Parler Paris Nouvellettre^®
Issue Number 15
Monday, December 3, 2001
<a href="/parlerparis/">/parlerparis/
</a>

Welcome to the Parler Paris FREE emailed Newsletter
Edited by Adrian Leeds
brought to you by International Living
<a href="http://www.internationalliving.com">
http://www.internationalliving.com</a>

Special Note: Parler Paris is issued weekly to lovers of Paris
and France! You will continue receiving this newsletter unless
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If you enjoy it and have friends you know would, too, please feel
free to pass it on and help us build our community.

In this issue:

1. Introduction: Hot Pink Christmas
2. Insider Paris Guides: Insider Guide to Good Value Paris Hotels
3. International Living
4. The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course
5. La Vie Francaise
6. Parler Parlor French/English Conversation Group
7. Apartments for Rent
8. Restaurant Pick of the Week: L'Ambassade d'Auvergne
9. Letters to the Editor: American University
10.Special Notes

====================

1. Bonjour from Parler Paris!

Now that we've eaten our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, we can expect
the Christmas-Chanukah-Kwanzaa-New Year season to slowly creep
into our agendas until reaching a crescendo when we burst from so
much merriment.

La Samaritaine, Paris' oldest department store (founded in 1870
by Ernest Cognacq and his wife Marie-Louise Jay) situated just at
the Pont Neuf on the right bank of the Seine and a fabulous
example of classic Art Nouveau architecture, is HOT PINK for
Christmas. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it for myself,
but awash in color, it is absolutely breathtaking.

BTW, La Samaritaine has one of the finest views of Paris from
it's rooftop accessible to the public by taking the elevator to
the 9th floor then climbing the last set of spiral stairs. Follow
the crowd.

Pass under the trees just in front of Galeries Lafayette along
boulevard Haussmann to experience what thousands of tiny RED
luminescent bulbs can do to brighten your skin tones.

Inside, a baroque 16-meter-high Christmas tree, designed as an
immense gold cage incrusted with precious gems, sits under the
stained glass dome, and is the tallest tree ever erected in a
department store.

And that's not all. Everywhere you turn, neighborhood streets are
strung with lights and store windows are tastefully decorated,
both festively and esthetically in typical French fashion. Oh, to
be in the City of Lights for the Holidays.

And now on to our Paris insider information . . .

Adrian Leeds

2. Insider Paris Guides <a href="
http://www.insiderparisguides.com/">
http://www.insiderparisguides.com/</a>

The Insider Guide to Good Value Paris Hotels is another treasure
by journalist Rose Marie Burke. Finding a DECENT, INEXPENSIVE
HOTEL on your own in Paris is one of the most daunting challenges
for a visitor. This Guide to Good Value Paris Hotels comes from
Rose Burke's experience as a restaurant-and-hotel columnist. This
is a selection of a few dozen great-value Paris hotels --the same
great hotels she recommends to close friends and family.

An updated version of The Insider Guide to Gay Paris was just
uploaded and is ready for download by purchasers. Lots of new
listings added, particularly for women.

And now you can save 20% when you order 2 or more Insider Paris
Guides!

3. International Living
<a href="http://www.internationalliving.com">
http://www.internationalliving.com</a>

For more than 21 years, International Living has been the leading
source of information on living, traveling, investing, and
retiring abroad. With more than 500 contributors in every corner
of the globe, International Living is able to report immediately
on the world's best opportunities for fun and for profit.

Parler Paris and Insider Paris Guides is happy to be a part of
the team, bringing you information to help you in your travels to
Paris and France or to relocate here.

TO SUBSCRIBE, visit their Web site or sign-up for the many free
e-letters International Living has to offer.

4. The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course

Would you like a FREE CRUISE along the golden sands of the
Chang Jiang River...a FREE EXPEDITION exploring the ancient
palaces of Kathmandu...or a FREE TREK through primitive
jungles on an Amazon safari?

If you ever dreamed about the romantic life of a travel
writer, here's a very unusual opportunity to actually live
it!
<a href="http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/twcr/wilvbb25">
http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/twcr/wilvbb25</a>

5. La Vie Francaise

Fine wine...good food...beautiful countryside...fields of
lavender and sunflowers in every direction...ancient stone
farmhouses...plus the world's most fashionable and exciting
city...

Yes, France always makes sense. But, right now, it makes
more sense than ever.

The dollar is at a high against the franc that we may not
see again in our lifetimes. As I write this, US$1 buys 7.37
French francs. A farmhouse...a chateau...even a Paris
pied-a-terre is more affordable right now than it has been
in more than a decade. This is a window of opportunity
worth paying attention to.

How about, for example, a two-bedroom 17th-century cottage
in a picturesque little medieval town...for less than
$20,000? For more details, click on:
<a href="http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/from/wilvbb24">
http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/from/wilvbb24</a>

6. Parler Parlor French/English Conversation Group
<a href="http://www.parlerparlor.com/">
http://www.parlerparlor.com/</a>

**The next HAPPY HOUR AND A HALF (every Second Friday of the
Month) is December 14th, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Bojangles, 47 rue
Rodier, 9th, Metro Anvers.

Come to practice speaking your French or English, meet new
people, have a drink (any one glass of wine, beer, soda, juice)
and munch on snacks. It's 50F at the door, and no need to
reserve, just come!

Then stay for Bojangles Gumbo Dinner: Salad + Louisiana Gumbo
(the best you have ever eaten!) + Dessert for just 100FF Plus
Live Music by the Chelsea Blues Band + 35FF Cover Charge

**Membership Fees increase January 1, 2002 so visit us before the
end of the year to TAKE ADVANTAGE of this year's rates.

**Due to renovation work at Coprom Langues, Parler Parlor will
MEET DECEMBER 22ND AT LE CANARI, 4 rue Lafayette, on the 1st and
2nd floors. Please be sure to tell your friends who may not be
receiving this newsletter.

**Parler Parlor will be CLOSED December 25 through January 2,
reopening January 3, 2002.

**HAPPY NEW YEAR OPEN HOUSE KING CAKE PARTY!
Tuesday, January 8th 6:30 p.m. at Coprom Langues

Join us for conversation at 6:30 p.m. then stay for une Galette
des Rois and drinks compliments of Parler Parlor. TAKE AN
ADDITIONAL 10% DISCOUNT on all memberships and renewals that
evening!

7. Apartments for Rent

BY OWNER -- GREAT DEAL FOR SINGLE WOMEN: Two single guest rooms,
each with private bathroom, newly renovated in chic 175 square
meter duplex apartment in Passy/Trocadero 16th arrondissement
near two Metro lines. Full access to modern well-equipped
kitchen, living room with TV (cabled) and stereo, office with
computer with 24-hour Internet access, dining room, laundry with
washer/dryer. Women only, please and non-smokers. 1 month $1500,
3 to 6 months $1200/month, more than 6 months $900 per month. 50%
deposit.

BY OWNER -- CHARMING ONE-BEDROOM: modernly-furnished in the
very CENTER of the City of Lights...very close walks to Notre
Dame, other monuments, museums in Paris. Located in a 17th
century historical building, on quiet street in trendy
"Le Marais" quarter. Sunny southern exposure, inside
courtyard, 3rd floor, no elevator. Washer, dryer, fireplace. Very
safe with intercom system and door codes. Perfect for single
person or couple (2 people maximum). Please, no students,
children, pets or smokers. Availability varies, so plan
ahead. Prefer to rent for a minimum of 3 months. References and
deposit required. $1200 per month + $500 deposit. Includes local
telephone, all other costs.

BY APARTMENT MANAGER:

1. Sculptress' one-bedroom duplex apartment near the Place Monge
in the 5th, with wrap-around balconies, elevator. 700FF/$100 per
night or longer

2. Studio in the Marais, 5th floor walk-up.

3. Apartment to sell: near Metro Alesia in the 14th, one-bedroom
on the ground floor of a quiet street with covered veranda, large
living room.

4. Apartment to buy: near rue Daguerre, Metro Mouton Duvernet in
the 14th.

5. Commercial spaces to share part or full time:

a. near Gare de l'Est on rue Chabrol for therapists or
health professionals
b. on boulevard Voltaire office/cabinet/altelier

APARTMENT EXCHANGE OR RENTAL

Wanted in Paris: two or three-bedroom furnished apartment in the
15th arrondissement (preferably, but will consider others) for a
non-smoking couple with a three-year-old child from early
February 2002 to the end of June or August 2002 to exchange for
apartment in Somerville/Boston (see below) or to pay
approximately $1000 per month.

Available in Somerville, Massachusettes (suburb of Boston -- 1
and 1/2 miles from business district): two-bedroom 140 square
meter furnished apartment (first floor of a two-story home) with
double living room and fully equipped large kitchen, full bath,
porches front and back and backyard. Nearby to shops, estaurants,
bookstores, theater, nightspots and subway station. Close to
Harvard, MIT and downtown. A minimum of a four-month stay is
required. $1400 per month.

There is an entry fee assessment to the above two properties for
a rental or an exchange of 10%, minimum $75, maximum of two
months.

RENDEZ-VOUS A PARIS: represents luxury Paris apartments in
chic central Paris. Their apartments are close to monuments,
tourist sites and convenient to Metro stations, bus lines and
restaurants. Rendez-Vous a Paris is the easiest way for you to
find the perfect vacation rental apartment in the best locations
in Paris, because they do it all for you.

Ask for Alban Bertin and be sure to tell her Adrian of Parler
Paris sent you.
<a href="http://www.rendez-vousaparis.com/">
http://www.rendez-vousaparis.com/</a>

Office +33 (0) 1 56 24 97 05,
Portable Phone +33 (0) 6 15 26 30 04
<a href="mailto:rendezvousaparis@hotmail.com">
mailto:rendezvousaparis@hotmail.com</a>

If you own an apartment you would like to rent for one week, one
month or one year, or are seeking an apartment to rent, Parler
Paris gets many requests to match with your apartment! Email
Adrian at <a href="mailto:Info@AdrianLeeds.com">
mailto:Info@AdrianLeeds.com</a> to receive an apartment
information form to complete and return by email.

8. Restaurant Pick of the Week: L'AMBASSADE D'AUVERGNE

In honor of friend and professional associate, Eva Lee
Lichtenberg, who will be in Paris to dine here with me this week
. . .

Traditional French/"Cuisine du Terroir"
22 rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare, Arrondissement 3
Phone 01.42.72.31.22
Web: <a href="http://www.ambassade-auvergne.com/">
http://www.ambassade-auvergne.com/</a>
Email: <a href="mailto:info@ambassade-auvergne.com"
mailto:info@ambassade-auvergne.com</a>
Métro Rambuteau
Open 7 Days a Week
170F 3-Course Menu, Entrées 56F - 120F, Plats 90F - 125F,
Cheeses 43 F, Desserts 48F

I don't often recommend a restaurant as well discovered as this
one, but that's because it's an experience worth having at a
price worth having it at. It's a large space made up of many cozy
rooms, very personal, very countrified. Cuisine is typical of the
Auvergne region, the very center of France which was once
volcanic country and now rich in mineral springs and black
volcanic ash from which yields a variety of fruits, vegetables
and the raising of cattle. If you order a potato and cheese
combination called "aligot," your server will bring it to your
table in a copper pot, then with a spoon, dip in and stretch it
high in the air - what a performance! Servings are absolutely
enormous, so don't go if you don't have an appetite to match.
"Salade Tiède de Lentilles Vertes du Puy" comes in a terrine
enough to feed everyone at your table. Other things to be sure to
try: "Jambon Cru ou Cochonnailles de Parlan" (I have never seen a
slab of ham so large it folded three times on the plate!),
"Cuisse de Canard Confit et sa Truffade" ('truffade' is the most
typical dish of Auvergne) and "Potée de Porc Fermier aux Choux
Braisés" (soup with salt pork and cabbage). I am often asked
about restaurants which can accommodate private parties or those
that are open on Sundays and Ambassade d'Auvergne fits the bill
for both. There are air-conditioned private dining rooms that
will serve 10 to 35 people, so if you want to have your next big
birthday party in Paris and invite all your friends to come, this
can be the perfect solution.

9. Letters to the Editor

Dear Adrian,

My daughter is considering applying to the American University of
Paris and we know very little about the actual school. We have
been to Paris twice, love the city but are wondering about the
school. Can you help? Thanks.

Sue Granger Dickson

Dear Sue,

The university has a very comprehensive Web site that should give
you most of what you would want to know at <a href="
http://www.aup.fr/">http://www.aup.fr/</a>
While I have no first-hand experience with the school, its
reputation here in Paris is good and it is generally very well
respected. One thing for sure, an education in Paris is more
broadening than if your daughter were to stay closer to home. I
feel the same way for my daughter who is embarking on a
university career in New York, a welcome change from her Parisian
life!

Adrian

10. Special Notes:

If you would like to have your message read by the subscribers of
the Parler Paris Nouvellettre^®, please email me at
<a href="mailto:Info@AdrianLeeds.com">
mailto:Info@AdrianLeeds.com</a>

If you would like to have reciprocal links, please email me at <
<a href="mailto:Info@AdrianLeeds.com">
mailto:Info@AdrianLeeds.com</a>

~~~~~~~~End of Issue 15 Parler Paris Nouvellettre^®~~~~~~~~