In this issue:
* Your Paris Stories & Giveaway
* Paris Dining Recommendations
* Compare Currency Exchanges
* New Books on Paris History
* A Website for Students in Paris
* Dancing at La Coupole
* Photo of Parisian Life During WWI
* Running Events in France
* Lost Pet Alert on Facebook
* Helping Expats Keep Citizenship
* Naughty Paris 2 is Coming!
* Unlock Your Love in Paris
* Paris Events Calendar
The Secrets of Paris Newsletter has been a monthly newsletter since 1999, but since this year is our 15th anniversary, I’ve decided to do two newsletters each month. As usual, half of the tips are written for newcomers and visitors, and the other half are more useful for Paris residents. If you would like to receive it directly in your email (which is sent out a few days earlier than it is posted online), just sign up here.
* Write Your Paris Stories & Book Giveaway *
Has Paris ever inspired your creativity? If you’ve fantasized about writing your own Paris story but don’t know where to start, join creativity coach Cynthia Morris’s online writing class, Write Your Paris Stories, beginning March 12th. I met Cynthia at a Shakespeare & Company event almost a decade ago, and have never met another writing coach with so much energy, enthusiasm and natural ability to bring out the creative vibe in anyone. The weekly lessons (audio and video) on the craft of story writing are supplemented with daily free writes using Paris prompts, plenty of feedback from Cynthia and your fellow Paris writers, and tons of fun weekly giveaways (there’s also a bonus lesson from yours truly on how to avoid using tired travel writing clichés). You may not be the next Colette, but I guarantee you’ll have fun! If you’d like a little warm-up, tell us in the comments here how Paris inspires your creativity in 200 characters or less (we’re more generous than Twitter) before March 12th, when Cynthia will choose one randomly to win a signed copy of her historic novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach.
* Paris Dining Recommendations: Variations, Le Bouchon et L’Assiette, and Les Tontons *
It’s rare to get three Parisian tour guides to agree on a restaurant, but my favorite museum guide Jean-Manuel kept telling me about Variations, an elegant bistro hidden between La Salpêtrière and the Jardin des Plantes (on the border of the 5th and the 13th). I met him there for lunch with a Kiwi expat Claire, who is hard to impress after living in Paris for almost 20 years. 
The dining room is bright and modern, chic yet casual. The dishes, made from fresh ingredients only, are quite artfully presented on huge white plates. We especially loved the perfectly-cooked scallops, the excellent Paris Brest dessert, and the Manuka honey from New Zealand on the duck breast. It was also a nice touch that the chef-owner, a former fighter pilot, made the rounds to ask everyone if they enjoyed their meal. The lunch menus are €19, dinner menus €30 and €44. A la carte is €55-€65 not including wine (30% off dinner à la carte if you book through La Fourchette). Reserve a day or two in advance. Variations: 18 rue des Wallons, 13th.
All the way on the opposite end of Paris, near the Pont Cardinet and the Parc des Batignolles, is another great little family-run bistro, Le Bouchon et L’Assiette. It’s a cute and cozy place divided into two small rooms decorated with vintage travel posters and scenes from the Basque region of France. Even when the dozen tables were filled, it wasn’t loud like so many restaurants these days. There’s a chalk board with the day’s menu (a choice between two starters, two main dishes and two desserts for €25) and a few dishes à la carte from €20-€25. I almost got a tasty looking pork dish just because there was a “chou kalé vert” (an amusing misspelled kale salad) on the side, but opted for the Suprême de Volaille fermier and a starter of poached egg and chorizo on a bed of baby spinach that was so perfect I could have eaten two. My friend loved his grilled salmon, amazed at how fresh it tasted (when we peeked into the kitchen through the tiny window we could see why: nothing frozen in there!). Reserve a few days in advance, space is limited. Le Bouchon et L’Assiette: 127 rue Cardinet, 17th, Tel 01 42 27 83 93.
For the most casual of the three, we go back to the 13th, to my stomping grounds near the historic Manufacture des Gobelins. I tried to take a friend to the nearby Dans les Landes last week, but it was so packed (and loud) that I casually asked if he liked steak tartare. “I’ve never had it,” he says. And this is someone who has lived in France since the 1970s! So I dragged him into Les Tontons, a charmingly retro-styled bistro with red checkered table cloths, zinc counter, and old posters from the 1963 comedy that inspired them,Les Tontons Flingueurs.They specialize in tartare in all of its forms: hand cut or traditional, spiced or not, classic or contemporary, beef or fish. There are other things on the menu like pot au feu and l’os à moelle, but we were there for the tartare. My friend got the classic (with capers) and I got the Epicée, with ginger and piment d’Espelette. Both come with sides of green salad and house fries, perfectly crisp. I only have steak tartare once in awhile, but when it’s good, it’s awesome (especially here). Also worth noting: the weekday after-work “Apéro Terrine”, where with any bottle of wine ordered you get unlimited homemade terrine, cornichons and bread to accompany it. There are also locations in the 14th and 15th. Average price à la carte €25, lunch menus from €12.90. You can also get a 30% discount here by booking through La Fourchette. Les Tontons: 3 rue des Gobelins (a tiny street off Avenue des Gobelins), 13th, tel 01 47 07 23 46.
* Compare Paris Currency Exchanges *
I’m not a big fan of exchanging currency because it requires you to carry large sums of cash while traveling, which is never a safe thing to do. Using a credit or debit card to get cash from the ATMs in Paris usually gets you a better rate anyway. But if you can’t avoid exchanging cash, at least try and get the best rate possible within Paris. Usually to do this you’d have to call around or check a bunch of websites, but an enterprising young French techie with some free time decided to create a website that allows you to compare rates all in one spot, Compare Money Changers. He doesn’t work for these agencies and doesn’t make any money off the site (for now), so consider it an unbiased service, and always confirm the rate with the change office before handing over your cash.
* New Books on Paris History *
Napoléon III’s 19th-century city planner Baron Haussmann usually gets all of the credit for making Paris the great city it is today, but even a bit of light digging reveals that the original boulevards (usually cited as a Haussmannian invention) were actually created two centuries earlier by King Louis XIV. In fact, author Joan DeJean’s newest book, How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City, argues that the Parisian model for urban planning was first developed under the reign of Henri IV and perfected by his grandson Louis XIV, known as the Sun King for good reason. “A century of planned development made Paris beautiful and exciting. It gave people reasons to be out in public as never before and as nowhere else. It gave Paris its modern identity as a place that people dreamed of seeing.” A trustee Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, eight-time author DeJean really knows her stuff, and this book is absolutely fascinating. I’m only halfway through but I highly recommend it to anyone who geeks out on urban planning and the historical genesis of extraordinary cities.
Another book I just discovered is Steven Livingston’s Little Demon in the City of Light: A true story of murder and mesmerism in Belle Époque Paris. It’s an in-depth look at the grisly murder, subsequent international manhunt, and dramatic courtroom trial where the suspect claimed she was “mesmerized” (or hypnotized) into killing her lover, a prominent debt collection agent. Besides the murder mystery itself, the book also explores fascinating birth of forensic science, sensationalist journalism (aka tabloids) and the whole atmosphere of “the spectacle” in Belle Époque Paris. It’s a bit easier to read than the very academic (yet exceedingly well-researched) Spectacular Realities: Early Mass Culture in Fin-de-siècle Paris by Vanessa R. Schwartz that riveted my attention a few years ago. Not that Livingston’s book is fluff! He’s a veteran journalist and currently the Washington Postnon-fiction book editor, so expect a good read with plenty of in-depth analysis thrown in with the “entertainment”.
* A Website for Students in Paris *
Neither tourists nor really established expats, foreign students in Paris have very specific needs that are rarely properly addressed in typical Paris websites (Secrets of Paris included), so I was quite happy to find Paris Unraveled, a site for students by Allison Lounes that covers how to choose programs, how to get a visa, the crazy process of student housing, and how to start job hunting. Lounes studied French at Columbia University and Middlebury College’s French School before getting her Master’s at the Université de Paris VII, so she knows her stuff. If you need one-on-one help with any of the topics covered on the site, she can also be hired for her consulting services. A great resource!
* Dancing at La Coupole *
The historic Montparnasse brasserie La Coupole was also a popular dance hall during Les Années Folles. Over the past 20 years Le Dancing de La Coupole has been transformed, updated, outdated, closed, reopened, and closed again. And since September they are once again hosting “thés dansants” every Sunday afternoon from 2:30-7pm, with the dance floor open to tango, salsa, cha-cha, rock (swing), fox trot, rumba, etc. Entrance is €18, coat check €1 per item (obligatoire). You can find other ballroom dance events on the site SoiréesDansantes.net (en français).
* Photo Exposition on Parisian Life During WWI *
This year marks the centennial of the start of World War I, aka La Grande Guerre (1914-1918), with many commemorative events taking place throughout the year all over France. In Paris you can visit the Galerie des Bibliothèques de la Ville de Paris (Municipal Libraries Gallery, 22 rue Malher, 4th) through June 15th to see the fascinating exhibit, Paris 14/18, la Guerre au Quotidien. It includes over 200 photos and films, never shown in public before, documenting the life of Parisians during the war years, and how the city and the country were forever changed. Watch the trailer for the exhibit here (en français). The expo is €6, open Tues-Sun 1-7pm (Thursdays until 9pm).
* Upcoming Running Events in France *
You have to plan pretty far in advance if you want to participate in the most popular running events in France. The Semi-Marathon de Paris (March 2nd), Marathon de Paris (April 6th) and the Color Run Paris (April 13th) are already sold out, but note the dates anyway, because if you’re in Paris some of the roads in the center of town will be closed off. It’s not too late to sign up for the Eco-Trail de Paris-Ile-de-France (March 29-30, I’ll be there!), and in a matter of days registration will open for the 30th annual Marathon du Medoc (September 13th), which may seem far off, but the 8000 spots will sell out quickly. Bryan and I will be going again; come join us for the costumes, the wine, the food…oh, okay, and some running in between! Some other fun running events include the Sans Clue Hash House Harriers “Blue Coat Run” (March 23rd) in honor of Rudyard Kipling’s paper chase exploits in the Bois de Boulogne circa 1878, and the Triathlon de Chantilly (August 23-24) which takes place in Le Nôtre’s gorgeous château gardens and canal. If the word “triathlon” makes you feel a bit queasy, keep in mind that there are several distances to choose from (ie 4k to 21k for the running part), relays for teams, kids’ events, and even spaces for volunteers who just like to watch the masochists fun from the sidelines (I handed out snacks to the cyclists last year). The organizers are British (it's part of the UK's Castle Triathlon Series), so even if you don't speak French you can participate or volunteer.
* Lost Pet Alert on Facebook *
Whether you have pets yourself or happen to see a loose dog or cat in your neighborhood, please bookmark this relatively new Pet Alert system using Facebook. There is a group for each FrenchDépartement, so if you’re not in Paris (“Pet Alert 75”), just type in “Pet Alert” and your department number into the Facebook search bar to find the local page. The sites post photos of lost and found pets in that department and a description of where it was last seen. They ask that the public share (or partager, “PTG”, these pics on their Facebook page). Owner info is kept private, Pet Alert acts as the go-between. Happily, they also post when the pets have been reunited with their owners. Whew!
* AARO Helping Expats Keep American Citizenship *
There have been many news articles recently about how the new IRS/US tax policies have been forcing many American expats overseas to renounce their US citizenship out of desperation. Here is a short broadcast from “Morning Edition” just this week: “Why More Americans are Renouncing US Citizenship”. Even if you don’t live in the US or owe the IRS any money, anyone with American citizenship has to file taxes and declare all personal AND business assets and accounts each year. This is a TON of paperwork (and not cheap, since you need a tax specialists familiar with both the US tax law and your local resident tax system to file for you), which can be both a burden financially and a huge waste of time (again, even a small business owner like myself has to file, even though I don’t owe anything and my company is based in France). But that’s not even the biggest issue. Because the US government wants to make sure they’re capturing the big tax evaders hiding money overseas, they require ALL foreign banks to send them information on any accounts held by US citizens. And many banks have decided that’s too much trouble for them, so they’ve closed the accounts. So an American living and working abroad for decades, with a family and a local business, who dutifully declares and files US taxes and the additional paperwork required for overseas residents, may have their livelihood threatened because their local banks are closing all US citizen accounts. This is what forcing even the most patriotic of Americans (including former military servicemen and women) to renounce citizenship. Maybe a couple thousand lost Americans is no big deal to the IRS if they can catch a few big tax evaders (as mentioned in the newscast), but some of us don’t want to lose our citizenship. One thing they didn’t mention on NPR is that there *is* an organization lobbying for our rights in Washington, DC: AARO, the Association of Americans Resident Overseas. They are trying to tackle this issue at its source. At the moment they’re working with the organization ACA (American Citizens Abroad) to make it easier for citizens to comply with the tax declaration requirements by making the process more streamlined. It’s a start! If you’re an American living abroad, consider joining or supporting groups like AARO and ACA, our only “voice” in Congress.
* You’re the First to Know: Naughty Paris Redux en Route! *
I’ve been pretty quiet for the past year about the status on “Naughty Paris: A Lady’s Guide to the Sexy City”, but after far too many delays, the second edition of the award-winning guide (which sold out both printings two years ago) is finally in production! I finally finished updating the text (over half of it completely new), and handed it off this week with the new photos to the designer, who is busily working her magic on the layout. I’m also very happy to have found a local, family-owned printing company which uses only ecologically sustainable paper and non-toxic inks, so I won’t have to wait for my books to be shipped all the way from China this time. So when will they be done? I’m crossing my fingers for the end of May, but not matter when they are finished I’ve decided to make them exclusively available direct to my readers for the first six months before selling them through book stores and Amazon. If you’d like to be among the first to know about the private launch parties, exclusive pre-order sales and how to get the updated eBook before the general public, be sure to sign up for the Naughty Paris VIP list here (scroll down to the bottom of the welcome page and add your email).
* Unlock Your Love in Paris *
In case you missed it (and even though Valentine’s Day is over), check out my article Paris for Lovers, which has some alternative ideas for couples visiting the City of Light which are useful throughout the year, and my rant on the ugly scourge known as “Love Locks” which are slowly degrading and destroying the beautiful bridges of Paris.
* Paris Events Calendar *
As usual, don’t miss the Secrets of Paris Calendar for shows, exhibitions and events around town. I also post news and events and photos from my runs through Paris on Twitter.
The Secrets of Paris Newsletter has been a monthly newsletter since 1999, but since this year is our 15th anniversary, I’ve decided to do two newsletters each month. As usual, half of the tips are written for newcomers and visitors, and the other half are more useful for Paris residents. If you would like to receive it directly in your email (which is sent out a few days earlier than it is posted online), just sign up here.