Sex And The City Paris: Expat Mommy Style

SATC 2000: Remember when our four favorite NYC girlfriends used to get together for brunch and a bitch session at a NYC diner? The convo focused on boyfriends, amour, and fashion.

Fast forward to SATC 2010: picture four expat moms taking the bitch session up a notch: champagne and lunch at the Crillon Hotel. The convo hasn't changed much either: husbands, amour, fashion, and kids.

ON HUSBANDS:

La Mom, San Francisco Mom, Florida Mom, and Texas Mom decided they were sick of never seeing their husbands who work late and travel all the time. So SF Mom suggested sticking it to them by meeting for lunch at the Crillon Hotel.

SF Mom: Screw the husbands. Champagne's on me. No wait, it's on Marc but he doesn't know it yet and won't until he gets the credit card statement. Then it'll be too late!

La Mom: You are a petite coquine.

FLA Mom: Umm, what's up with Gilles, San Diego Mom's husband? Have you noticed he scratches himself all the time.?

Texas Mom: I know! And since when did he become so American? He wants to shake my hand instead of giving me a kiss on the cheek every time I see him. It's like he's forgotten he's French. Honestly, I'd prefer a kiss over a handshake if you know what I mean...



ON CLOTHES:

La Mom: Did you know that Carla Bruni gets free clothes from Antik Batik? I saw her thank you letter framed and displayed in the store on Rue de Turenne in the Marais.

FLA Mom: Isn't it enough that she's polyglot, rich, beautiful and married to the most powerful man in France? On top of that she gets cool clothes from Antik Batik sent to her FOR FREE? C'est injuste that one woman can be that lucky.

La Mom: I have to admit it. I have the biggest mom crush on Carla.



ON AMOUR:

Texas Mom: Speaking of crushes, I've got a crush on Father Romeo at the International Church.

FLA Mom: How cute.

Texas Mom: Seriously, I only go to church for two reasons: 1/ to see Father Romeo and 2/ to drink the delicious Sauternes at communion.

La Mom: Boston Mom told me the same thing - the church wine is great.

Texas Mom: I had a dream last night that I left Christophe for Father Romeo.
(Insert horrified looks on all of our faces)

SF Mom: Now why would you do that?

Texas Mom: Well, why wouldn't I?

SF Mom: Because he makes like 7,000€ a year, that's why!

Texas Mom: That's not a reason.

FLA Mom: Honey, that's the only reason!



ON KIDS:

La Mom: Big Fry embarrassed the heck out of us last weekend. We were at Scotland Mom's housewarming party and he took one look at the terrine and said it looked like cat food.

SF Mom: Did he say it loudly in English?

La Mom: No. Get this - he said it in French to Big Cheese. But out of all the expats who arrive in Paris not speaking a word of French, he said it within earshot of the one expat who does! Scotland Mom was walking by and told Big Cheese she knew enough French to understand what Big Fry said.

Texas Mom: Incredibly embarrassing, but it could have been worse. Big Fry could have said it to a French hostess and then you would have been blacklisted from the Parisian party scene for the next ten years.

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Is lunch at the Crillon is over the top expensive? La Mom - your BFF in Paris, is here to tell you non. On Tuesdays, lunch at Les Ambassadeurs is only 68€. It doesn't start to get expensive until you order the 12€ bottle of Corsican sparkling water, so La Mom suggests you nix that in favor of good old Parisian tap water. Skip the 12€ coffee too and walk to the outdoor café in the Tuileries gardens. Les Ambassadeurs, Hôtel de Crillon, Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris. Tél. : 01 44 71 16 16. Menu déjeuner à 68 € par personne, hors boissons (du mardi au vendredi). www.crillon.com
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La Mom was so happy to find out from her Twitter follower @lindseyrcanant that she's quoted in the EasyJet inflight magazine article on macarons. Passport Holders, if you happen to fly EasyJet this summer, can you please pick up a copy of the magazine for La Mom? Compensation will be a box of Pierre Hermé macarons!

La Mom's World Exclusive Interview

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: La Mom In The News

Paris, France July 21, 2010:

La Mom – an American Mom in Paris and your best girlfriend here, has given her first exclusive interview to none other than the famous French journalist and author of La Femme Digitale - Isabelle Juppé !!

In the interview for the online version of the très hip magazine, Femina, La Mom reveals the secret she's been keeping for the last two years as well as some interesting details about what goes on behind the scenes of her blog.

Isabelle Juppé writes on the Femina website, "Le blog La Mom est un blog plein d’humour et d’infos, qui raconte le quotidien de mamans américaines expatriées en France. A découvrir absolument!

(Translation: La Mom's blog is funny and full of information about the life of expat American moms in France. A must-read!)

"I am honored to be to be part of Isabelle Juppé's "Best Of Blogs" on the Femina website," La Mom said. "It's an honor that my blog, which is in English, has been recognized in my adopted home country of France, by such a talented woman as Madame Juppé."

Passport Holders, you can read all the dish here: Interview with Isabelle Juppé

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Rendez-vous next week at La Mom's when Sex And The City comes to Paris - expat mommy style!

14 Reasons To Love La France

In honor of Bastille day, tomorrow, le 14 juillet, here are 14 reasons why La Mom loves La France:

1. The impressionist collection at the Museé d'Orsay

2. French antiques

3. Paris 75006: Rue Saint André Des Arts & Rue de Buci

4. The French and Daddy Sarkozy

5. Spider vein removal financed by French social security

6. The Côte d'Azur(Nice, Cannes, Port Grimaud, St Trop', St Maxime)

7. Champagne at lunch

8. "Window licking" on the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré (hello Hermès!)

9. Boulangeries and the smell of fresh baked baguette

10. Normandy beaches - Honfleur & Deauville

11. Skiing in the Alps

12. Fromage, fromage, fromage!

13. Shopping in the Marais

14. The sights and smells of Provence

Et vous, why do you love France?

Happy Bastille Day! La Mom's leaving on a short vacation to Bordeaux where she's sure to eat and drink very well.
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La Mom wants to give a big merci to Kimberly T. and her "nerd friend" for their email recommendation on how to to fix my Blogger comment bug. Her third recommendation to "blame it on Big Fry" was très cute!

Blogger Comment Bug?

Dear Passport Holders,
Your fabulous comments are not publishing. I've even sent one to myself to test and it failed. Does anyone know how to fix this bug? Email or Tweet moi s'il vous plaît.
Merci beaucoup!

How To Nail The Int'l School Admission Interview

Feeling nervous about your little one's admission interview with Monsieur Director at the exclusive International School in Paris?

La Mom's here to help. I've got a sure fire way for your child to nail their admission interview. It's called The FN Method and it's been tried and tested by La Mom, Georgia Mom, and South Carolina Mom. It works! And it only costs $7.00!

Never heard of The FN Method? Well, you can find it at WHSmith's on the Rue de Rivoli across the street from Les Tuileries gardens or on Amazon.

Just look for Fancy Nancy.

Or to be more specific: Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words: From Accessories to Zany



Here's how it works:

Step 1: Start reading Fancy Nancy to your petit brainiac at least six weeks before the big day.

(Sidebar: Fancy Nancy may be a girl, but my Big Fry (who's a boy) thoroughly enjoys her character. Now's not the time to have gender issues before the biggest interview of your kid's life. Let your petit garçon have fun with Fancy Nancy.)

Step 2: Focus on just two or three fancy words for your little one to use during the interview.

Step 3: Practice using these fancy words in sentences that illustrate your child's life, things he can use in the interview, such as:

==> "I love Paris because there are canines everywhere. Canines are my favorite animal."

==> "My nanny took me on an excursion to the Musée D'Orsay yesterday."

(Sidebar: A sentence like this scores your kid double points! Substituting "excursion" for trip is sharp, but going to the Musée D'Orsay instead of the Parc Monceau's merry-go-round on a Wednesday afternoon is even more impressive!)

==> "I dropped my mom's macarons on the parquet and they broke. It was a fiasco!"

(Sidebar: Score triple points for this one! 1 for fiasco, 2 for using the French word "parquet" in an English sentence.)

Et voilà!

Monsieur Director will EAT.IT.UP. If he's French, he may even let an "Oh la la" slip out.

Maybe.

No more coaching your kid about what to say or not during the interview. Just teach him a few new Fancy Nancy words to drop as if it were as natural as breathing and expect that acceptance letter to arrive in your mailbox within 24 hours!

Note: The Fancy Nancy Method also works if you're trying to get your child into an exclusive school in the US or UK.

Let's say you want your child to get into The Spence School in Manhattan or The Hampshire School in London. Get a copy of Fancy Nancy And The Boy From Paris and teach your child just one or two French words to use during the interview (three words would be over doing it and the Director may suspect coaching), such as:

"I'm looking forward to making new amis at this school. Ami is French for friend."

"My dolly's name is Belle. Belle is a French word for beautiful."

See how easy it is?

Merci Fancy Nancy!


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Looking for a chic restaurant-épicerie to try in the heart of the Latin Quarter? La Mom recommends DA ROSA, where the wine is excellent and you can feast on tapas and twelve different types of ham from Italy, Portugal, or Spain. The people watching isn't bad either. La Mom saw Bradley Cooper dining here! The best tables are en terrasse.
Da Rosa, 62 Rue de Seine, Paris 75006 TEL 01.40.51.00.09
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Cool Frenchie blog alert: Check out Beadboard UpCountry, a Euro-Country lifestyle and design source. Beadboard UpCountry brings you casual elegance of the country lifestyle, reflecting a calmer, softened palette with less clutter, natural fiber fabrics, slipcovers of all kinds and French touches.

Ready, Set, SOLDES!

Here's a La Mom Best Of in honor of France's national sales which start tomorrow. Originally posted le 24 juin, 2009. Bon shopping! ~~~~~~

Ladies and gentlemen, get your running shoes out and your boxing gloves on.

C’est les soldes!

Today marks the beginning of the fabled twice-annual deep-discount French sales.

Fabled, you might ask? Let’s just say that even Cendrillion can find a dress or two to go with those glass stilettos as prices fall to rock-bottom over the 5-week sales period.

And why the boxing gloves? If it’s anything like last year’s Zadig and Voltaire’s markdowns, you’ll need ‘em. Normally prim and proper 16th arondissement demoiselles morphed into banshees as they duked it out over cashmere sweaters – even resorted to slugging each other with their Hermès Birkin bags to get at the last ELVIS-logo pullover.

Trust me, those sapphire-and-diamond rings can do some damage. Better come with a game plan.

Here are La Mom’s tips for making the most of the summer soldes:

1) Plan your attack.

Get in touch with your inner Napoléon and map out your strategy. This is war, baby, so get used to it. La Mom’s personal picks this year are:

Comptoir de Cotonniers for their juicy prints and structured linen dresses

Les Petites for their basics in a vivid palette (check out the ink blue)

Anne Fontaine – because you always need a crisp white shirt

2) If you love it, buy it.

Don’t bother looking around at another store to see if they have a better price or wait until it’s marked down even further. If you find something you like in your size, snap it up immédiatement! Stores have problems keeping sizes in stock at the best of times, and it’s even worse during the sales.

3) Think like a Frenchwoman.

Parisiennes never buy because the price is right. It’s because they’ve found the perfect pair of shoes for their cocktail dress, or that gold clutch they’ve been hunting for two seasons straight. They only buy what they need – and what makes them look great, bien sûr!

4) Break out your new vocabulary.

It’s inevitable – if you get a great deal, someone’s bound to be jealous. Just make sure you have the Français to make the loser pardon their French.

Here’s what happened to La Mom at the winter soldes:

Parisienne No° Une: She’s trying on the last size 38!

Parisienne No° Deux: Salope.

La Mom: Oui, la belle salope who just got the last Yves Saint Laurent LBD at 80% off!
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Summer's here and if you can't make it to Paris for vacation then check in at La Mom's blog every week to get the latest dish direct from the City Of Light! La Mom's spilling the beans next week with her tips on how to nail the exclusive international school admission interview!
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SOS Help is a completely non-profit organization and receives no government help. Please support a good cause.

Special "Summer Clearance" Sale
Fill a bag of books for only 5 euros!
July 3rd, 12 pm to 4 pm
Courtyard at St. Joseph's Church
50 avenue Hoche, Paris 75008

SOS Help, an English speaking crisis line in France, is open from 3 pm to 11 pm daily. Call us up to talk about anything on your mind – from loneliness to stress to concerns about integrating into a new culture. We are here to listen! Call us at 01 46 21 46 46 or visit us online at www.soshelpline.org for more information.

Summer Days – Frenchy Friday

It's official – summer has finally hit France.
So naturellement, all the Parisians are itching to get out of town.

Here's a little something to daydream about while waiting for les vacances to start...



Have a very Frenchy Friday!

Kisses on both cheeks,

La Mom
An American Mom in Paris