Sundown Sunday Over the Ile Saint-Louis...
Every Human Being on the Streets of the "City of Bright"
Becoming a Parisian:
Learning the "System D"
Parler Paris Nouvellettre®
Your taste of life in Paris and France
ParlerParis.com
Monday, April 19, 2010 • Paris, France
Dear Parler Paris Reader,
While the clouds of volcanic ash are looming over Iceland and drifting over Europe, Paris could not have been clearer, brighter, bluer. Every single human living in the City of Light" (or should I say "City of Bright?") was on the streets both Saturday and Sunday soaking up the sun, cool air and springtime freshness.
The Parisians may not have been affected much by the airline shutdown, but almost everyone around our little Expat community was...friends and rental clients unable to arrive, those unable to leave and generally everyone stuck where they are. We are all scrambling to meet their needs and make the best of a bad situation. Those who are stranded here in Paris are a lot happier than those whose trips to Paris were aborted, naturally! As someone back in the States said to a one visitor, "Oh how terrible to be stranded in Paris! My heart bleeds for you!"
Personally I'm watching the news closely hoping my scheduled flight to Pisa on Friday will not be canceled, leaving a yearning for the bowls of fresh pasta I've been dreaming about for weeks, ever since booking the tickets to visit friends there. They have a perfect view of the leaning tower from their rental apartment windows of which I have been amused and amazed since seeing it for the first time (too) many years ago.
It was coincidence that the volcano erupted causing havoc to air traffic on Friday when I had planned to head to the Ikea store at Villiers sur Marne to purchase accessories for "Le Saint-Tropez" and "La Brigitte" -- the studio and studette currently under renovation in preparation for their first guests mid May. The store was relatively quiet, not because of the air traffic interruptions, but because the "vacances scolaires" (school vacations) had already begun (from April 17th through May 2nd).
The spring cold acquired earlier in the week still weakened me, making the excursion a physical challenge. While my friend was purchasing a new mattress, I took the opportunity to test it out, getting a bit of a repose before moving on to the kitchenware and linen departments. We were there about four hours winding through the aisles filling the cart with every conceivable gadget and houseware, then took a taxi back to Paris loaded with about six Ikea blue bags. It was no easy task to get a taxi there at Villiers, so a lesson was learned: if you must return by taxi, go to Ikea Paris Nord near the airport where there are more available taxis in the vicinity! (No, Ikea will not deliver accessories, only furnishings!)
Saturday evening a group of us went to see Oliver Giraud's one man show in English titled "How to Become a Parisian in One Hour?" at the Théâtre de la Main d'Or. We were fully expecting an all-Anglophone audience, but were surprised to discover an almost-all French attendance, with the exception of a smattering of internationals from other European countries and a few Americans.
The young actor/mime/comedian explained that he had tried to get his show into a theater for a long time because the concept of a show in English targeted to a French audience was...in the opinion of the theaters' management...a big risk. Oliver was right -- he packed the house and that night he celebrated his 10,000th spectator!
It was the years he spent in the U.S. viewing the cultural differences from the other side that helped him create the humor around the subject. I could just see it -- as a Parisian-turned-American-returned-Parisian could experience the culture shock, just as an American-turned-Parisian-returned-American might the other way round.
He taught us all how to say "Oh la la" in about 10 different ways, each of which has a different meaning, although he missed the "Oh la la la la la la la la la" that I have heard so often, giving even a more profound meaning to the oh-so-very-French phrase. A demonstration of a French woman making love compared to a Brazilian was particularly enlightening(!) and if you want to get proper service in a café, you better stop smiling like a tourist!
Oliver has a rubber face that can make a million and one expressions (no face lift or Botox for this young guy!) and can imitate just about any person or personality with skill. It was one heehaw after another, and yes, we learned how to become a Parisian in just one hour, even though for many of us, it has taken years of effort to even mirror them -- that is, if we want to!
One thing he missed, however was an explanation of "Système D" which is so important to life in France. Clair Whitmer in the Expat Survival Guide published by http://www.Expatica.com describes it as:
D is for débrouillard(e), also a verb, se débrouiller, or in noun form débrouillardise. It's tricky to translate but débrouiller means 'to unscramble' and se débrouiller refers to thinking on your feet, figuring things out without help or instruction. In the imperative: Débrouillez vous! Make no mistake: being told you are débrouillard is a compliment.
The Système D is the collective set of workarounds, both know-how and who-you-know. It includes everything you can think off that will help you get around the rules, but get around them through superior cleverness, not through outright illegality, which is how some people misinterpret it. Cheating is not the same thing as the Système D in the same way that cutting in line is not the same thing as breaking-and-entering.
On the contrary, the French respect for the law is nearly absolute, that's how they've ended up with so much of it. But the result is a labyrinth of paperwork that would be absolutely all-consuming—except for the Système D.
If there's one thing we need to learn about how to become a Parisian, it's "Système D" as without it, one cannot survive here.
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
(with a one-sided point of view)
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P.S.I've been told that HGTV is not planning any future international shows...so if you haven't already seen our House Hunters International programs, get tuned in this May 4th for "Vacation Home in Paris" - EHouse Hunters International Episode HHINT-1A05. Scroll down for more information.
