lettre d'un étranger

paris by andrea laliberte

i bought a poster not entirely unlike the one above. drifting through the store, debating other impulse purchases, i was stopped by a woman. her children lived in paris and she used to spend holidays ever year with them. she spoke, at length, about the sights and sounds of paris and before i left, she was kind enough to give me a list of her france recommendations. her list follows, written, more or less, in her words...

these periodicals come out once a week, i believe on wednesday:

1) pariscope

2) l'officiel des spectacles

you must pick them up as they will tell you what all the current exhibits and shows are and how to buy tickets and find the theatre/museum.

here are some sights both in and around the city that you must see if you get the chance. some are rather obvious, but still capture the soul of paris:
1) chateau de chambord
2) louvre
3) versailles
4) giveny
5) museo d'orsay
6) tomb of napoleon
7) arc de triomphe

o la la! i don't think one trip will be enough.

belated bastille day

(photo belongs to the free-lance star)

apparently fredericksburg, virginia--a self-titled "itty-bitty city" not far from me--has a sister city in france: frejus. this, of course, called for a bastille day celebration. while the city did not shoot off fireworks, it did have a band from frejus play. the celebration actually continues into the weekend, and walking around the city last night, i was captivated by the french flags still flying everywhere.

being ever-inquisitive, i had to learn more about frejus. located on the cote d'azur, the small commune has some interesting attractions: nearby lie a beach resort, a deadly dam, and mary magdalen's head.

frejus shops
(photo from francethisway)

a quoi ça sert l'amour?

sans amour dans la vie, sans ses joies, ses chagrins, on a vécu pour rien?

another edith piaf song! she sang this one with her second husband, theo sarapo. in french or english, a quoi ça sert l'amour is a true examination of why we allow ourselves to get torn to bits by love... because without it, nothing is quite so grand, quite so worth living for...