Bonjour Paris Holiday Wishes

23 December 2010 by Karen Fawcett    869  
Bonjour Paris Holiday Wishes
Karen Fawcett
By Karen Fawcett
We asked a few of our contributors to share some holiday thoughts and wishes and they were kind enough to do so. Please add yours. Mine is that spring will come in January. We’ve had enough cold and snow for the year, merci. Is that too much to ask? Joanne and Gerry Dryansky We wish that some truly smart producer in France will make great movies out of three brilliant, arresting, heart-rending scripts which we, in our obsessive and prolific manner, have written. Anyone out there? (The independent film world in America is in depression.) We extend all our best wishes to the poor dollar, to the American economy, and we wish that Americans will bring their country back from deep distress and divisiveness. Otherwise we wish for more and more readers of our peculiar but we think endearing fiction, in particular the novels SATAN LAKE and FORTUNE’S SECOND WINK. At Actes Sud and McArthur & Co. And good holidays to all! Joseph Lestrange For 2011, let me have a fresh and abundant supply of loonies, strange if beautiful women, lost and woebegone people of all stripes and flavors, cats, birds, and dogs in places they don’t belong and behaving as if they owned the joint, odd pieces of hardware and furniture left out in the street for no purpose I can dope out, expats who don’t try to speak French to me (or maybe, come to think of it, do), domestic crises in public, old couples who still love one another, forlorn cafés with regulars older than the mirrors and the coffee machines, bakeries open at six in the morning, con men and frauds provided they’re neither armed nor imminently psychopathic, at least one event or conversation or inexplicable hole in the ground every week that leaves me puzzled, even more odd habits on my part, much better wine, much cheaper wine, heavy fog, light warm rain, an empty park bench whenever I need one, sandwiches without ham, people who will talk to someone who isn’t there and also to me, money lying in the street, frogs falling out of the sky, and some really good shoes. Janet Hulstrand I hope that more people will discover the joys and charms of l’Aube in 2011, whether by going there themselves or just reading about it in Bonjour Paris. This southern section of the Champagne region, nestled along the border of Burgundy, is often overlooked and not well known even by many French people. Yet some of the region’s finest champagnes and haute cuisine are found here, and it is home to some of the country’s most accueillant people. It is also an area rich in natural beauty and full of cultural and historical interest. I should probably add my hope that in spreading the word about l’Aube I will not cause a stampede of tourists that will in any way compromise its wonderful, unspoiled beauty. I trust that the readers of Bonjour Paris will share this sentiment and will only choose to share this news with those who share their discretion and good taste, who will appreciate what they find there and will keep a respectfully low profile as they explore and discover. I think I am fairly safe in holding onto this hope: they are, after all, readers of Bonjour Paris. Bonne année, à tout le monde! Anne Spiselman Some morning in 2011, sooner rather than later, I’d like to wake up being able to speak perfect French. I studied the language for years in school, yet my skills remain rudimentary. I can understand about half of what native speakers are saying if I plead “parlez lentement, s’il vous plaît” often enough, but my pronunciation sucks—partly because I cannot roll an “r.” Many people have tried to teach me, with hands-on demonstrations of how to hold and move my tongue, but the best they’ve gotten from me are guttural sounds bearing little resemblance to anything Gallic. If I could speak French perfectly, I’d take a year off to travel around the country, soaking up culture and cuisine—including tasting every cheese I could. I’d like to live in Paris for a time (Karen, you’re so lucky!) and visit as many towns and villages as possible, especially medieval ones. There’s just one catch: I want to travel in time as well as space, so I can truly grasp what life was like in centuries past. Cathy Fiorello I won’t have France for Christmas this year, but I’m hoping to have a Paris experience right here in San Francisco in 2011. I’ve just learned of Café Jacqueline, paradoxically in the Italian North Beach section of town which, devotees say, puts one in Paris without leaving home. “The most heavenly soufflés I’ve ever had,” declared the friend who put me on to the Café, “and I’ve had them in Paris.” With long-stemmed red roses on every table and candlelight to boot, Zagat says, “Bring a date.” I’ll just bring the same date I bring to Paris: My husband. Anne Woodyard If you had asked me last year, same time, what I wished for the new year, it would never have crossed my mind to say “a gorgeous apartment in Aix en Provence”. And when I reflect that, after years and years of gazing longingly at the photos in Real Estate offices in Aix, at the end of last January we realized that it was time—mortgage rates were low, prices had flattened—and we began the search in earnest and found the gem that is now ours after a few months of treasure-hunting. I can hardly believe that it all happened in the first seven months of 2010! So how does that relate to my wishes for 2011? Simple—I …
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By Karen Fawcett

Karen is the original founder and former president of Bonjour Paris. Follow her musings on Substack.