Spotting the Eiffel Tower
Once the Living and Investing in France Real Estate Conference was over, there were two days to absorb the sunshine rays of New Orleans before boarding the plane this morning headed back over the Atlantic to Gay Paree (or hasn’t it been “Gray Paree?”).
While traveling around the city, the French influence on New Orleans is so apparent and comforting. The street names in the French Quarter are French, even if mispronounced. Many boutiques and restaurants have French names and French words have crept into the local lingo. It’s any wonder www.Wikipedia.org calls New Orleans the “Ville de La Nouvelle-Orléans.” What other American city carries a French name…except perhaps “Détroit?”
It doesn’t take long to get into the swing and sway of the Big Easy…it’s second nature to revert to calling everyone “dahlin’,” thinking nothing of the oversized portions at restaurants and never walking to anywhere except around the French Quarter…but landing in Paris is always a welcome sigh of home-sweet-home.
On the way in to the city from Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, I have always played the game of how quickly I can spot the Eiffel Tower…as when I do, I grow proud to think ‘home’ is the City of Light. Even if there is a light rain and that blue-white cast over the already smoky stone facades, the city always sparkles with stunning beauty.
By this afternoon, I will have unpacked, made a quick trip to the market for fresh milk and stopped for a “noisette” (espresso with milk) at the corner café to watch the passers-by. It will feel as if I had never left, had never seen the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City on 5th Avenue or hosted a fun dinner party at New Orleans’ second oldest restaurant, Tujague’s…except for the five extra pounds gained while tasting every possible morsel of Louisiana cooking possible in less than one week.
Accomplished chef, musician and author (“V.T.P.”– Very Talented Person), Susi Gott, wrote after having read Monday’s Nouvellettre®, that she had just seen the proofs of a book on gumbo on which she collaborated this year. Susi is a native of Asheville, North Carolina, but resident of Auxy, a village in the Loiret about 1.5 hours from Paris where she met Marie-Elisabeth Crochard Fitère, co-coordinator of the Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group…through whom we met many years ago.
The book, which discusses the “Three Generations of Gumbo,” publishes a photo of my mother, sister and her daughter (my niece) holding a prominent place…a coincidence to Monday’s newsle
tter’s sign-off photo of my mother, myself and my daughter (same mother, different daughter and granddaughter). She also wrote that she had quoted me in the book as saying “New Orleans food is like a party in the mouth!” — just as I had written Monday. And it’s true.
The book sales will benefit the Southern Food and Beverage Museum — a nonprofit organization based in New Orleans, “dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of the culture of food and drink in the South” — and I’ll be sure to let you know when and where you can purchase your copy when it’s out.
These coming few weeks in Paris are chock full of important workshops and events you will not want to miss beginning with Saturday’s two-hour session led by immigration attorney Ann Cary Dana on the new Auto-Entrpreneur regime. She will point out the pros and cons of the new regime particularly for foreigners in France. She will also explain how it will fit in with the regulations on work permits and the different categories of “carte de séjour.”
Also this coming weekend, PSI Communications is sponsoring a core skills workshop on cross-cultural communications titled “Face to Face.” This is your chance to learn practical skills that will enable you to connect with your best in any environment — even when you do not speak the language.
Later next month on April 18th, Judith Merians will be talking about “Writing for the Independent Film Market” where you can find out how you can write the script that is still in demand for the smaller film.
For an inspiring week in Champagne, take a journey into the heart of France with Janet Hulstrand who is teaching “Writing from the Heart” April 21st through 27th in the village of Essoyes, two and a half hours southeast of Paris.
During that week, on April 24th, James Navé is going to teach you how to go “FROM STORM TO FORM” in a creative writing workshop that will stir your creative juices like no other.
May 10th through 15th, international poet, Cecilia Woloch will be hosting the 9th edition of the “Paris Poetry Workshop” — and as I understand it, there are only one or two spots available.
And if all you want is ‘lunch’ — have it with On Rue Tatin Chef, Susan Herrmann Loomis in her town of Louviers in Normandy Sunday, Mary 24th…or on June 21st, September 13th or November 8th.
Information on all these wonderfully enlightening things to do in or around the City of Light is described in detail at /frenchproperty/conference/
P.S. Plus, our next Living and Investing in France Conferences are coming soon — in London on April 26th and in Paris May 31st. Scroll down for more information and in the next week or so, the registration form will be online to reserve your place at one or both! Or email Schuyler Hoffman, Conference Coordinator, at [email protected]
To read more, click the links below.