:  

1. Eat Italy was founder Oscar Farinetti’s first name for Eataly. I’m glad he changed it, aren’t you?

2. The logo represents a pot. That I’d never get. Would you? Personally, I think the logo could be great improved upon.

3. Eataly Torino opened in a once-abandoned Carpano Vermouth factory. That makes sense.

4. Eataly Roma a Ostiense is the biggest Eataly in the world at 170,000 square feet. Holy camoly. That’s a lot of pasta!

5. 104 nationalities work at Eataly. I wonder how many are immigrants? Probably most of them!

6. Eataly was inspired by the great bazaars of Istanbul. Have you ever been to Istanbul? I have and I don’t see it.

7. Eataly Smeraldo in Milano is beloved for its suspended stage with live performances. Now, that’s cool. Wonder what kind of live performances?

8. As of January 2019, there are 37 Eataly locations across the world. I bet this isn’t the end of them, either!

9. Eataly Roma boasts 22,000 products in its market. The question is: 22,000 different products or total? I bet different!

10. Eataly L.A. is furthest west; Eataly Boston is furthest east. Maybe in the U.S., but not worldwide, unless you split the U.S. in two and if there isn’t one in between L.A. and Boston!

11. Afeltra’s bronze-extruded pasta made in Gragnano is the most popular product! It must be the main reason to shop at Eataly. It’s produced “using carefully selected 100% Italian wheat that is processed by hand and extruded through bronze dies according to the most ancient tradition of Gragnano.”

12. Eataly stores are located in 12 different countries: Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. Notice how this is WRONG…they forget FRANCE!!!

A PARISIAN PLACE FOR MOTHER AND DAUGHTER…

They told us that the air date of our newest House Hunters International episode, “A Parisian Place for Mother and Daughter,” had been postponed, but surprisingly, it’s available to watch on HGTV online NOW!

“Following in her mother’s footsteps, a college graduate has fallen in love with the rich history and art in Paris. Now, both mom and daughter are on the hunt for a small piece of the city they can call their own and fulfill both their dreams of calling Paris home.”

So, for those of you waiting patiently to see it, just click here now — you may have to login to your cable TV provider or if you’re outside the U.S., use a VPN and then a login.

You can keep up-to-date and follow the shows on our Facebook page! 

ROYAL BABY TAX BLUES

The newly-born British Royal Baby is causing quite a stir with U.S. tax affairs, according to American Expat Finance. The baby boy was born to Britain’s Prince Harry and his American wife, Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They haven’t even named him, yet, but there’s already hope that the birth of this little regal fellow might just touch the tough position of U.S. lawmakers on “the hardships the current U.S. tax code places on Americans who live overseas.” American Expat Finance says not to get our hopes up.

They wonder how the U.S. views the Duchess of Sussex by the IRS — is she subject to FATCA reporting? Of course she is, for now. We all are! And this has implications for the Royal Family on the whole. “Baby Sussex” is regarded by the U.S. government as American. Can you imagine? Will she have to renounce her U.S. citizenship to protect her new and very regal family?

Only two countries worldwide have citizenship-based tax: Eritrea (a tiny northeast African country on the Red Sea coast) and the U.S. It’s time this changed! Many Americans living overseas are deciding to renounce their citizenship — even though the cost is $10,000 — to save on the costs to pay U.S. accountants to file their taxes, or pay taxes to the U.S. on their foreign company earnings (Repatriation Tax). Many can’t afford to return to the U.S. where private health care insurance is so expensive.

FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is a primary culprit for our woes. It’s led to difficulties finding banks and financial institutions willing to accept American expat clients.

The baby is already a “poster child” for the cause. When the baby grows up, he’ll have to file U.S. tax returns, just like the rest of us. Maybe he’ll campaign to be freed of the responsibility, or renounce his citizenship. That might encourage a change in U.S. policy, but the lawmakers don’t really care much about us. We’re seen as “traitors” and they have bigger fish to fry.

What can we do in the meantime? The AAA, the Association des Américains Accidentels, is a Paris-based organization founded two years ago that represents people like us. Join it (like I did), and get active and have a voice, among other things!

For more information, visit americanexpatfinance.com/ .

Special Note: We can introduce you to a bank in France willing to open accounts for Americans with no minimum balances. For more information, email us at [email protected].

A la prochaine…

Adrian Leeds
Adrian Leeds Group

Respond to Adrian

P.S. We know not everyone wants to live in Paris. Are you interested in other parts of La France Profonde? Our network of professionals is here to help. Contact us to discuss your interests and we’ll get to work for you. Do it today!