39Vaugirard

Paris has been deserted until today, the last day before school officially starts. In other years, we noticed an increasing activity each day leading up to school day. This year though, things are different. Several hypotheses:
1. Many people without kids still have this week off and are Still lazing on the beach somewhere.
2. Those with kids did indeed come back, but are laying low, depressed about the end of the summer. They are sleeping in and only coming out after lunch.

What’s the story? Does anyone know?

Maybe I can live here, now.  Perhaps after almost two decades of coming here and traveling elsewhere, I’ve become, as John Berger once said, ‘a patriot of elsewhere.’  I don’t need to live in San Francisco anymore, though I want to have a home there.  I can now have a home here, rather than just a piéd-a-terre.  Or perhaps, I’m finding that Asian culture has completely infiltrated Paris.  There is now K mart, the new go to Asian supermarket in Paris for Korean food as well as Japanese products.  Our friend Laila introduced us to a great ramen place and took us around this gentrifying quartier.  I said ‘K Mart in Paris?”  She said, ‘Non, a Korean Mart in Paris!’

KMart is the only place I know of where one can purchase kimchi and soft tofu in Paris. Alongside the sushi grade fish and the fresh meat counters is the produce shelves with shitake, enoki and shimeji brown mushrooms, daikon radishes, shiso leaves, fresh ginger, red and green chillis… Also, don’t miss the supermarket cafeteria for a quick lunch or food to go.

K mart
6-8 Rue Sainte Anne
75001 Paris
tel: 01.58.62.49.09
Metro: Pyramides, Palais-Royal – Musée du Louvre

The auction rooms at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris date to 1852. They’ve been modernized since then, but the general atmosphere probably hasn’t changed much. On any day of the week, a throng of characters straight out of a Maupassant novel can be found bidding for dusty treasures straight out of the proverbial Old Curiosity Shop. Annually, about 800,000 lots pass through the 16 rooms, over the course of more than 3,000 auctions.

On a typical day, half the rooms are set up for viewing, and half are given over to sales. Regular offerings include jewelry, contemporary and classical paintings, antiquities and furniture of every description.

Located in the warren of narrow streets and covered passageways north of the Grands Boulevards and south of Montmartre, the Hôtel Drouot is a hub of lively galleries, restaurants and bistros, where dealers and collectors wheel and deal over glasses of wine.

The schedule of sales can be viewed online (drouot.com) or in La Gazette Drouot, a weekly magazine. One event to note: on June 9, selected works from the estate of Jacques Prévert, the French songwriter, screenwriter, author and poet, will be on auction.

Hôtel Drouot (6, rue Drouot; Ninth Arrondissement; 33-1-48-00-20-20) is open Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Do It Yourself Culture… by Michael Kimmelman

An interesting rumination on defending the language, in defense of values..

Pardon My French by Michael Kimmelman of NY Times.

April Fool’s day is said to have French origins. In 1564, France reformed the calendar, changing the beginning of the year from the end of March to January 1st. For those who resisted the new calendar and adhered to the old traditions, paper fish were playfully attached to their backs and they were fondly dubbed ‘poisson d’avril.’ or April fish. To this day, poisson d’avril is the French name for April Fool’s Day, and the tradition of hoaxes and tricks is alive and well.

From the New York Times…

I remember a Sunday afternoon meal at this wonderful bistro with my darling husband and my kids a year ago. Most incredible vegetables and wonderful service. No wonder Michael R. Bloomberg, the thrice re-elected mayor of NY also prefers it….

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/nyregion/19paris.html

In chats with friends in Paris, everyone echoed the same prediction of a 50% affected rate for Swine flu in the upcoming flu season. In our family, we are thinking we will all be sick by the time the season is over. That said, there are things you can do to help avoid the flu, like obsessively washing your hands, trying not to touch your face, and avoiding close contact with strangers and friends, such as the ever-present “bise.” The cultural consideration and effects are severe:

PARIS — It’s a ubiquitous French tradition, as familiar as a baguette or an espresso at the neighborhood cafe. Now, “la bise,” the cheek-to-cheek peck that the French use to say hello or goodbye, has come under pressure from a globalized threat: swine flu.
Some French schools, companies and a Health Ministry hotline are telling students and employees to avoid the social ritual out of fear the pandemic could make it the kiss of death, or at least illness, as winter approaches.

[From The Associated Press: Amid swine flu France kissing goodbye to 'la bise']

When I worked in France, we’d give the bise every day to every co-worker of the opposite sex, as well as a quick handshake to everyone we saw. It’s hard to imagine this tradition stopping in France, but the flu has everyone freaked out.

The New York Times ran a story the other day (Swine Flu Upsets Rituals of Greeting) as well on relative risk levels of different contact, and the bise, or even Hollywood-style air kiss was right at the top, so look for less kissing and touching in the months to come as we all suffer through the season.

With all the other strange politics going on, all we need is one more reason to suspect and avoid each other.

Our friend Patrick Mikla always surprises us with ‘inside’ discoveries of Paris and France. From the time we met him some 15 year ago, I can remember each and every one of our adventures. The latest is France Miniature.

He took the day off and took us Élancourt, a town about an hour drive outside of Paris, where this miniature park attraction featuring scale models of major French landmarks and monuments is located in an outdoor park. It’s absolutely delightful, for both adults and children. For architecture and history buffs like my husband and me, the park has about 160 scale models of major French monuments and landmarks. Many of the models are animated and all of the country’s best known landmarks are represented (Lourdes, Eiffel Tower, Dungeons, etc). We reminisced about many of our trips to certain regions of France as well as discussed monuments and churches that we had never heard of.

For our daughter and and our son, the system of model trains that runs through the park kept them consistently delighted, and the animated boats and planes over the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean were very amusing. Half way through the park, there is even an old fashion amusement park/respite and a restaurant, where the kids and parents can go on slides and the parents can take in a nice tea.