Le Vieux Carré, New Orleans
Photo by Erica Simone
Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler
Parler Paris Nouvellettre®
Your taste of life in Paris and France
ParlerParis.com
Monday , March 23, 2009
Paris, France
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Saint Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square
Saxy River
The Bar at Tujague's
Dear Parler Paris Reader,
My daughter and I arrived in New Orleans Wednesday afternoon and headed immediately to a local neighborhood Metairie restaurant named "Bozo's" for raw oysters on the half shell, stuffed artichoke, oyster 'po-boys' and fresh boiled crawfish, topped off by a cold fountain "Barq's" root beer. That was just the beginning of the continuous eating fest in the city where every bite is a like having a 'party' in your mouth. Don't tell the French, but N-O-L-A has France beat for great 'cuisine.'
New Orleans, however, is the second best city in which to be talking about France. The first, is of course, Paris...but for a New Orleanian-turned-Parisienne, the "Big Easy" is the best alternative to the "City of Light" for learning how to take the big step to property ownership in France. The venue is a perfect way for to combine pleasure with pleasure -- the pleasure of talking about France and the pleasure of visiting with close family while taking in the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of the "Crescent City."
In a private room called "Madame Begue" at "Tujague's" on Decatur Street, amid the turn-of-the-century photos of Madame Begue herself in the kitchen, hung on the 153 year-old Creole brick walls, sitting on bentwood chairs (sweet but mildly uncomfortable), with fresh brewed coffee and chicory served in glasses (not cups), we discussed the ins and outs of moving to France and owning property with a small, but serious group of attendees.
They came from as far away as Ireland, Panama, California, Florida and Texas to hear what the professionals have to say about the broad and complicated subject. This was our 23rd conference of this nature, so to us, it's a subject we know like the streets of Le Marais, but for them, it was an eye-opening experience to learn the intricacies of the French taxation system, a surprise that no Multiple Listing Service exists in France and that mortgages in France are now possible under the 3% interest mark!
There were several highlights during the 1.5 days of presentations and revelry. Administrative Director of the Alliance Française de la Nouvelle-Orléans, Alexandra Drame, paid us a surprise visit Saturday afternoon, to talk a little bit about how to go about learning French and gave us a brief history of the Alliance Française which began in Paris in 1883 then established the first chapter in the United States win 1888. We learned that "Laissez les bon temps rouler" (let the good times roll) is a Cajun expression that is as far from being French than New Orleans is from Paris.
Saturday night after a long afternoon of presentations by John Howell of The International Law Partnership (Why Invest in Property in France?), Peter Zipper of Caye International Bank (The Best Kept Secret in Offshore Banking and Investing), and myself (How to Find Your Dream Apartment in Paris or Home in the Country!), we mingled over cocktails at Tujague's zinc bar, then settled down to a five-course traditional New Orleans dinner of gumbo, shrimp Remoulade, brisket of beef, crawfish etoufée and banana bread pudding. My entire family (almost) had come to town for the occasion -- all three sisters, my soon-to-be-92-year-old mother, a brother-in-law, a niece and my daughter, Erica -- all of whom positioned themselves around one table, dotted by the company of Peter Zipper and Jody Cracknell of HIFX Currency Specialists.
My niece, Allison Gorlin, New Orleans chef extraordinaire at Cake Café and Bakery is also an accomplished ukulele player who sings and strums around town to her pleasure. She brought along her 100-year-old uke to belt out a tune or two and while on a high note, my sweet little bentwood chair slipped out from under me rendering me flat on my back and half under the table! Allison said it was a "helluva way to get her to stop singing!" and we all laughed so hard our tears fell into the bread pudding. She stole the show with her brazen performance and comedic commentaries then we all headed home to prepare ourselves for the next full day of presentations.
Sunday morning, Sarah Maslen with Crédit Foncier logged onto Skype along with John Rule, our Mortgage Manager, sitting at my own Paris desk, to deliver a presentation about how to get a mortgage in France. While the WiFi signal wasn't perfect 100% of the time, the Web cam still allowed us to see them and for them to see us and to converse as if we were virtually in one room, while going through the PowerPoint slides. It was encouraging to learn that mortgages are readily available in France, relatively easy to obtain and at today's rock bottom rates, making it more affordable than ever to invest in a property in France.
The day progressed with presentations by myself, John Howell and Jody Cracknell, providing insight into How to Renovate and Rent Your French Property for Profit, The Fractional Ownership Solution, How to Minimize Your Tax and Maximize the Benefits and How to Reduce Your Currency Exchange Risk. Before ending the session with a Q and A to answer any additional questions the participants might have, we stopped for a coffee break with "beignets" covered in powdered sugar fresh from Café du Monde.
The conference participants handed in their evaluations before heading off to the rest of their stay in the Big Easy, with dreams of living in France in their heads, and the tools that they needed to make it really happen. Scores for each presenter were never lower than a "4" out of a potential "5" and the conference was described as "a wealth of information -- hard to digest it all," "very well done!," "perfect location -- great food!," "totally different from what I thought" and "hard to improve on content and presentation."
Wednesday I'll be back on the plane headed east across the Atlantic to Paris, with the satisfaction that we once again were able to help a few people fulfill their dreams...all while fully enjoying ourselves in the culture of America's most authentic French city...and my home town.
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
(Photo: Three Generations)
Editor, Parler Paris
P.S. Don't miss House Hunters this coming Friday night for our newest episode "Vacation Home in Paris" -- scroll down for more information or visit http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/vacation-home-in-paris/index.html for details.
P.P.S. Saturday afternoon, Immigration Attorney Ann Cary Dana will be conducting a two-hour workshop on "The new auto-entrepreneur regime: self employment in france made simple?" Scroll down for more information or visit http://www.frenchpropertyconference.com/ for details and to sign up.
