Letter From Paris...Ohio
My letter to the LA Times Travel section:
Two years ago, I pitched the LA Times Travel section on writing a ìletter from Parisî -- a city Iím in every three or four months, and for an entire month every summer. Travel turned me down, which, of course, is their prerogative. It was with some interest that I began reading LA Times travel writer Susan Spanoís new blog from Paris; and after I read the first few entries, it was with some disappointment.
Spano is printing the most facile, uninvestigated observations about Paris. Each entry, so far, has at least one glaring error; each, in my opinion, an error that could have been corrected by an extra moment or two of effort on Spanoís part to be astute in her observations, and/or do a little backup investigation as to whether her appraisals were, in fact, correct. For example:
1. Monoprix is not the ìWal-Mart Of Paris.î Monoprix sells wonderful (and often expensive) wines, cheeses and meats, and fruits and vegetables of the quality youíd find at Whole Foods (not marked ìbiologiqueî [organic], but not the crap sold in grocery stores here, either). Moreover, they sell extremely sexy lingerie -- contrasting Wal-Mart, which wonít even carry mass-market consumer magazines like Maxim, due to Wal-Martís puritanical bent. A more accurate description would be that Monoprix is ìTarget with a foie gras section.î When I wrote this to Spano, she commented that I wasnít the only one whoíd told her that. Not a surprise!2. ìCamembert Rusticî is actually ìCamembert Rustique.î ìRustic Camembertî wouldnít really be accurate, because itís not really ìrusticî -- itís just called that, much like French fries and French toast. Check it out for yourself! They sell it at Whole Foods.
3. The superette Proxi is not like 7-11. Most are not open 24 hours, first of all. In fact, I would venture that few or none are -- although it seems likely at least some would be open way past Spanoís bedtime, considering that the Paris she blogs about seems more Paris, Ohio, than Paris, France. Moreover, the Proxiís Iíve shopped at sell fine wine, cheese, and chocolate, and fruit -- of Trader Joeís or Whole Foodsí caliber.
4. Despite the fact that Spano observed people eating while walking down the street, it is not considered ìacceptableî to eat while running around. It is considered rude and unacceptable. (There are a lot of murders in South Central LA, too, but it doesnít mean murder is okay.) Perhaps Spano should notice who eats running around -- only 14-year-olds and plumbers and plasterers. Because she wrote that while I was in Paris last week, I took the liberty of asking several Parisians if her observation was accurate. All three confirmed my observation above. One Parisienne, a midlevel editor at a French publishing house that I spoke to at Bar du MarchÈ, told me (in French, of course) that only lower classes do that.
Yes, these are small details. But if youíre going to have somebody writing for you from Paris, who is known as a journalist, perhaps she should offer more than her most cursory (and incorrect) observations of the city. I really would rather read her blog for enjoyment than for errors.
Finally, Paris is, at least for me, at once hilarious, absurd, and challenging. I see little of that reflected in Spanoís blog. Itís a shame that the LA Times is so, apparently, terrified to have anyone write for them who might have something exciting or interesting to impart. If your paper, like so many dailies, is seeking readers who wonít be dead in five years, youíre certainly going about it the wrong way. --Amy Alkon
UPDATE: Because itís important, at least to me, to fact-check what I write before printing or posting it, I sent the piece above to a close friend whoís French; born in Paris, who lived there most of her life, but is now living in Los Angeles. Hereís her response.
Hey miss amy, Welcome back! WOW... I completely agree with everything you're setting the record straight about. You can tell the LA times that French people absolutely endorse 100% your observations.Gros bisous
N
Just a comment from a proud Idahoan- Paris Idaho is one of the most beautiful and pristine areas you will ever see, with gorgous views of the Tetons.
eric at March 31, 2004 8:54 AM
Sigh...I meant to make it Paris, Ohio...but, during my copious fact-checking...yes, even for blog items, I looked in my Atlas and noticed there was no Paris, Ohio. So much for inaccuracy in the name of accuracy!
Amy Alkon at March 31, 2004 9:15 AM
Bonjour from France fabulous Amy!
I'm in Lyon and loving it. Some quenelles are swelling in the oven as I write this, mmmm!!You've got everything sooo right, even though I have to say that I'm guilty of having eaten in the Paris street and I'm hardly alone. It's very true that it is seen as rude, but it's also getting more common as you see people grabbing a crepe on the go or a kebab at those little corner stands. It's a bit like wearing Birkenstocks, you know: the French squeek in horror at the sight of these shoes, yet more and more Frogs wear them, because, well, they're comfortable and you can end up walking miles and miles in the metro corridors. They're still rare, though and you'll never see publicists wear them like in some Hollywood studios. Also I've read in a French paper that more people "eat-on-the-fly" and ask for coffee to go, and that's why Starbucks finally opened its first store in Paris, that's why cafe-owners unions are alarmed, and rightfully so. There are some changes happening, definitely.
Emmanuelle at March 31, 2004 9:20 AM
I liked Spano's Thrifty Traveler thingie or whatever it was, but this column isn't very impressive. I wonder if it's some plot on the part of the Times to keep us all convinced that LA is the greatest place in the world. Also, Amy--you really have to learn that if you want to write for the Times, you can't know more than the editors.
Paris, Tennesee as in the Iris de Ment/John Hiatt song "We're not the Jet Set (we're the old ChevroLET set)".
KateCoe at March 31, 2004 9:27 AM
Quenelles swelling in the oven! I'm jealous! I passed the Starbucks on Boul Montparnasse several times (I was in Paris last week, most recently), but from a distance (it's on the far side of the street from where I was staying, and I was always rushing around). There were a number of customers in it, when I looked, but I'm not sure whether they were tourists or Frenchies. I did wonder whether they were wired for T-Mobile Wi-Fi! (No T-Mobile in France, of course, but it would be great if my subscrip extended to Pareee...although going into Starbucks there seems heresy I'm not quite capable of, unless if it's for a blog item or something.)
Amy Alkon at March 31, 2004 9:34 AM
It turns out there actually is a Paris, Ohio -- it just wasn't listed in my Rand-McNally atlas. Sigh. Anyway, I've changed the title above. Guess I shoulda just gone google to begin with!
Amy Alkon at March 31, 2004 1:24 PM
Not only is there a Paris, Ohio, there's also a Narbonne, Indiana, which the locals pronounce "Gnawbone". I think Susan Spano would feel at home there. So would the LA Times, come to that.
modestproposal at March 31, 2004 8:59 PM
There's a Gnaw Bone, Indiana, too. Take SR 46 out of Bloomington towards Columbus. Don't do it in wintertime; The last glacier stopped up at Martinsville, and the icy hillside roads will kill you.
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=M7tNO.p_0TqT&csz=gnaw+bone%2C+indiana&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=
To borrow a fig leaf of relevance from Eggers: Potatoes in Gnaw Bone are often served in the French style.
Crid at April 1, 2004 9:12 PM
Hey, interesting stuff. I'm taking my niece and nephew to Paris in a couple of weeks' time. They're residents of Colorado Springs so the boulevards and the other sights of Paris should be splendiferous to them -- quite a change from their Rocky Mountain vistas. Anyway, just a small thing about the "Camembert Rustique". I think the "rustique" part could be translated as "country-style" -- makes the cheese seem more authentic and less mass-produced even when it's churned out by mega-combines like Bel and Danone.
FredF at April 2, 2004 2:13 AM
http://www.richesmonts.com/page_fr/mar_pro/camembert.html
Richesmonts, it turns out, Fred. And I have to tell you, speaking of Danone, French yogurt is beyond compare. Full of fat, yum! (You can barely find full-fat yogurt at Whole Foods.) And a third of the size of huge, tasteless American yogurts. Granted, I don't usually eat Danone, but smaller, off brands. Some people go only to museums. I also go to Monoprix and buy food.
Amy Alkon at April 2, 2004 6:32 AM
I was bummed out too
Tiffany at April 2, 2004 8:53 AM
ok, not to beat this to death, but i'd like to add students to the list of people who commonly eat while walking in the streets of Paris--or at least in the 5th arr. That section of town is full of "to go" places that don't even offer seating.
Sara at April 2, 2004 9:53 AM
You're right to add students to the list...then again, my point is, you aren't going to see Catherine Deneuve trotting down the street cramming a sandwich in her face.
Amy Alkon at April 2, 2004 1:26 PM
Amy, there's no reason why you should know the answer to this but...can you shoot down or confirm the rumor current while I was there that Catherine D. lives in a penthouse apt. cattycorner from St. Sulpice church (in the 5th)? I've always been curious whether that was local legend or the real deal.
Sara at April 4, 2004 9:10 AM
Maps to the stars homes in Paris! Hmm, I think you get a private answer on that one. I actually think we should give the poor dears their privacy. PS St. Sulpice is in the 6th. I shared an apartment there one March, about four years ago, near the Lacroix store. A pretty fabulous street. CafÈ de la Marie, sort of near Lacroix, is a good place to write (in the back)...and a great place to people-watch if you're sitting out front. And the best moelleux au chocolat in Paris (a hockey-puck-shaped chocolate soufflÈ cake, oozing chocolate from the center), according to my rather extensive, ongoing moelleux-testing program, is at the very unpretentious cafÈ, Les Vieilles Colombiers, as you're walking from Lacroix to rue de Rennes...on the corner of rue de Rennes and rue St. Sulpice (which actually becomes rue des Vieilles Columbiers at rue de Rennes).
Amy Alkon at April 4, 2004 3:35 PM
GETCHER MOELLEUX HERE:
http://www.aufeminin.com/__r486_Moelleux_au_chocolat.html
Amy Alkon at April 4, 2004 3:38 PM
Salut Amy,
As someone who has spent a fair amount of time in Paris, I agree with just about everything you say. However I was taken aback how you make fun of plumbers and plasterers, ie they are the only one's, along with 14 year olds who eat while walking. One thing I have learned from my time spend in Europe is that professions here in the States that some, particularly Yuppies like yourself, would make fun of and look down upon, are treated with respect in Europe. And as they should be. I've had wonderful conversations in Europe, including Paris, with highly cultured people who happend to be electricians, busdrivers, and cooks. Sorry you haven't apparently had similar experiences there.
Jaime at April 10, 2004 11:52 PM
Yuppies such as myself?! I'm not sure if I even remember what a Yuppie is. I'll go look it up on google:
Here's one def: "a young upwardly mobile professional person; someone under 40 who prospered during the 1980s"
Hmm, these days, I get a little fuzzy on dates, but have I been getting ahead of myself in dating my checks 2004?
I did many things during the eighties, a period in which I lived in an 8x10 room at an SRO for several years, but one of them wasn't prospering, sad to say. Then again, why, pray tell, is it wrong to earn a living? I only wish I'd hit it big, thus aborting my short-term career working as a chicken, handing on flyers on the street in the early 90s, and as a girl mover for $5...(moving couches, sad to say, not girls, which generally, but not always, weigh less than couches).
And saying that plumbers and plasterers eat while walking around, as, say, opposed to Catherine Deneuve...jeez, is that such a terrible cut? Not only that, you were "taken aback!" Oh, lý lý! As I mentioned on LAObserved, somebody I'm quite fond of in Paris is an ebeniste named Pierre (a cabinetmaker) -- who happens to be one of the finer people I've met in my life. You make assumptions, based on nothing, because I said only certain laborers (although not Pierre!) and 14-year-olds (and students, as Sara Rimmensnyder aptly pointed out) eat while walking down the street. Is this such a terrible dig? It's true!
And again, my first point about Spano's blog -- it's inaccurate (and lazily so) -- you defend.
And my second point is that it's boring. Oh, do find me some fascinating kernel. Ooh, maybe she bought a towel to match her bathmat!
What's pretty hilarious to me is how hard everybody's working to attack me, when my contentions about Spano's take on Paris aren't really all that assailable.
Most hilariously, people leapt easily from attacking me in the most recent LA Observed entry about Spano's blog to attacking Cathy Seipp, who said nothing about Paris, save her comment that I would be out of town in a Parisian vicinity during our Sandra Tsing Loh party. As Cathy noted in a blog comment above: "Isn't it funny how mad we make them without even trying?"
I do enjoy it!
Amy Alkon at April 11, 2004 12:12 AM