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Place des Vosges Winter Wonderland

Fed Up with France?
Is It Better in Boring Brussels?

Parler Paris Nouvellettre^®
Your taste of life in Paris and France
ParlerParis.com
Monday, December 12, 2010 • Paris, France

Last Wednesday afternoon was the heaviest snowfall Paris has seen in 23 years. No doubt, it was the most snow since living here, coming down in virtual drifts with the largest flakes I've ever seen. Carrying a large umbrella and wearing rugged boots, I trekked slowly hoping not to slip down the icy sidewalks to the Place des Vosges for an assortment of "rendez-vous" that afternoon.

Place des Vosges is one of those spots that when snow covers it, becomes a 'winter wonderland' of the storybook kind. And so it was that day with several inches of the fresh-fallen crystals of ice changing the landscape to a world we don't often get to know. Since then, the snow has melted away, leaving Paris as Paris is in winter -- cold, gray and damp, although the prediction for this coming week is more of the white stuff towards the end of the week and into the weekend.

The biggest news on the local scene since Wednesday has been the report by the Chambre de Notaires about the rise in prices of property in central Paris. The Media has plastered 20% in huge letters across their front pages claiming the prices to have increased that much in one year and to have reached an all time high, blaming low interest rates and foreign buyers. Those of us in the industry have seen the prices rise without the Chambre de Notaire telling us, but like with any news item, there are many sides to the story to consider that one doesn't always see, and to understand the truth, one must learn to 'read between the lines.'

In this coming Thursday's French Property Insider, we will be running a full report along with a personal perspective of what's happening and what we project as the future for Paris real estate. For those of you interested who are not already subscribers of French Property Insider, it's easy and it's free to receive the newsletter weekly. Just click here: frenchproperty/insider/ and then click on the blue "Subscribe" button.

This morning, a journalist friend forwarded over a funny interview by Farah Nayeri, a writer for Muse, the arts and leisure section
of Bloomberg News, with Corinne Maier, a French economist and psychoanalyst, who has exiled to Belgium. She's written a book titled, “Tchao* la France,” listing 40 reasons to "abandon the world’s top tourist destination." The 47 year-old woman seems determined to shatter our romantic ideas about France, Paris and the French.

Maier no longer believes that France is a sexy country -- that the French statistically are bored with their sex lives and therefore no longer make great lovers. She says she's never met the typical 'French lover' and is still waiting to hear someone who has!

(I'll bet there are many of you out there who would be able to name one or two, right?)

Paris is 'sleepy' according to Maier, claiming the nightlife is dead and that while there is much culturally to see and do, the city has turned into a country club for executives and professionals.

(I can tell you that the Hôtel de Ville de Paris will not be happy to hear this, since they recently launched their new Web site in an effort to promote the city's nightlife!: http://www.parisnightlife.fr/ )

She thinks herself that France no longer producers great thinkers, such as Bernard-Henri Levy, and that the great philosophers on the 'frontline' are imposters.

(Is this her own philosophical view that others don't match her own intellect? How French is that!?)

Maier complains about what we call the "good ol' boys network" -- meaning that a small group of people control every aspect of life -- that it's all in who you know in order to get ahead.

(Wake up Madame, this is true no matter where you are. Right? Even in New York City, it's all about networking and who you know, rather than what you know. They are just now catching on to this?)

Sarkozy is on her 'black list.' He promises all sorts of things, then changes his mind, tries to 'seduce' the electorate and then really doesn't 'govern'...because she complains that he has no vision.

(Hmm. Funny, my impression was just the opposite. It seems that he manages to stand up for what he believes is right, even if it won't get him votes, as he did in response to the recent demonstrations against the raise in retirement age. Admittedly, he's down in the polls to under 30% in favor. This complaint is exactly the same I am hearing about Barack Obama's need to make everyone happy, thereby disappointing his constituents. I suppose in politics, you're 'damned if you do and damned if you don't?')

Brussels is better, she said. Her house is four or five times larger for what she can afford in Paris, taxes are lower for self-employed people and bureaucracy is less complicated.

(Her house is worth less, for obvious reasons [location, location, location]. It's Brussels, not Paris! In March of 2008, Brussels was voted the most boring city in Europe by international travelers! And yes, she has a point about taxes and bureaucracy! It's tough to argue that one, don't you think?)

So, when asked why foreigners (and even the French) hold on to their 'dreamy' image of France, she equates it to a Swiss box of chocolates with pictures on the cover of the Alps or a chalet on Lake Geneva. We have this image of people walking the streets holding a baguette wearing a beret leading a casual life. As a tourist, it's great, but then, as she said, "look for housing, try to talk to the landlord, open an account. Things will get tough."

(No question. There are people holding baguettes on the street, especially coming from my local bakery. And yes, a few of us still wear berets -- even if it's terribly out of fashion, I still love mine and have one in every color! Sure, looking for housing is tough [the laws favor the tenants, so no one wants to be a landlord] and opening a bank account is no simple task [the banks want to know with whom they are doing business], but is that a reason to live in the most boring city in Europe? [No offense to Brussels.])

This is the part I loved the most: when asked if she would ever move back to France, she said "Maybe someday, but not for years. At the moment, it’s too exhausting, too much of a hassle."

That's when I understood it all. Maier doesn't understand that having a fulfilling life isn't about it being 'easy' -- it's about enriching it. If she wants 'easy' -- then she should try out the U.S.A. instead of Belgium. Don't you agree?

*"Tchao" I take to mean "ciao" -- as "goodbye" in Italian.

A la prochaine...

Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris

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P.S. Join us tomorrow afternoon for Parler Paris Après Midi at La Pierre du Marais from 3 to 5 p.m. when we meet-up with other readers of Parler Paris and take a moment to remember our dear friend, Eva Lee Lichtenberg who passed away last week unexpectedly. Learn more at parlerparis/apresmidi.html

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