I recently cracked open my very first Parisian journal. Ahem, the one with the Eiffel Tower on the cover…we didn’t know any better at the time The first dated entry is from July 28th, 2008, 15 years ago today. Straight outta liberal arts school where I felt accomplished and special to total anonymity in the mean boulevards of this gorgeous, disfunctional, frustrating and ultimately illuminating city. Do you think I thought I would still be here? Pardon my French, but abso-fucking-not-ly.
I recently spoke to my friend Zeva Bellel on her fascinating new podcast On Becoming. Zeva is a fellow American-in-Paris and life coach and asks very deep questions about all the forks in the road, left turns and shifts on becoming the current version of oneself. I spoke about my first handful of years in Paris that were full of dead-ends and disappoints. Paris seemed like a fruitless, unobtainable place. It’s easy to brush off the lost years, but they were formative in getting me set up for this life here (learning the language, deep diving into the culture, finding love and planting roots). You won’t regret giving the podcast a listen! Nonetheless, commiserating about the early days with Zeva and reading my anxiety about this new chapter in my ET journal, I am proud of that gal who knew that something was here for her. Chapeau dear gal!
To celebrate my 15th parisversaire, here are few fave Frenchie things from the past couple of years.
Did you know the name Kevin has a bad rap in France? Shotout to Lauren Collins for her many insider baseball articles on French life in The New Yorker.
Did you know Jane Birkin always ordered 2 baguettes at the boulangerie because she didn’t know if it was un ou une baguette. Shoutout to the fabulous and ahead-of-her time icon who was far too contemporary to assign genders to bread. RIP QUEEN.
Traveling to Paris this summer by want to avoid the bereted masses? A must-read from The New York Times.
Franco-English comedien Tatty Macload is allowed to transgress both of her cultures in hysterical clips on Instagram.
Have a fabulous weekend. -jkw