Parler Paris Newsletter, Paris France

Parler Paris Après-Midi

NEXT MEETING: December 9th AND EVERY SECOND AND FOURTH TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

This is your opportunity to meet twice a month, often with local professionals who can answer your Working and Living in France questions. You are invited to come for drinks and share your questions and comments about what it takes to create a life here, own property and enjoy what France has to offer. It is also an opportunity to network with other Parler Paris readers.
Upstairs at
La Pierre du Marais
96, rue des Archives at the corner of rue de Bretagne, 75003 Paris Métro Lines 9, 3 et 11, stations Temple, République or Arts et Métiers

This coming year's meetings...

Tuesday, December 9, 2003
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Tuesday, Mary 25, 2004

MEETING OFNOVEMBER 25, 2003

(Photos and descriptions of participants do not necessarily match!)

Before I left for Ireland, we had our bi-monthly Parler Paris Après Midi where we could meet and chat with our readers.

Regular WYNN JONES arrived unusually late, but was carrying a stack of "The Connexion" -- a fairly new magazine for Anglophones in France for which he's the official distributor (http://www.theconnexion.fr). PATRICIA LAPLANTE COLLINS had her big black pup in tow as always who seems to have taken to BEV TECHE, our Paris Office Intern. Eve lays directly over Bev's feet so she can't move. Bev, meanwhile, was amazed by the size of the sweet potatoes I bought in an Asian market to make for our Thanksgiving Dinner. Familiar faced SANDY ZAYAS came to say hello and talked of a friend arriving next week who will stay with her in her 10 square-meter apartment on the Ile Saint-Louis! Marais neighbor, New Orleanian with an accent I recognize as similar to my own and Après Midi regular, ANNE ESPOSITE-SLIWINSKI, also stopped in for a chat and a drink.

Retired music history teacher at Overlin College in Ohio, SYLVAN SUSKIN, came for the first time (without his French wife who teaches French). He wants to spend half a year here in his pied-à-terre in Boulogne and had lots of questions on how to make the transition. JOSPEH SIART is married to a French woman, too, but is seeking adventure, less stress and a way to use Paris as a base while exploring the rest of Europe and North Africa.

WENDY SANDER, a hospital worker and new resident of the 3rd arrondissement, walked in and introduced herself as "Wendy from England!" We like that boldness, but she wasn't the only non-American in the group, of course. DAVID and Danish wife HEIKE SMITH from Victoria "The Good Place" Canada talked about exchange rate issues with the Euro at 1.19 against the dollar. BRITA STEVENSON just started her Master's Degree in International Relations at Sciences-Po. She had lived in Paris before and came to Après Midi to make new friends from les academic backgrounds. I'm sure she succeeded! BILL DUNLAP, who's lived here many years, is still searching for his perfect Paris pied-à-terre...Jocelyn Carnegie is helping him do that at the moment.

PATRICE BAZILLE, a tall Frenchman who has spent all his life in Paris, is a writer and photographer. He's seeking ways to show his work to Americans. You can find some photos at http://www.photobis.com/PATRICE_BAZILLE/ and http://thimage.net/patrice-bazille/...but don't go there if you don't want to see beautiful nudes! ALTA CATHERS is also a fine art photographer, but from Reno, Nevada, who has made this her 5th visit to Paris. She's looking to break into the art scene, too! Then came, JOHN GIANNINI, who has been here six years after living in Hong Kong many years. He's a documentary filmmaker and photojournalist, a citizen of the U.S., Italy and a legal resident of France. Whew!

HENRY "AL" STEWART lives in the Marais five months a year, the rest of the time in South Florida. He has a business that works on career transitions with American expatriates and U.S. citizens seeking job opportunities in Europe. Al, we need you! Hope you stay longer. STEVE WORMAN came to Paris for the first time in 1998 and fell in love with the city. He and his friends are planning a big gathering here this coming spring to celebrate a birthday. They were jealous he had the chance to come to Après Midi. We suggested they stay in the two IL apartments at the same time and make use of their great locations and space for all the friends to have dinners and parties together -- much better than lots of individual hotel rooms.