In honor of Bastille day, here are some reasons why La Mom loves La France:
1. The impressionist collection at the Museé d’Orsay
2. Spider vein removal financed by French social security
3. Champagne at lunch
4. “Window licking” on the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré (hello Hermès!)
5. Boulangeries and the smell of fresh baked baguette
6. Fromage, fromage, [...]

One of the striking things about Parisian pastry shops is the absolute consistency of the offerings. There’s a repertoire of 30-odd confections upon which the establishment is judged, which constitute an unyielding part of the French patrimoine. Surprises are quite rare in the French food world. Despite, or because of, the presence of some 50,000 [...]

Pretty much everyone assumes that after almost three years in Paris, all of us are fluent French speakers. And oh the disappointment when I tell them “no.” And oh the clucking when I mention that we put the kids in international school where all their courses (except of course French!) are in English.
Let me [...]

Parisians — consider yourself warned: they’re back and they want YOU to tell them where they’re going. They tend to have maps and guides enough to fill a Virgin Megastore, but some how I still get caught in the “where do we go” crossfire. (Friends reading this are probably laughing their asses off.) I’m the verylast [...]

La Mom was one of the few playgroup moms to score an exclusive invite to the birthday party New Jersey Mom was throwing for her French husband on a Bateau Mouche. Everyone in playgroup was coveting an invitation to cruise around Paris while sipping champagne and dancing to tunes from France’s [...]

The American community in Paris is an extremely well organized, generally supportive group that definitely, definitely knows its food and wine — although to read the French press you wouldn’t know it.
Le Figaro gave coverage recently to the new Ralph Lauren flagship store on boulevard Saint-Germain, noting that its restaurant specializes in “the American way of [...]

The atmosphere is slowly changing in Paris. The streets are significantly more packed with tourists—none of which seem to know how to use sunscreen, which is evident from their farmer’s tans. Most importantly, the people who have become some of my closest friends over the past eight months have begun their slow repatriation to the [...]

Since Gui and I travel at least once a year to the States, we try to track the movements of the Euro against the US Dollar so we can capitalize on the best exchange rates for our trips.  We’ve usually been pretty good about exchanging our currencies at really favorable rates, which lets us spend [...]

Ok Frenchies, let’s start a list:
No Thanksgiving. Ok, I get that. You never met the Indians, you never slaughtered them mercilessly to the point of genocide, then stole their birth right, you out right don’t give a flying monkey f*ck about them. I guess a holiday wouldn’t make much sense. I forgive your general lack [...]

If you’re moving to Paris with your pooch, or buying one here, be sure to pick up the free guide provided by the Mairie, Petit Guide du Maître: Bien vivre avec votre chien à Paris (download the PDF here). It’s only in French, so I’ll try to paraphrase some of the important info here.
Where can [...]