After you experience a lot of nightlife in Paris, the glitzy barhopping starts to feel stale, leaving behind only a craving for an experience with less fuss and more edge. That’s why I decided to swap the usual debonair bar jam-packed with natty sophisticates for a laid-back evening at la Folie en Tête.

I nosed out this bar during a recent promenade through the remote Butte aux Cailles neighborhood, situated just below the Place d’Italie. Once a stage of the legendary Commune de Paris, this quaint neighborhood with cobblestoned streets exudes a carefree village vibe, providing the perfect (not to mention convenient) escape from the stuffiness of the city. How it has remained one of Paris’s best-kept secrets still puzzles me. Far from the usual branchitude (trendiness) of nightlife in Paris, la Folie en Tête echoes the neighborhood’s mantra: it ain’t hip and it ain’t tryin’ to be. Yet this is precisely what makes it so very funky.

It took me a bit to reel in the bartender, who was wrapped up in lively conversation with a group of habitués crowded around the bar. Pleasant and chatty, he suggested a fresh raspberry caipirinha, which he served with speed and care—even cutting the added sugar in half upon request. Other great happy hour options include house caipirinhas (or any cocktail, really, at 5 euros) and pints of three local microbrews (rousse, blonde and blanche) for the price of un demi (3–3.50 euros). A chalkboard advertised a selection of terrines to accompany the elaborate drink menu.

As I opened the door, a smiling patron leaning against the bar’s wooden facade (an artifact of the commune’s days) greeted me. What the dive-y interior lacked in class, it made up for largely in personality. A kaleidoscope of comic strips, paintings and wooden instruments—even a traffic light—consumed the walls. Handfuls of casual but jazzy Parisians peppered the interior, making a cordial impression. The sound of world music combined with a sharp, fruity scent: happy hour lingered in the air.

33, rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013

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France is facing a major budget deficit, estimated at 30 billion dollars (90% of its GDP). One of the biggest problems is that it has one of the highest government costs in the world: 56% of GDP, the second highest in the EU, while the economy is actually shrinking.

One of the things that have come under scrutiny has been the cost of theintermittents du spectacle. An intermittent is an actor or technician in the entertainment business who does not work full-time.

In the U.S., actors are on their own, and are probably waiting tables or tending bar in their ample free time. But in France, would-be actors get a major subsidy from the government. Basically, if they have paid work three months and ten days a year as an actor, the government steps in to pay them the rest of the time, at a better rate than for other people who work part-time. As you can imagine, a lot more people think it’s a good idea to become actors under this regime. France has about 100,000 intermittents, or 3% of the people who receive unemployment compensation. In comparison, the number of actors in the U.S., whose population is five times bigger than France’s, is estimated at roughly 70,000.

The problem is that subsidizing the intermittents costs more than a billion euros a year, which amounts to one-third of France’s unemployment insurance deficit.

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File under: you can’t make this stuff up. In July 2011, a Serge Gainsbourg impersonator stabbed a Johnny Hallyday impersonator in the neck. This being France, the rivalry was over the creative merit of their respective performances. The verdict in the trial comes Monday.

The closest things I’ve seen to an ice cream truck in Paris is the artisan organic sorbet truck of La Ferme de la Metarie. It serves 16 hand-made flavors from the classic to the exotic, all made without any additives or preservatives, and made with certified organic fruits since 1986 by the same family. Look for their old-fashioned “Belle Epoch” Citroën truck parked on the Rond-Point des Champs Elysées (at the Avenue Montaigne side), in the Parc Montsouris, in the Parc André Citroën, at the south gate of Luxembourg Gardens (Place André Honnorat), and at Versailles at the garden gate entrance by the Grand Canal and the Carrefor du Trianon.

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I recently handed over the reins of my business to my children so I could retire. Originally hailing from New York City, I moved to Paris to experience something I’ve always dreamed of. From a very young age I took French classes and was fluent by thirteen. I had visited France many times before deciding to move here, each time more fulfilling than the last. My favorite part is probably it being acceptable to drink wine at every meal! Besides the hundreds of bottles of wine available, there are so many other reasons one should retire and move to Paris instead of Florida or other “typical” locations.

As with most typical Americans who come to France, one of my favorite things is the food. There are so many restaurants in Paris and I will probably never run out of options. The chefs here are phenomenal, each adding their own distinct tastes into their food. No matter who is cooking, though, you can always count on the food being rich and delicious. One of my favorite foods I’ve eaten here is coq au vin – wine adds such a great flavor to the chicken and vegetables. Many bistros serve this dish and each is unique in its own rite.
Another key aspect of French culture is the abundance of cafés! At any given time, you can walk down a side street or boulevard and there will be people sitting on patios enjoying each other’s company or reading the paper. They are nearly always open and you can pop in for a pastry or coffee – some even serve bistro dishes like escargot and specialties from other regions besides Île-De-France. There are many famous cafés in Paris – Les Deux Magots is known for having hosted authors, scholars, and artists ranging from Picasso to Hemingway.

On weekends, it’s tempting to travel to these other regions and soak up the change in geography. While the city life in Paris is wonderful and always busy, it’s nice to escape to Normandy and Bretagne for a holiday by the beach without so many tourists. France’s diverse landscapes make it an ideal place to live because there is always something new to do – hiking in Provence, tasting wine in Champagne and Burgundy, or skiing in Rhône-Alpes.

I don’t miss living in the States – I have so much for me here. However, the business I used to run is expanding and my kids need me to help them with documentation. Thanks to the internet, I don’t have to travel and I can form a corporation online in California. Being able to incorporate my company from Paris is a great feeling after so many years of traveling for my business. It’s nice to be able to relax!

The other day, C & I had just finished watching “The Office,” and he asked how many episodes were left. I replied “Only one” and he said “Oh no! It’s the last but one! I’m going to be so sad when it’s over.” I burst out laughing, and said “What did you say?” and he repeated, “It’s the last but one episode?”

Still laughing, I said “You can’t say it like that – you say it’s the second to last episode”. He thought about it for a minute and then insisted that it was an actual phrase, so we turned to our good friend Google. And what do you know – it is indeed acceptable to say “last but one.” Looks like English Weekend backfired on me this time!

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On Wednesday, September 5, 2012 – nine months ago –  the Iraqi-born Saad Al-Hilli was shot to death in Haute Savoie (Upper Savoy) in France. He, his family – wife, two small daughters and his mother-in-law – were on holiday in this very beautiful area of France.

His wife and mother-in-law were also shot dead and the elder of the daughters was also shot as well as beaten over her head, but she survived. Mrs Saad Al-Hilli had the reflex to hide the younger daughter under her dress on the rear floor of the family’s BMW.

Also shot to death was a French cyclist who might or might not have been the primary target.

We [at the Marilyn Z. Tomlins blog]  have been speculating about what had happened that September day from almost the day the media first reported the murders. One of us, Alexander Cartier, went to Haute Savoie this past April and filmed the lay-by where the killing had taken place. You can watch his very interesting video here.

Great frustration is being expressed over the slowness of the French investigators to solve this atrocious murder, especially so when September 5 approaches and the French prosecutor’s office releases some small detail about the investigation, but as quickly fall silent again.

So, how long will the investigation continue before it will be classified as a cold case? In France a case remains open for as long as the examining magistrate considers it necessary. There is a requirement though: the examining magistrate must regularly have a fresh lead to justify further investigation or the State will close the case because of inactivity on the part of the judiciary. A case could thus remain open indefinitely provided there is proof of judicial activity.

What if a suspect is named and the individual is not in France? Say the investigators do not even know his (or her) whereabouts? In such a case, the French judiciary can indict the suspect and liaise with Interpol to issue an International Arrest Warrant. This means that the police of the 190 member states of Interpol are authorized to arrest the suspect. The French can also proceed to put the murderer on trial in absentia. This had happened in 1995 with the Kalinka Bamberski Case when the teenager’s rapist and murderer, the German doctor Dieter Krombach, was sentenced to 15 years incarceration. On his arrest in France in 2011 a retrial was held and the 15-year sentence was confirmed.

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Patrice Rambaud aka ‘L’œil du pigeon’ is a trained architect and talented urban illustrator with a fantastic eye for Paris. He has already self-published an atmospheric and offbeat look at the city’s 20th arrondissement – but he needs your help to complete the other 19 districts!

“All of the pictures are sketches that I do as I’m walking around the city, and are of places that are striking in some way” says Patrice. When choosing the 40 or so spots that will make up the book of a particular arrondissement he tries to select places that will be immediately recognisable – and others that may have people scratching their heads.

To those who claim that they don’t recognise the area of Paris in which they live from his sketches, Patrice replies tant mieux. “If it makes them discover places they don’t know or to which they don’t normally pay attention, so much the better,” he adds.

Although the buildings of the 20th arrondissement may not suffer from an over-visibility, even here Patrice finds unusual angles and interesting perspectives. The architect’s eye picks out lines and patterns whilst the eye of the flâneur picks out the often unseen traces of life in the city.

Life – and the initially apparent lack of it – is one of the important themes of his sketches. Patrice admits that certain people have found his pictures a little melancholic, but as he points out, there is actually an abundance of life suggested in the scenes. “The main focus is the architecture” he explains, “but it is also possible to represent city life without drawing people.”

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All this week and next, the Grand Palais museum is showing cult films in a drive-in fashion. It’s a decidedly ersatz set-up, with cars INSIDE the museum. Is this a case of French obsession with American culture gone too far?

This anti-gay backlash in France mystifies me. The US looks more tolerant than France on this issue, which is rare. The latest: Movie posters for L’Inconnu du Lac have been taken down after bigots protested its image. The a-holes contacted JCDecaux, which rents out the billboards across the region, and the company caved. This is according to the news website Rue89.

This happened in St. Cloud and Versailles, enclaves just outside Paris. Decaux does not appear to have a problem with completely nude women in billboards, which we have all seen.

In response to the censorship, a kiss-in is being planned by the LGBT community. It takes place tomorrow in front of the St. Cloud town hall at 7:5 pm.

Pucker up, people–your country needs you!