Aidez-moi s’il vous plaît?

Me outside the Louvre, December 2007.

I've decided to do a good old fashioned Project Week again! Goodness, it has been absolutely ages. Can anyone even remember when (and what?) the last one was? No matter.

Anyway, I've been reading Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France, about (would you believe it?) the time she spent living in France, and it is seriously getting to me. I've been a bit of a closet francophile since childhood when I watched Les parapluies des Cherbourg with my mother and made her write me a vocabulary list, which I then memorized. No, really. But doesn't it seem like everyone has been really into France for the past couple of years? I swear, every time I pull up my blog roll, someone else is moving to Paris with their family or renovating a cottage in the French countryside or swooning over ridiculously cute (and overprices) children's clothing from France. And it is just so vomit-inducing, because I really wish it was me! And you guys, I knew France was cool when I was seven years old! And I don't have to hang wallpaper with the Eiffel tour on it to prove it! Oh my.

OK, rant over.

I think.

Deep breath.

Back to Julia Child. The way she writes about France and her enthusiasm and delight for all (most) things French is making me excited about it all over again. And I kind of want to wallow in immerse myself in French culture again. So that is what next week is going to be all about. I'm going to watch French movies, listen to French music, maybe try my hand at a little French cooking, read some French blogs. That sort of thing.

And this is where you come in, naturellement. I'm looking for recommendations for movies, blogs, books, recipes, music, TV shows all the Frenchy things that make you go ooh la la (But not the Britney Spears song). And if you're in my area, how about French restaurants and bakeries?

I'll be back next week with some project updates. Until then, au revoir!

Comments

  1. I think there is a French bakery in Orem, over by where Expedex used to be (it's closed on Mondays though). One Paris-centered book I liked is The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier (although when I read it like 10 years ago, I was more excited about the piano part). Anything by Proust is lovely too, although recently his prose has put me to sleep.

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    1. OK, we checked out that bakery on State Street a few years ago, but were turned off by the lack of cute and left without trying anything. Time to give them a second chance, I think!

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  2. Ooh, let's watch "The Young Girls of Rochefort" this week. The fashion is gorgeous and I love Gene Kelly, even if his screen time is brief. :D

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    1. Ooh, good pick! We just watched that over Christmas and loved it. :)

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  3. Try making a croque monsieur, basically a really good grilled ham and cheese, but if you dont want to make it yourself that french bakery is on state right by that young family dental place in orem, its super good and everything is fresh daily, they make really good fruit tarts.

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    1. Yum! And that's two votes for the French bakery on State Street, I'm going to have to go check it out.

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  4. my absolute favourite french film ever is the chorus (with subtitles) love love love it. im supposed to be going this year, lets hope so!

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    1. That is a lovely film. We saw it a few years ago and both really enjoyed it. And lucky you! I wish I was going to France this year, but Norway and England will just have to do! ;)

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