To do une soirée or not to do une soirée? What exactly is this rather elegant and mysterious sounding soirée? And, how should it be approached by mere Anglophone mortals? Definition Noun: soirée: party or gathering, with a sophisticated name to impress the uninitiated, taking place in apartments across the glimmering city of lights (usually accompanied… …read more
Lost In Cheeseland On arriving in Paris, No.1 on the lengthy to-do list (in between museum visiting and restaurant testing, bien sûr) is deciphering the elision-liaison-silent-letter-filled waves of French flying from left, right and center. Before setting foot (or even a single toe) on Parisian soil, I had already been vigorously drilled with irregular verbs… …read more
Little Brown Pen Warm? Friendly? Spontaneous? These aren’t perhaps the first words that spring to mind when describing the typical Parisien. However, I can assure you that once you learn to greet and meet like a local, the slightly frosty exterior slowly begins to melt. The bonjour In Paris it’s essential to say bonjour many… …read more
Parc des Buttes Chaumont (Celine NYC) If you’re in Paris in summer, you’ll pretty quickly realize that as soon as the sun starts to glimmer, Parisians grind into picnic gear. However, despite informal appearances, there is a complex and unspoken code of conduct to be adhered to in order to avoid unforgivable picnic faux pas…. …read more
Jogging along a Paris bridge (Kevin Bongart) As a very keen runner, I realized that Paris – with its pavement café culture and lax attitude towards dogs’ toilet habits – might not be the ideal place to train. However, little did I know the numerous obstacles – the perils of jogging in Paris – I… …read more
