The Kamm House, Home of the Alliance Française in Portland Oregon
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Your taste of life in Paris and France
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Monday, September 27, 2010 • Paris, France
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Dear Parler Paris Reader,
Since last week's newsletter, Marketing Director Lynda Sydney and I have been in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland. This morning we board a plane headed for Los Angeles where my last speaking engagement will take place tomorrow evening at a Santa Monica restaurant named "Fraiche."
It's been a roller-coaster ride to three of the country's most fascinating and Francophile cities where the Alliances Françaises (AF) and the French American Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest (FACC) are strong. It was in these three cities that I spoke on Living and Investing in France to an audience of almost 200 people who wanted to learn more about life in Paris and the regions of France.
You heard a bit about our introduction to San Francisco prior to the talk which included our midnight ride to Hillsborough, but what ensued was even more fun and rewarding. The AF of SF (San Francisco, www.afsf.com ) filled their large theater with folks who have been reading Parler Paris for years, some who had seen the House Hunters International shows and members of the AF hoping to learn more about how to go about having a "pied-à-terre" of their own. The presentation was approximately 1.5 hours of information -- a condensed version of the two-day conferences we had produced in years past, touching on the most important aspects of purchasing property in France that would bring about both a pleasurable and financial reward.
The AFSF has been a friend to us for many years and this occasion was no different. It's a beautiful facility in the heart of the city where it is not only the oldest in the country, but is the official center of French language and culture in San Francisco. It is one of more than 1000 Alliances that have been established in 138 countries around the world.
We left SF very, very early Thursday morning to fly to a rainy Seattle where, before making the presentation at the FACC that evening, we lunched with Vancouver resident, Karen Henrich of ChicWalks.com. She is the founder and author of "Practical Paris, Everything You Need to Know About Paris But Didn’t Know to Ask," is loaded with oodles of experience as a Paris tour operator (Nuit Blanche Tours), having created shopping walks for customers by conducting her own meticulous research, on foot and online, and asking the advice of fashionable French friends. Karen is a 'mover and shaker' of the 'nth' degree with whom we will likely have future projects, so stay tuned for the results of our future collaboration!
That evening at the talk we met with a large group of Seattle friends -- some old and some new, including a first cousin I hadn't seen in years and a colleague who worked with us in Paris when she was living there a few years ago. The attendance was so large, that the venue was moved to an auditorium of a school nearby that hosted the event well thanks to their big screen and built-in projector.
The questions people have had throughout these seminars have been fascinating, because they come from their U.S. cultural 'default modes,' where they are concerned with issues about title, taxes and immigration. I spent quite a bit of time explaining the purchase process and the fact that purchasing property is so 'low risk' thanks to France's viewpoint on consumer protection...also how revenue-generating property can be so profitable in today's environment of low interest rates (2.2%) and low annual taxes (about .001%). They also wanted to know more about France's healthcare system and quality education for their kids. (It's no wonder France was voted #1 in International Living's Quality of Life Index five years in a row!).
With a 'day off' in Seattle, we headed early morning to the Pike Place Market to taste coffee at the first Starbuck's opened in 1971. Because the Market is a historic district with design guidelines, the store retains its original look. I still don't like the taste of their coffee (nothing beats a French roast Café Crème!), but it seemed appropriate to experience such a history-making spot.
Pike Place Market opened on August 17, 1907 not long after Seattle City Councilman Thomas Revelle proposed a public street market to combat the high price of onions and other produce by offering consumers a direct relationship with the farmers, eliminating the middle man. A century later, the market is home to more than 200 year-round commercial businesses, 190 craftspeople and approximately 100 farmers who rent table space by the day, not to mention 240 street performers and musicians and more than 300 apartment units, most of which provide housing for low-income elderly people.
The abundance of fresh fish and fresh flowers, the most beautiful I've ever seen at the most ridiculously low prices, was overwhelming. If I were resident of Seattle, I'd be there daily and give up eating meat all together! It's no wonder why immediately following our stroll through the market we headed straight for Anthony’s Pier 66 on the waterfront for a crabmeat cocktail!
That evening my cousin, Leslie, picked us up for a family gathering at her cousin's restaurant (on her mother's side of the family), The Tin Room Bar and Grill. Owner Danny House (aka “Dan the Sausageman“ and Leslie's cousin) is a guy I met years ago in Paris with more personality in his little pinkie than most have in their whole body! After a successful business selling sausage door-to-door, he opened this most popular spot in Burien, a suburb of Seattle, at 923 Southwest 152nd Street, in what was once home to Ernie Eder’s Hi-Line Tin Shop.
Leslie was the only of five siblings I had ever met until that evening when my Aunt Bonnie, her sister Shirley, (Danny's mother) and three of her other 'children' came to meet their Parisian cousin, me. It was a reunion of grand proportion and the food and atmosphere was fabulous! I was particularly mesmerized by cousin Robbie's daughter, Michelle, who closely resembled my daughter, particularly in the eyes, brows and full lips -- an undeniably strong characteristic of the Beerman family.
The Tin Room Bar and Grill is currently nominated as Best Neighborhood Bar in the 2010 Best of Western Washington contest. Help make it number one by casting your ballot. Just click here to participate in the fun!: best.king5.com
Again early morning we boarded a prop plane in Seattle headed for Portland and landed there on a beautiful warm and sunny day. A bubble gum pink taxi awaited us and we knew right there and then Portland would be a very different experience.
The hotel downtown wasn't far from the Portland Saturday Market and the world famous Voodoo Doughnut shop whose slogan is "The Magic is in the hole" and to which there is always a long line out front. Across the street is a large sign on the side of a building: "Keep Portland Weird." The sign proved to be true as we strolled through the market to discover unusual handcrafts and street performers plus a line-up of curbside food vendors selling their tacos, Korean twists and other fare from parked trucks.
Portland is a pretty city with a pristine downtown made up of eclectic buildings and funky folk. It didn't take long to feel quite comfortable there. The speaking event took place at a church across the street from the Alliance Française which is housed at the Jacob Kamm House, a building on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places founded in 1871. It is a French Second Empire style mansion moved from its original Goose Hollow location in 1950 to make room for Lincoln High School's campus. It was there the reception was held after the talk.
A couple of current clients of ours attended, each having purchased a pied-à-terre in Paris with our assistance. They gladly told the audience of their experience making their purchases. There were also several who had previously stayed in our rental apartments, one of whom held a dinner party in our honor in her beautiful home in the heavily wooded hills high above the city.
Yesterday evening we met up with a dozen old friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in many years and dined together at The Heathman Restaurant and Bar in the Heathman Hotel -- 2001 winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef of the Pacific Northwest, the 2008 Best of Award of Excellence in the Wine Spectator and USA Today's Top Hotel Restaurant of 2010. This was just following an important purchase at the Apple Store where there is no sales tax(!) -- Oregon is one of five states in the U.S. that does not assess a sales tax and therefore is a bargain on large purchases.
Wednesday you will be hearing more about my final talk at "Fraiche" and the partying promised with my daughter who arrives today from New York and lots of long-standing Los Angeles friends. Until then...
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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P.S. A very big thank you goes to: Board Member Liza Reavis, Board President John Trauth and Executive Director Pascal Ledermann of the Alliance Française of San Francisco ; Executive Director Jack Cowan and Executive Coordinator Casey Marie Mochel of the French-American Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest and Executive Director Linda Witt of the Alliance Française of Portland for hosting the events and doing such a stupendous job on all counts!...not to mention their support and friendship.
