Meeting the French dinners
Oct 16th, 2010, 02:27 PM
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This might be the site, Meet the French, http://www.meetingthefrench.com/index.php?lang=en
Within is the link to having dinners in a French home,
http://en.meetingthefrench.com/categ...nch-host_6.htm
No, I haven't been to one, but did go to 'the man in Paris that holds dinners in his residence', Jim Haynes. This takes place each Sunday night in Montparnasse and in the warm weather most of the guests eat and drink in the courtyard.
http://www.jim-haynes.com/
Within is the link to having dinners in a French home,
http://en.meetingthefrench.com/categ...nch-host_6.htm
No, I haven't been to one, but did go to 'the man in Paris that holds dinners in his residence', Jim Haynes. This takes place each Sunday night in Montparnasse and in the warm weather most of the guests eat and drink in the courtyard.
http://www.jim-haynes.com/
Oct 20th, 2010, 01:00 PM
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CopperandJade: would you recommend doing the dinner with Jim Haynes? What was your experience like? I'll be there a week from Sunday with my boyfriend, and sounds like it could be an interesting addition to the trip!
Oct 20th, 2010, 02:22 PM
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I have read about this for years, and have never found a pull to take a meal out to be with a whole lot of Americans I don't know when my time in Paris is so "precious". I HAVE met with AOL Francophile friends for dinner, and I have met with other online friends. But I have just never understood it.
Oct 20th, 2010, 03:26 PM
#8
What's the attraction? What does get that you can't get just by talking to French people in a restaurant/store/hotel?
And why does a French person do this? For the money?
And, are the Europeans and Asians that are willing to pay $85 a person to dine with me? Oh, sure, I'd have to pay $18 to Applebee's for a genuine American meal, but I'd still net $67 for what, an hour's work, 2 hours max?
And why does a French person do this? For the money?
And, are the Europeans and Asians that are willing to pay $85 a person to dine with me? Oh, sure, I'd have to pay $18 to Applebee's for a genuine American meal, but I'd still net $67 for what, an hour's work, 2 hours max?
Oct 20th, 2010, 05:00 PM
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It's become a very popular activity in at least France and Italy, maybe other countries. But I don't get it, either. It seems sort of zoo-ish to me - let's go park ourselves in a French family home for the evening and see what the species is like on its own turf. But I've been in many French homes over the years (without paying for it), so maybe I don't have the level of curiosity that others do.
The Jim Haynes experience holds absolutely no interest for me.
The Jim Haynes experience holds absolutely no interest for me.
Oct 20th, 2010, 05:18 PM
#10
I think the appeal is to meet people who live in the place you are visiting who are not in the tourist trade and whom a tourist might not have the opportunity to meet. I know that I have had wonderful experiences meeting people who live in different places through this message board, and this has greatly enhanced my visits.
I don't see it as a zoo. When I meet visitors from abroad while I am on my home turf, I have interesting discussions with them. We are all learning. It's part of the same attraction that I find participating on this message board with people from around the world. I love seeing the different perspectives people have that I might never have suspected.
I don't see it as a zoo. When I meet visitors from abroad while I am on my home turf, I have interesting discussions with them. We are all learning. It's part of the same attraction that I find participating on this message board with people from around the world. I love seeing the different perspectives people have that I might never have suspected.
Oct 20th, 2010, 07:35 PM
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Zoo-ish was probably too strong a word. Maybe voyeuristic. I too love meeting people in and from other places, but I'd rather that it happen naturally, as it does so often, than to make an "appointment" with strangers. Just my two sous.
Oct 20th, 2010, 10:54 PM
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Dancergirl - If you are refering to a Fodorite GTG, then Yes I have and it is great fun. The smaller the group all meeting for dinner at an appointed restaurant the better as one can then converse with everyone at the table. In my personal experience I have met with two other ladies on three seperate occasions and also 15 or so other people at the last GTG I attended.
Oct 21st, 2010, 02:03 AM
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I could not agree more. I've read about those Jim Haynes dinners and they sound gruesome--ann immense vat of chili and scads of other Americans with no place to sit.
Might as well be on an Army base.
HiddenKitchen sounds a lot better, but even then...
Might as well be on an Army base.
HiddenKitchen sounds a lot better, but even then...
Oct 21st, 2010, 02:08 AM
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..and for $600 (not including meals or hotel) you can get your very own French person to hang around with for a day. They will even book the Jim Haynes dinners for you but the fee is not included!
http://www.intouch-travel.com/what_we_do
http://www.intouch-travel.com/what_we_do
Oct 21st, 2010, 08:37 AM
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I could see doing the Meeting the French thing if it were people you had something in common with or a them (eg, musicians or artists or something you shared). I can see how some folks might want to just go be with random strangers who are foreigners. Look at the folks who want to stay in B&Bs (not me). Now I have no more interest in meeting random strangers who are foreigners than I would in the US in their homes. I would never spend my time hosting foreigners, either, but I'm too busy and have too little time to meet with my own friends. I could see it if you were lonely or bored (spending your time with strangers).
I went to the Jim Haynes thing once and would not again, but it wasn't horrible. It was just something to do one evening when I was there a long time, but that's because I often travel alone. So it is dinner companionship. If I were with someone, I'm not sure I would see the atraction of spending dinner that way. It wasn't that enjoyable an experience in terms of food or comfort level. Everyone wasn't an American, although most were. I think some were British, I forget. There were a few French people (his neighbors or acquaintances) but they just stuck together and didn't socialize with others. For them, it was just a way to have pot luck with their own friends, they weren't there to meet tourists.
If you have plenty of free time and no major expectations, it's worth a shot (Jim Haynes).
I went to the Jim Haynes thing once and would not again, but it wasn't horrible. It was just something to do one evening when I was there a long time, but that's because I often travel alone. So it is dinner companionship. If I were with someone, I'm not sure I would see the atraction of spending dinner that way. It wasn't that enjoyable an experience in terms of food or comfort level. Everyone wasn't an American, although most were. I think some were British, I forget. There were a few French people (his neighbors or acquaintances) but they just stuck together and didn't socialize with others. For them, it was just a way to have pot luck with their own friends, they weren't there to meet tourists.
If you have plenty of free time and no major expectations, it's worth a shot (Jim Haynes).
Oct 23rd, 2010, 10:46 AM
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Like Christina, I went to the Jim Haynes dinner, enjoyed the experience, but probably wouldn’t go back. I think that each night would be unique and that is why there are such diverse and impassioned reactions. If you are alone in Paris for a length of time, it’s is probably worth a shot. You pay 20 or 30? € for dinner and unlimited wine and beer. WHY you are going is significant. The food is simple (decent the night I went), but you could have far, far greater value for the same money in many cafes and restaurants. At this point, I had been alone in Paris for 3 weeks, knew no one, had only 2 conversations in English (my French is somewhat pathetic) and I just needed to have a conversation with subtlety and nuance. (at this time, I was unaware of travel forums and the ‘Get Togethers’.) My closest friends to date were the two waiters at my local cafes at Place Maubert, Brian at the Abbey Bookshop, several vendors at the market at Place Maubert and the guy at the Post Office. We had simple conversations.
It was a warm and beautiful June night and we filled our plates and milled around in the courtyard. Jim’s studio is tiny and there was only room for a few of the select (I gathered) to sit inside. Jim was holding court and he seems to enjoy presenting a risqué/flirtatious persona to the world. He was welcoming and quite funny. Most surprising to me was the composition of the crowd, perhaps a third North American, a third French, a third ‘rest of Europe’. Not at all ‘american’. Throughout the night I had a few great conversations with a brilliant 17 year old German boy (whose father was a friend of Jim’s), a gay couple from Spain and a beautiful French woman who was a professional pianist. We met for coffee a couple of times after this in my last week in Paris. So, If you are going only for the food, your money is better spent elsewhere. If you want to meet some people, converse, get to know Jim, see a historic Montparnasse studio…it’s worth it.
Being with ‘a bunch of North Americans’ is not why I go to Paris. I have usually gone alone and spend 99% of my time with French people, or, NON North Americans. Sometimes I wonder about all of the 'Get Togethers' with other forum members that I read about. My only understanding of this is that if you are there for perhaps a month (as I have been, a few times), you need some cultural and linguistic intimacy. Some need this more than others.
The idea of having a dinner in a French home appeals to me, however, I don’t have any French friends. In my life, my most loved thing to do is to have friends for dinner, the second is to go to a friend’s for dinner. There is something special about being in a home, looking around you, seeing how they choose to live, sharing a meal, that fascinates me and gives me a feeling of well being. To do so in Paris would be wonderful! Thus, the lure of these ‘dinners in French homes’. I think it is a further extension of feeling a little bit like you’re ‘living in Paris’, but you can’t really buy this...you need time. Like renting an apartment as opposed to a hotel. I think that it would be special and a glimpse of another level of French society. Of course, those of you who have French friends and have often shared a meal wih them, have an automatic entrée and may not understand this.
The ‘Meeting the French’ prices seem to be high. The meals seem to be 'catered' and don't sound authentic.
It was a warm and beautiful June night and we filled our plates and milled around in the courtyard. Jim’s studio is tiny and there was only room for a few of the select (I gathered) to sit inside. Jim was holding court and he seems to enjoy presenting a risqué/flirtatious persona to the world. He was welcoming and quite funny. Most surprising to me was the composition of the crowd, perhaps a third North American, a third French, a third ‘rest of Europe’. Not at all ‘american’. Throughout the night I had a few great conversations with a brilliant 17 year old German boy (whose father was a friend of Jim’s), a gay couple from Spain and a beautiful French woman who was a professional pianist. We met for coffee a couple of times after this in my last week in Paris. So, If you are going only for the food, your money is better spent elsewhere. If you want to meet some people, converse, get to know Jim, see a historic Montparnasse studio…it’s worth it.
Being with ‘a bunch of North Americans’ is not why I go to Paris. I have usually gone alone and spend 99% of my time with French people, or, NON North Americans. Sometimes I wonder about all of the 'Get Togethers' with other forum members that I read about. My only understanding of this is that if you are there for perhaps a month (as I have been, a few times), you need some cultural and linguistic intimacy. Some need this more than others.
The idea of having a dinner in a French home appeals to me, however, I don’t have any French friends. In my life, my most loved thing to do is to have friends for dinner, the second is to go to a friend’s for dinner. There is something special about being in a home, looking around you, seeing how they choose to live, sharing a meal, that fascinates me and gives me a feeling of well being. To do so in Paris would be wonderful! Thus, the lure of these ‘dinners in French homes’. I think it is a further extension of feeling a little bit like you’re ‘living in Paris’, but you can’t really buy this...you need time. Like renting an apartment as opposed to a hotel. I think that it would be special and a glimpse of another level of French society. Of course, those of you who have French friends and have often shared a meal wih them, have an automatic entrée and may not understand this.
The ‘Meeting the French’ prices seem to be high. The meals seem to be 'catered' and don't sound authentic.
Oct 25th, 2010, 02:01 PM
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I am French and when I found out about the Meeting the French website over a year ago, I thought it was an interesting concept. I even thought that if I'd lived in downtown Paris I might have liked to be one of the hosts. But I was disappointed when I read that the food was catered because cooking for my guests is one of the great pleasures of entertaining.
I am one of those people who prefer meeting the locals when I travel because the local culture (the popular culture that is, not the one displayed in museums) is as important to me as sightseeing. You get an understanding of a country that you do not get from staying at a hotel. Less so in big cities where I enjoy the anonymity of a hotel.
I had numerous penpals in my teenage years and therefore traveling abroad for me meant staying at my friends' places (they visited me in return). I also did cultural exchange programs so I stayed with British, Irish, American, Canadian and German families. As a city girl I also enjoyed staying at friends' and cousins' homes in rural France and showing them the big city when they visited me in Paris. I just grew up loving this kind of exchange.
It is true that Meeting the French is overpriced and lacks authenticity and spontaneity but it still offers an insight into a French home and sense of hospitality which differs from country to country. Eating at someone's table and see how they eat at home is how you really learn about them and their culture/daily life. I learned things living with English, German and American families that I would have never known about their countries had I vacationed in a hotel or resort. And such experiences are those that left the longest lasting memories and strongest impressions on me.
In any case, CopperandJade, next time you are in Paris, you are invited to eat at my place!
Véronique
I am one of those people who prefer meeting the locals when I travel because the local culture (the popular culture that is, not the one displayed in museums) is as important to me as sightseeing. You get an understanding of a country that you do not get from staying at a hotel. Less so in big cities where I enjoy the anonymity of a hotel.
I had numerous penpals in my teenage years and therefore traveling abroad for me meant staying at my friends' places (they visited me in return). I also did cultural exchange programs so I stayed with British, Irish, American, Canadian and German families. As a city girl I also enjoyed staying at friends' and cousins' homes in rural France and showing them the big city when they visited me in Paris. I just grew up loving this kind of exchange.
It is true that Meeting the French is overpriced and lacks authenticity and spontaneity but it still offers an insight into a French home and sense of hospitality which differs from country to country. Eating at someone's table and see how they eat at home is how you really learn about them and their culture/daily life. I learned things living with English, German and American families that I would have never known about their countries had I vacationed in a hotel or resort. And such experiences are those that left the longest lasting memories and strongest impressions on me.
In any case, CopperandJade, next time you are in Paris, you are invited to eat at my place!
Véronique
