Saturday, August 16, 2008

Fermeture Annuelle


I'm taking the TGV south, heading to sunny Ile de Ré for a wee vacation. Don't hate me. I've earned this R&R, by gum, and I'm planning to enjoy it. While Polly-Vous Français is on break, here are some random links for your reading pleasure.

1. This summer the US is a popular tourist destination for the French. And, although the stats have slipped a bit, Americans still lead the pack for sheer numbers of tourists in France. Hey! Why don't we all just swap houses for a while? It's a great way to get to know another country and another culture.

2. Gourmet's September 2008 issue has just hit the newsstands in the states, and it's all about Paris. Which reminds me, if you haven't read editor Ruth Reichl's memoir Tender at the Bone, do yourself a favor. I laughed myself silly. And I'll never look at leftovers, or my mother's Chicken Fitchburg recipe, the same way again. Ever.

3. Here's a cute audio book for teaching your baby French (be sure to listen to the excerpt). I wish this had been around when my kids were little. Hmm, maybe they don't. But it might have saved us from that disastrous French au pair in 1993. All's well that ends well, though. Angie, our witty, saxophone-playing English au pair, won the prize. We still miss her.

4. Uh-oh. Everyone loved French Women Don't Get Fat, right? (Except me. Sorry. I gained 10 lbs. and almost went broke after reading it. All those leeks, all that champagne...) Now it's going to be a movie?

5. Do you like Art Deco? Have you dreamed of owning an apartment in Paris? Check out Paris 1930. Stay tuned for a full article on the fabulous opportunities and the benefits of owning more modern real estate in Paris. I interviewed Gonzague Feltz, founder of Paris 1930 real estate services, a few months back. It's a great niche market, and "Zack" is smart, suave, knowledgeable -- and, um, quite handsome.

6. What? You're kidding me. You haven't read Stuff Parisians Like yet?

7. Did you know that for the cost of a métro ticket (free if you have a Navigo pass or Carte Orange) you can take a boat ride on the Seine?


Of course, if the above aren't enough entertainment for you, you can re-read the overstuffed 600+ Polly-Vous Français archives or this best-of cheat sheet if you want. Guaranteed to outdo Ambien (Stilnox en français) for putting you to sleep.


Sweet dreams and bonnes vacances!


7 comments:

Priscilla said...

The jacket potato shop sounds like fun. Hope they don't run afoul of the American company "Jack in the Box". Some of those large corporations can be really harsh to people they feel have infringed on their name, or logo.
When we lived in England there was a jacket potato cafe in our market town, Bury St. Edmonds. We used to stop in quite often for lunch on market day. We suggested they have a sour cream potato topping as well as the 35 or so other ones. He did add it and was amazed how popular it was. I was partial to bacon, fried egg, and cheddar, however, I never could warm up to some of the stranger toppings they offered. How does tikka masala, or shrimp paste and sweet corn, sound? (these were also offered as toppings on pizza!)
Have a good rest, looking forward to your return.

Diane said...

Thanks for the links. Bonnes vacances :-)

Starman said...

French Women Don't Get Fat? Hah! France has a most definite obesity problem. I haven't seen that many fat people since my last trip to K-Mart.

Alison said...

Ah, dis bonjour à l'Ile de Ré pour moi !

blueVicar said...

Have a great time, Polly. I hope the crowds aren't excessive.

Meilleurs voeux!!

Polly-Vous Francais said...

I'm back in Paris now -- I could have stayed forever on that magic island. Stay tuned for a long Ile de Re post.

Ali, I did say "Bonjour" to Ile de Re for you. It was sad crossing the bridge to La Rochelle today on the way to the train and my friend said "au revoir Ile de Re" for me. A real pang of bye-bye blues, quickly overcome when I got to the Gare with two minutes to spare and had to run like mad trailing all my stuff. I lept on board and the train pulled out!

Starman, I guess France is concerned about the weight problem here, but the anti-obesity tax didn't get off the ground.

BV -- the crowds weren't bad, actually. But lord save us if the proposed plan to make the bridge crossing free ever happens. The island will implode from over-use. More about that later!

Angela Paris said...

hounored to get a mention on your blog! My door is always open in England for Lyman visits!!

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