Letter from Paris: October 9, 2024 News Digest

[Pictured above, in a nod to all the rain currently soaking Paris, is Gustave Caillebotte’s “Paris Street, Rainy Day,” 1877.]

President Emmanuel Macron hosted the Francophonie summit last Friday and Saturday, the first time France has been the host country in 33 years. As reported by RFI, it’s an opportunity for France “to try and bolster its influence in a conflict-ridden world, particularly in Africa… [where] France’s sway in Africa has been badly eroded by successive coups.” Dozens of leaders of French-speaking countries attended, including Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In terms of the number of global French speakers, it’s estimated to be “321 million across five continents, making it the 5th most spoken language in the world.”

The French government is trying to get the country’s dire finances in order. As reported by Le Monde, French finance minister Antoine Armand said recently on a radio program “that low and middle earners would be spared from raised taxes, describing it as an ‘exceptional and temporary effort’ for ‘those with extremely high incomes.’” Spending will also have to be cut significantly. “France is looking to improve its financial situation by some €40 billion next year in the hope of bringing the public sector deficit to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) from an estimated more than 6% this year.”

Paris is no stranger to film shoots, with international production companies seeking out the city as a movie set. Now a new backlot is sure to lure even more productions. As reported by Variety, “Bringing Hollywood magic closer to the Seine, the long-awaited TSF Paris Backlot officially opened this week, inaugurating an outdoor cityscape built to scale, staged as a standing, permanent set 38 miles east of the real urban center.” The budget was €98 million ($107.6 million), significantly aided by $15.8 million in public money from the France 2030 infrastructure and modernization plan. The set comprises 3.7 acres, and includes 57 facades and five streets.

“Built for practicality as for stunts, the outdoor set is meant to alleviate the growing congestion issues facing urban shoots while affording filmmakers a more expansive playground. To that end, the newly operational set might already be familiar to the 1 billion global viewers of this year’s Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, which used the Paris set – at the time still finishing construction – to stage a Jacques Tati-inspired chase sequence led by Zinedine Zidane.”

Long-distance train travel is seeing a resurgence in Europe. There are a number of new overnight routes, including Paris-Vienna. The latest offering is a high-speed train route to Berlin that travels during the day. It will launch on December 16, with ticket prices starting at just €59 one way. Stops along the way will include Strasbourg, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt. As reported by Euronews, “The new direct train service will run daily and take around eight hours, departing Paris Gare de l’Est at 9.55am and arriving at Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6.03pm. In the other direction, the train will depart at 11.54am and arrive at 7.55pm.” There’s already an overnight train called the ÖBB Nightjet, which takes 13 hours and 15 minutes, and departs three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays).

Paris Fashion Week drew the world’s fashionistas to town. The headlines screamed all the celebrity sightings: “Gwyneth Paltrow brings her coolest sneakers to Paris Fashion Week.” “Kendall Jenner wows in a fully sheer red corset dress.” Meanwhile Vanessa Friedman, reporting for The New York Times, beautifully summarized the zeitgeist in an article, “Sex is back on the table in Paris: Balenciaga starts the heavy breathing. With shimmies from Hermès, Stella McCartney and Victoria Beckham.”

In other fashion news, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have opened a Paris store for their label The Row. The space, formerly a restaurant with lots of windows, is on rue du Mont Thabor in the 1st arrondissement. Vogue describes how “the location is, in its own way, the perfect evocation of how the Olsen sisters have skillfully and mindfully steered The Row to where it is now. It also helps explain how the label attracted a recent and much-discussed round of financing reputed to be around a billion dollars, underscoring the phenomenal power and influence of their label and how very seriously it is being taken as a business.”

 

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And for a little #propertyporn, let’s turn our gaze to Robb Report’s featured “home of the week,” a “gilt-trimmed” Paris apartment near the Eiffel Tower that’s going for a cool $11.5 million. To quote: “This light-filled Parisian apartment is a delightful step back in time. Built in 1870, the opulently embellished residence is located in a boutique building in the City of Light’s 7th arrondissement (or district), often considered one of the most affluent and prestigious residential areas in Paris and, indeed, in all of France.”

For more (ahem) reasonable listings, check out some of the properties featured on Bonjour Paris here.