Port-au-Prince

I would want to adopt all these adorable Haitian orphans

Rhetoric

American English is an understatement of French.

{We say less and get heard more?}

Elsève Volume Non-Stop

Halliday and I have been getting a lot of mileage (giggles) out of a new shampoo that we are carrying at basicfrench. Lauded for it's long-lasting volume enhancing potential by a myriad of well-groomed lyonnais, Elsève Volume Non-Stop, is truly our new shampoo of choice.

The Halliday Girls!

I just found this picture of two of the four amazing Halliday sisters, my great aunt Bobbie (Elisabeth Halliday Van Nortwick) and my grandmother Mimi, (Margaret Halliday Neiley) aka Mother Nature.

Bobbie and Mimi were my role models. They were the most elegant and hilarious women I have ever known. Always dressed to the nines, relaxed in real Abercrombie and Fitch, quintessential ladies, polished at Miss Porters, raised between New York , Yonkers (the then countryside of Manhattan) and Hyannis Port, they were the funniest pair ever.

Fashion Week : Paris Chic ?

Eric Rohmer, Claire's Knee and other stuff

Eric Rohmer in 1985. Photograph: EPA

I think that when I discovered Eric Rohmer in my teens, I felt I had truly arrived. My French was not too great at that time, but I fell deeply in love with the mood of his movies, the light, the scenery and the realistic promise of unrequited, youthful love.

Anyway, Eric Rohmer died today and here is a bit of history about him from "The Guardian" and the "Associated Press" in case you want to become a posthumous fan. Eric Rohmer marathon weekend, ne c'est pas?



And then there's Claire's knee (le Genou de Claire) of course...

The Party & French Boys Love Fashion Too!

Living with two teenage girls, I am blessed each week with full-on fashion exposure, beginning Monday mornings at 6:15 when my 15 year old gets up for school. The fun really kicks in on weekends with multiple wardrobe changes, interspersed with moments of great despair, tears, more wardrobe changes, last minute loads of laundry and mascara touch ups. The fashion apex is Sunday evening at about 10:23 when Monday morning's outfit is oh so carefully selected and strewn on the settee in our hallway.

I thought this was a teenage girl thing, until I went to a birthday party for our fabulous friend Odyssey, fondly known (to me at least) as "the Greek." Boys, boys, boys, just love their clothes and shoes and even have a favorite shampoo, which gives them that lift, that bounce, that brushed forward sloppy yet trimmed hair look that the French boys are sporting these days.

La Croix Rousse is Back!!

I used to hang out a lot in La Croix Rousse, but for various reasons which I won't elaborate on here, I got out of the habit. But slowly and surely, I am rediscovering this unpretentious and genuine neighborhood that I fell for a few years ago. Today, I am on my way to my dear friend Odyssey's birthday party.