Quick trick to solve the un/une le/la quandry!

@____viaparis un/ une?? when in France … and in doubt, you know what to do 🤣 🥖🥖 . . . . . #slowtravel #provence #paris #frenchlanguage #provencefrance #provenceguide #jaimelafrance #madeformore #slowtraveller #madetottravel #freedomlifestyle #digitalnomadlifestyle #freespirit #womentravelsolo ♬ French language – Paris Davis

Pourquoi les moustiques ne s’en prennent qu’à vous ?

From our favorite daily French newsletter Time To Sign Off. Finally, here is the skinny on why certain people get eaten alive and others stay relatively “unbit” by pesky summer mosquitos. I’d always heard/thought that mosquitos preferred the youngest among us and therefore there was finally an advantage in getting older. As it turns out, […]

French under 40 pepper their speech with ‘du coup.’ What does it mean?

While in France this year, I finally had to understand what it is and how it was used. The article below sums it up best. It means nothing, like the “alors,” “donc” and “bon ben” that confused us all as novice French speakers. The informal French adverb du coup, pronounced “due coo,” is one of […]

Musée d’Orsay – busiest times 

I happened on this great page on the Musée d’Orsay site. It tells you the best days to go and even gives a link to a page that gives current wait time. The Musée d’Orsay also has an app. When we went last summer, my son and I were very happy to discover no line […]

13 films to watch before you go to Paris

Sent by my good friend Peter Lehman.  I’d recommend also “L’ascenseur pour l’echafaud” with its chilling score by Miles Davis. We also just saw Le Brio with an aging Daniel Auteuil, which is beautifully written. 13 FILMS TO WATCH TO INSPIRE YOUR NEXT TRIP TO PARIS APRIL 04, 2018: The glittering Eiffel Tower, the moonlight […]

What common French language mistakes do non-native French speakers make?

My family accuses me of wasting time on Quora. I couldn’t resist answering this question though since it relates so closely to my enjoyment of France and the French language. The most common, most demotivating, most un-attractive mistake is not understanding how phonetically different French is from English. You simply cannot pronounce French words “the […]

Cimietière Montparnasse: a favorite haunt in our neighborhood

If you’re not looking to touch the graves of Oscar Wilde or Jim Morrison, why spend limited drinking and dining time heading all the way up north. Walk instead to the Cimetière Montparnasse in the 14th on the southern edge of the 6th. Here you’ll find graves of many, many notables and you will have time […]

Paris plans to banish all but electric cars by 2030

Our governor is threatening to do this in California. This is the kind of leadership that will be required to slow this looming nightmare. 2030 sounds fast for a state or a country but for city a lot more doable. It will be interesting to see how this is done. Is it a ban on […]

Gotta have: MAISONS BULLES

Already on my holiday wishlist: this incredible set of “maisons bulles” including 9 bungalows! Beautifully place on a little island on a river in les Vosges, what could go wrong!?  And it’s only E365.000! Véritable « architecture-sculpture », cet ensemble de « maisons bulles » est l’une des réalisations les plus abouties de Pascal Haüsermann, […]

Le Bon Marche features wire mesh architectural sculpture by Edoardo Tresoldi

As if we needed a reason for a pilgrimage to the Bon Marche when we are in Paris for Thanksgiving. It’s always fun to see their holiday windows and paw around their accessories and kitchen goods. Beyond take-out in their famous specialty foods area, they have good restaurants as well. Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, […]