Belinda

Traviata

Yes, Belinda..."great minds.." and all that

MmePerdu

Sorry ladies (?) though I'd love to meet I'm in No. California these days with no plans to be in Paris anytime soon. But if you come this way . . . though I'd prefer a nice Sancerre.

Coquelicot

I just learned about Line Renaud from the French series Dix pour cent, called Call My Agent in the US. She was in one of the episodes playing herself. A total charmer!

2016adventurer

What you said about families and raising children in Paris resonated with me. We did a home exchange with a family of four that includes two young children of school age. It seemed like such a confined livable area, even though they apartment was over 100 square meters. Albeit it is probably great in other aspects of watching the city, it seemed like such a different way to grow up from my children's experience.

MmePerdu

She is charming, Coquelicot, fun & without the sort of ego one might expect. Her husband, composer Loulou Gasté, was the same, lovely down-to-earth people.

jpie

Yes I totally agree about kids. It changes the experience entirely. We have very good friends who raised their 4 girls in a nice apartment in the 16th-their place was probably about 1000 square foot. They were fine there but the girls shared rooms and any guests slept on the couch. When they moved back to the US to northern CA, (the couple was a US mom and French dad), when the girls were high school age, the thing they said that they appreciated most in the US was the opportunity for the girls to play in inter-mural sports-that is easy to do in the suburbs of Paris but harder when you live in the city. I think though like most of us who have lived in more than 1 country-there will always be things that we appreciate more in one country than the other.

However, my niece in Paris who just gave birth to twin boys (during the July heatwave-so the hospital was at least an air-conditioned respite from the heat) is living with her husband and the babies and 2 Chihuahuas in a tiny 300 square ft. apartment in Paris! It will be interesting if they stay in the city or not-at least the dogs will stay small

Nikki

MmePerdu

Nikki, I did indeed and as I did amused myself thinking about the oblivious big-spender Americans in the armchairs in the front rows paying all that money to see another American instead of the French dancer they thought they were watching. I know, cruel.

Envierges

Keep going! This is a joy to read. I too found out about Line Renauld from "Dix pour cent" suggested by Kerouac.

MmePerdu

Well, still on the subject of American tourists, I was on my way home one afternoon and walking up the stairs at Blanche metro station when I became aware of a conversation going on behind & below me, 2 young men & 1 young woman. They were discussing what was most in their line of vision, my backside, in English assuming though I could plainly hear them, I wouldn't understand. I turned at the top of the stairs to let them know their mistake. They were appropriately mortified.

It appears Dix Pour Cent is on Netflix. I will investigate further. Thanks all!

Envierges

And I'm sure they made the remark in the Loud American manner.
How long did you stay in Paris? Did you continue in that line of work? I've followed with delight your posts on this site because of your particular views.

MmePerdu

Envierges, correct, they were having a loud good time. But here's the deal I think with the "Loud American manner," we're only aware of the loud ones, not all us quiet ones. Kind of like cosmetic surgery, only the bad ones are obvious, then there are all the rest no one notices.

I was there for 6 months and continued for about 5 more years, until my son was born. Actually several months before he was born for obvious reasons.

Thank you for the compliment. You may appreciate my particular views more than my family.

SusanP

Such fun! MmePerdu, I think we need to hear much more. I agree, maybe you should write a book! 😁

MmePerdu

I think I may be running out of material that's fit for polite company. But I've been here for a while and up until today my secrets had been safe. That tells me there are any number of good stories waiting to be found here on Fodor's.

kerouac

At age 91, Line Renaud broke her leg last month but is recovering. She still regularly appears in French movies and made-for-television movies, not just "10%".

Coquelicot

Just think of the opportunities for celebrity sightings if you lived in Paris. This is not my celebrity sighting, but I saw a photo on the blog of an American living in Paris. The caption was something like A customer at my local fish market. The customer was Catherine Deneuve and the fishmonger was Gerard Depardieu. For real !

IMDonehere

The best way to start a memoir is pretend you are telling a friend the story. Be conversational, do not think like a writer but a story teller. Let the irony and glamor flow from the characters and story.

AlessandraZoe

"The best way to start a memoir is pretend you are telling a friend the story. Be conversational, do not think like a writer but a story teller. Let the irony and glamor flow from the characters and story."

Which is why an entire Fodor's crew of us are showing up at MmePerdu's residence with 15 bottles of the best Sancerre.
With sleeping bags.

AZ

MmePerdu

What fun!