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What We Write About When We Write About Paris

Every Monday and Wednesday, I sit down at the computer about 8:00 a.m., go through the recent emails and start to write the Parler Paris Nouvellettre®. Sometimes I don’t have a clue what will end up on the page until the very moment that the blank screen stares back at me with only the date at the top. There is simply so much to say about Paris and what’s going on here that in all these years, since 1998, I’ve never experienced a minute of writer’s block.

Sure, there are things I’d like to write that I don’t, or don’t dare to write for fear of being misunderstood or frowned upon. And sure, there are things I do dare to write about that are taken in different ways by the recipient than perhaps they were intended. Every writer has his own reality just like every reader has his own reality, and somewhere in the middle lies the truth that none of us will really know.

Yesterday I received an email from the American Library in Paris promoting an upcoming event on Tuesday February 10th at 7:30 p.m. titled “What We Write About When We Write About Paris” — a panel discussion featuring four permanent and part-time Paris residents: Debra Finerman, EJ Simon, David Benjamin, and Meg Bortin.

This was intriguing because so many friends in Paris are writers — in fact a very large majority of them are journalists, authors, copywriters, bloggers, poets — you name it, they write it. I don’t know if that’s because I write that I know other writers or because Paris is a magnet for wordsmiths and always has been. Particularly writers coming from the American community, that began with World War I when shortly after the war, writers such as Ernest Hemingway returned to France. And now the writing community is supported by such institutions as the Shakespeare & Company bookstore.

This history need not be written here. Too many other writers have done that for me — such as David Burke’s “Writers in Paris” from which he now gives walking tours in Paris. “Writers in Paris” is even a course given at a number of universities, such as NYU, University of San Diego and Washburn University in Kansas. So you don’t need me to fill you in on who’s who and what they wrote here in Paris. This is information you will find at every turn.

Instead, with the subject of Freedom of Speech on the tip of everyone’s tongues these past ten days, “What We Write About When We Write About Paris” is now an even broader subject than it was before.

Just like Paris is the most visited city in the world, I’d venture to guess it’s also the most written about city in the world. In the last 10 days, that may have even escalated to new heights. When you search Amazon books using the keyword “Paris,” 199,072 possible titles emerge. When you search the New York Times Web site for articles using the keyword “Paris,” 603,172 articles result. Anything you want to know about Paris is out there to find because so many writers have been writing about Paris for so many years that there is simply a cornucopia of information about the beloved city. What I write a few times a week is just a drop in the proverbial bucket, if even that much —  maybe more like just a single molecule!

Fortunately we writers still have our freedom of expression — at least some of us still do. And we can write things that we dare and be misunderstood or frowned upon…or in the case of Charlie Hebdo, sadly murdered for. In today’s world, we are taking our chances putting our pens to paper or typing letters on a computer screen for all to read, to contemplate, to admire or to criticize. Writers put themselves out there and make themselves vulnerable to others who don’t necessarily appreciate the freedom of expression and prefer expression which is more physical and sometimes violent.

So, when I sat down today to write about Paris, this is what the blank screen needed and wanted to say. What do you write about when you write about Paris…if you do?

A la prochaine,

Adrian Leeds, The Adrian Leeds Group - at Cafe Charlot by Erica SimoneAdrian Leeds

The Adrian Leeds Group

(by Erica Simone)

Respond to Adrian


P.S. For those of you in the New York City area, and would like to know more about investing in France, I will be available for private consultations on March 13th through 18th. Consultations are typically two hours, and I will be offering my usual euro fee at the same fee in U.S. dollars. Email me personally to make your appointment: [email protected]

Brian Dunhill - Dunhill International Financial PlannersP.P.S. It’s tomorrow! Register for the FREE Financial Forum with Dunhill Financial on Thursday, January 22, 2015, sponsored by the Adrian Leeds Group. Learn how Americans can deal with the ever-changing regulatory environment and financial challenges. Brian Dunhill will explain these changes, offer the best solutions to tackle the new regulations, and answer your questions. He will also discuss Dunhill’s Quarterly Economic Update and describe how we see the overall economy. Complimentary wine, coffee, water, and sodas will be served.. For more information visit our Conferences and Workshops page. Please register in advance at: dunhillfinancial.be/.

P.P.P.S. We are seeking an accomplished Web developer and SEO specialist, primarily based in the U.S. with knowledge of France and French, who can work in Wordpress and Joomla to manage our companies’ IT and email management needs. If you would like to work with us, please email me at [email protected]


Parler Paris Après-Midi

At every Après-Midi, a guest speaker of note will come to talk about a topic of interest and then open the floor for questions and discussion.

February 10, 2015

Deborah Jenner, Climate Reality Leader

Climate Reality”

Deborah Jenner is one of Al Gore’s volunteer, Climate Reality leaders, trained by him personally at a conference in Istanbul in June 2013. She will present an update of Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” a film that brought the urgency and reality of climate change to a broad public and awarded Gore the Nobel Peace Prize. She will also offer some stories about those who are already making a difference, sources of hope, and outline many things we can do ourselves right now that really do help.

Parler Paris Apres MidiTuesday, February 10, 2015

…and the second Tuesday of every month 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Upstairs at Café de la Mairie (formerly La Pierre du Marais), on the corner of rue des Archives and rue de Bretagne, 3rd. Métro Lines 9, 3 et 11, stations Temple, République or Arts et Métiers Costs nothing except whatever you drink!

For more information, visit Parler Paris Après-Midi

 


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