Jan 282009
 

I’m interrupting the current flow of this blog –sorry for the people that are impatiently waiting for an answer to their questions- to share with you a comment that I received a few nights ago.Originally, I thought about just responding privately, I recognize that it would make more sense, but the person didn’t leave any e-mail nor a blogger account, nor anything else; and as I have to respond to this, so why not make it a full entry (and [Read the rest]

 Tagged with:
Jan 282009
 

(asked by Anne from DC and -I think- currently in France) The other day when I was visiting a friend in Paris, I noticed that one of the names listed on the interphone in her building was the Comtesse de Something (I can’t remember what). So what’s the deal? France hasn’t had a king from a royal line for forever and égalité is one of the core values of the republic. Can you shed some light? The deal is pretty [Read the rest]

Jan 272009
 

(asked by Anna from the UK) What is your take on French speaking Swiss men?? Can I apply the same advice (as the one given about Frenchmen) ?? Of course I am an English (not American) woman, so please feel free to skip the obvious!!! But anything unique I should be aware of? Anna, first of all, thanks for the kind words that I didn’t publish here (I like to keep those to myself, yes, French people draw a clearcut [Read the rest]

Jan 252009
 

(asked by Grace G. from New Mexico) Is it true that the traditional French bread in France (like the pain de deux or baguettes) is made with a special flour, that is protected by law and can’t be exported? I was told that numerous times over there, and that that was the reason the “French” bread you get anywhere else (like here in the USA) just isn’t the same, even when it’s made by a French baker. I can definitely [Read the rest]

Jan 212009
 

(asked by Andrea from somewhere in the US) OK, this is not exactly what she asked.Here is her actual question, but I gotta warn you, the question will be longer than the answer. I recently spent two months in Australia. One rainy day, I was at a museum by myself when I met this French guy. He had been in Aussie for one year, and that was his very last day in the country… He was to leave the next [Read the rest]

Jan 112009
 

(asked by Frédéric H. from Paris) Mmmm… A question asked by another Frenchman… Have I become such an authority in Frenchness? I’m flattered… Before I answer this question, one needs to remember once again that Parisians must be distinguished from other French people on this topic.Remember, if you learn only one thing from this blog, it is that Parisians and French people are two different things. Parisians…Remember that Parisians are superior beings…Or so they think…And because of that delusion of [Read the rest]