Comment le dire?

Remember your first French class? Did the teacher sweep in, chattering in another language, scaring and exciting you all at once? Mine didn't, but I've heard enough of those stories that I wanted to try it. So, despite the impossibly cramped quarters, I snaked my way through the lines of desks and introduced myself to each student individually, using bisous en chocolat (a powerful motivator) to encourage everyone to try the introductory phrases of bonjour, je m'appelle and merci.

Then, on their get-to-know-you cards (an old trick for learning names faster) I asked for one phrase they wanted to learn in French. Here are some of my favorites:

More candy, please. (I told you it was a powerful motivator.)
I'm sorry.
Grapefruit. (She had heard and forgotten the word, which is a pretty cool one.)
I believe in God.
I would like some food.
I volunteer as tribute.
My name is Bonnie and I'm 15 years old.
I love you.
What school do you go to?

Besides the thrill of arriving in my very own classroom to the smell of freshly-brewed coffee (thank God for automatic timers!) this was definitely the highlight of my week.

Paris Top 10: Music

Paris is known for its romance: rosy sunsets, dappled canvases, snowy tablecloths with artfully-arranged plates.

And music, of course, without which romance wouldn't exist at all.

On our last trip, we were lucky enough to hear a phenomenal chamber-music ensemble perform Vivaldi and Chopin in this tiny, soaring chapel of the kings. It was truly a transformative experience, heightened all the more by the whining toddler in the section across the aisle: somehow that nagging annoyance made the music even more sublime.

And yet, I can think of half a dozen equally incredible experiences. Walking from the rich luxury of Chateau Versailles into blinding sunlight, triumphant strings mingling with the noise of rushing water in the fountains all around us. Arriving back to our hotel to find a rock concert being performed from the back of a semi at the curb, the top rolled back to reveal drums, bass and plenty of attitude. Cruising past Notre-Dame in the twilight to the strains of amateur guitars and tambourines, along with a chorus of young wine-enhanced voices. More than one Metro musician who moved me to tears (but I didn't stop. I never stop. I wish I could.)

Here, a very different scene: a completely unexpected, outstanding meal. The Latin Quarter is not really my scene (too noisy and filled with tourists) but this Moroccan establishment served tender, juicy chicken cooked with green olives and preserved lemons, roasted potatoes and carrots, couscous spiced with cinnamon and currants, crisp white Burgundy and a casually brilliant jazz guitarist who ensured we would never forget a bite.

Bottom line: you really don't have to look hard to find music in Paris. Open your ears, and it will find you.

Posts in the Paris Top 10 Series:

Wait and see . . .
Wait and see . . .
Wait and see . . .
Music
Museums
Fine Dining
Conversation
Churches
Chateaus
Cafes

Paris Top 10: Museums

There are two kinds of people in this world: people who enjoy museums and people who don't.

Maybe this sounds pompous. Maybe it is. But if you don't see a reason for taking the time to look at works of art created dozens, scores, even hundreds of years ago, and beloved by other artists and critics and commoners for generations afterward, I don't think I can convince you to change your mind. Which is probably just as well: it means there will be less of a line for the rest of us!

Paris' museums are superb, so much so that it's worth planning your trip around their opening hours: there's nothing worse than paying 15 Euros for admission at 3 PM, only to learn that the doors close at 4! In most cases I wouldn't recommend more than one per day, unless they're small ones; you need time to process everything you've seen in order to benefit fully from the experience. Some of my favorites follow.

*One of these forms just doesn't belong here . . .*

The Louvre: Perhaps the most famous museum in the world, it deserves all the notoriety it can rake in, the atrociously modern lobby notwithstanding. Stop here to see Nike on the prow of a ship, all the more regal for her headlessness; the ideal of the female form in the Venus de Milo; and Leonardo's La Giaconde.

*I've seen her four times, and with each visit the security and crowds were more outrageous. The last time we visited the Louvre, I didn't even bother trying to elbow my way into the room.*

Then ditch the crowds and explore some of the other collections: the Dutch Masters, especially its two Vermeers; the medieval foundations of the building, visible on the basement level; and the wealth of additional Greco-Roman sculpture that spills out into several light-filled atria. You could spend a whole week here, without sleeping, and still not see everything!

Afterwards, wander through the Tuilerie gardens, stopping to feed the birds (and yourself if you've been there long enough; there's a pleasant outdoor cafe about halfway through) and enter L'Orangerie, a small sun-filled outbuilding where you can stand in a room surrounded by dreamy, dwarfing Monets in murky pastel flavors.

Musee d'Orsay: Widely famed for its extensive collection of Impressionists, who were long banned from the artistic establishment, this former train station also houses Old Masters and architectural drawings. It's absolutely mandatory for fans of Van Gogh, Seurat and Degas; you could easily spend a whole day here.

Musee Cluny: This is my personal favorite. Housed in an ancient Roman bath, it is devoted to the art of the Middle Ages. It is home to the world-famous Unicorn Tapestries, beautiful stained glass, and countless illuminated manuscripts, which I think are the most fascinating pieces ever created. If it's a hot day, you'll be especially happy to visit the old frigidarium, which is buried to keep the temperature cool and consistent.

Musee Rodin: What I love the most about this place is its scale. You could see the whole thing, including the lovely gardens, in an hour, but you'll want to linger longer over each intimate piece, marveling at the softness of stone and bronze.

Centre Pompidou: I don't have much tolerance for modern art -- about an hour is the most I can take -- but this building is worth seeing just for its novelty: the idea was to put all the systems (circulation, water, heating and cooling) outside in order to leave the gallery space pristine and unencumbered. The plaza outside is also worth seeing: in the summer there are often impromptu concerts and skateboard performances, and the area is known for good shopping and restaurants.

Cite de la Musique was so wonderful I wrote a post about it several years ago, but this last trip introduced me to another wonderful gem: the Cinematheque Francaise, which houses hundreds of clips, props and costumes from the first films through the present day.

There are others, of course, but the last one I have to recommend is the Musee des Plans-Reliefs, an amazing find composed of immense relief maps created during the Napoleonic Era (all the better to conquer you with, mes amis.) It's only one long room, but it's worth the trip to Les Invalides even if you don't get to see the Little Man himself.

And sometimes you just get lucky, as we did the only time we ever got to the top of La Defense: there was an incredible exhibit at the Musee d'Informatique that covered the history of the Macintosh computer, complete with prototypes and projections of its most famous advertisements. Rob and I were in geek heaven, but we've never been able to go back since: high winds and technical difficulties keep preventing their elevators from ferrying tourists to the top.

Ah, well. It's Paris: there's plenty more to see.

French, the Fun Way

When my school asked me if I felt comfortable teaching French in the fall, I answered truthfully that I needed some review first. In fact, I hadn't studied it formally since I was my students' age, at which time most of them weren't even born. I was blessed with a good memory and enough interest to practice from time to time on friends and during trips abroad, but I know that is no substitute for regular, intense study. So when the school offered to spring for a refresher course, I jumped at the chance, requesting an online class that I could complete around my erratic summer hours.

I'm pretty sure I could learn Sanskrit if it used kitten pictures as visual aids.

Rosetta Stone preaches total immersion: using photos and native speakers, the course doesn't contain a word of English, and uses complete sentences almost exclusively. I'm not sure if it would be as effective without my previous education, or whether I would be completely overwhelmed (after chatting with some of the other learners, I think the latter is more likely.) Still, it's a great mix of speaking, reading, writing and listening, with vocabulary and grammar drills mixed in for good measure (some in the form of optional games, which can be played alone or with other online students.)

At the end of each unit (there are four within each level, and five levels altogether) students schedule a session with a language coach. Up to three other students also attend, speaking only in the target language, and everyone has fun practicing their new skills. There is great variation among the coaches; I've had some terrific ones and some who ask the same questions over and over again. Likewise, among the students, there are some who, like me, have studied the language before, and some who are struggling for basic proficiency. The most fun sessions have been when the teacher is relaxed and the students curious; s/he will allow us to simply converse, teaching new vocabulary and phrases in conjunction with the guided practice set forth by the program. And even when connection problems prevent actual instruction, the experience is enjoyable: once the instructor was cut off halfway through, but we all stayed online and dutifully asked questions in French until the session ended.

Anyway, for homeschoolers or lifelong learners, I think it would be hard to beat this course for the price. By coincidence, I have two other friends in the program at the same time: one who is learning for fun and another who is preparing for a monthlong family trip to Paris. Both have had fun, though Kelly (who is studying for the first time) says she sometimes has to repeat lessons to really learn them, and Julie is frustrated by the headset that seems to have constant technical difficulties. (Since I did the online course, mine didn't come with a headset; my iPod earbuds have worked pretty well.)

C'est vrai. Speaking from experience.

Paris Top 10: Fine Dining

Visiting Paris on a budget is not difficult, especially for young people: most museums are reduced-price (or this pass is worth every centime, if you’re an art lover) and cheap food is easy to find. In fact, I was just moping about yesterday about how much I wanted to go back to Maoz, home of the unlimited falafel toppings for a five-euro meal that could satisfy even a “starving” teenager.

HOWever. You owe it to yourself to visit at least one high-end place, somewhere you’d pay fifty or even a hundred euros per person for a multiple-course meal with wine. If this sounds insane, consider that it’s frighteningly easy to spend two or three times that amount; I’m still thanking my lucky stars that Josephine chez Dumonet was full or closed every time I called for a reservation, because when we walked by to check out the menu my eyes almost rolled out of my head.

So: an indulgence, but one you can afford. Hang out at a park for a day or two if you have to (more on that later.) It will be worth it: in France, dining is an experience we just don’t understand here.

Paris Top 10: Conversation

It is impossible (or at least distasteful) to speak of uninspired things in such an inspired place. Something about the French air moves you to delve into causes and wrestle with universal struggles, sprinkled liberally with superlatives and smiles. My husband told me recently, “You laugh a lot more when you speak French.”

Conversation in France finds you. If you are open to being found, which means speaking a little of the language. (It can be a very little; most French speak English, and they’re not very skilled listeners anyway.) The first time I visited the country, a wide-eyed high schooler, I remember a late-night discussion with my host family about public displays of affection. At my current school they were forbidden, and I was delighted to see that here in the magical land of l’amour, couples held hands and embraced and kissed without any sign of self-consciousness, so wrapped up in their own world and each other’s arms that they were happy for the rest of us to witness their budding rapports.

Paris Top 10: Churches

“O Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy house, the place where Thy glory dwelleth.”

Little else compares to the feeling of walking into an ancient, beautiful temple, consecrated by hundreds of years of prayer. Though modern Parisians have largely rejected the faith of their fathers, churches abound still.

The first time I visited the city, with my high-school French class, we didn’t get to see the inside of Notre-Dame because the lines were too long. I remember telling my parents, “It’s okay; I got to see the outside.” When I returned seven years later, I realized how woefully short this experience had been. In hushed reverence, I wandered the aisles and drank in the stained-glass windows, the statue-filled niches, and most of all the pilgrims — people who had come from all over the world to light a candle and say a prayer in this sacred place.

Paris Top 10: Chateaus

So, after waxing eloquent about the charmingly elegant ambience of Paris, the next item on my list will send you away from the cosmopolitan center to the far reaches of the countryside. But trust me: you want to see these.

The chateaus of the Loire Valley were built as countryside homes for the kings of the pre-Republic nation, and while touring one is fascinating, visiting a whole string of them (as we did on this trip) changes the French experience completely.

Paris Top 10: Cafes

If you don’t do a single other thing in Paris, you must sit in a cafe for at least two hours some afternoon. Nothing will teach you more about the city than this simple adventure.

You’ll realize right away that cafes are not restaurants. I could rhapsodize endlessly about French food and wine: meltingly tender duck confit under a blanket of crispy skin; chewy chunks of baguette with eye-wideningly tart jam made from the freshest summer fruits; mounds of soft, lightly-dressed greens surrounded by an inventive combination of accomaniments (ever had a Caesar salad with dried plums, olives and hard-cooked egg?) And while most cafes serve above-average to excellent cuisine, for most of the day, most of the customers are not eating anything.

A New Spin

Euh … bonjour … (Um … hello …)

Yes, I’m well aware of what happens when I make blogging promises: I fail spectacularly. As proof of that, I submit my vow to blog every day during my recent Paris trip, when in fact I didn’t blog once. Part of the reason was logistical; using the phone for data was hugely expensive, so even the super-easy SquareSpace app was impossible to run unless I was in a wifi hot spot (and believe me, it feels like I spent half the trip looking for those!) Our hotel had free wifi, but we really only returned there to sleep for a few hours at the end of each long, exhausting day. And I had brought the iPad, but felt nervous toting it around the city in search of an inspiring AND plugged-in spot to write.

So: no blogging. But: plenty to say. So much, in fact, that I’ve organized my thoughts into ten basic categories. I’m hoping to write briefly about each one, somewhere in between a meditation and a guidebook. If you’re going to Paris, I hope you’ll read these first. And if you’ve already been, I hope you’ll join me in remembering what makes this such an amazing city.

My plan was to write about one thing each day for 10 days (to make up for the 10 days I didn’t write a blessed thing.) But we all know what happens when I tell you about my plans. Instead, I’ll just promise to make my way through the list as soon as I can find the time, energy and brain power. Look for the first installment soon.

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