A Frenchman in Costume at the Carnival of Venice
Photo by Linda Hervieux
Parler Paris Nouvellettre®
Your taste of life in Paris and France
ParlerParis.com
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 • Paris, France
Dear Parler Paris Reader,
While we were doing 'improv' at "Parler Paris Après Midi," photos from various carnivals around the world came floating into my email box. It made me jealous to not be participating...then I remembered that Carnivale in Nice was just a couple of weeks ago and at least I didn't miss that.
My daughter was in the French Quarter of New Orleans going from Mardi Gras parade to Mardi Gras parade, dressed as a ballerina and taking lots of photos for her portfolio of work as well as her portfolio of life. Paris-based journalist, Linda Hervieux, was doing the same in Venice taking portraits of Venetian costumers, only to discover most of them were French!
Meanwhile, "Après Midi" was an adventure, as for the first time we had a speaker make a presentation. It had been planned for months for illustrious author and poet Kathleen Spivak to talk about "How to Write Well and Get Published" -- only to learn that she was headed to the doctor with a viral infection and unable to be with us.
Thanks to Johnnys-on-the-Spot Kristin Shannon and Antonio Meza of PSI Communications, we still managed to have a fun-filled afternoon involving improvisational play called "Step inside your story: improv, creativity, and getting your story across..."
We started off with the usual mingling and networking before making a few announcements and turning the floor over to Antonio and Kristin. All eyes were turned to them as they gave us an introduction as to what and how we would be 'creating our own stories' and then bringing them together in one fun-filled improv session.
The room was divided into three groups. One person from each group was designated as the "white canvas" on which we would paint a character and a story. That person took on a new persona, the one we had all created for her (it turned out to be all women).
Then, those three new personages came together in one scene, improv acted with Antonio as the "partner" character -- a man with whom all three women had some connection.
Our characters were a 12-year-old girl from Crete (Julie Vetter from Paris), a divorcée from Paris, Texas with a bouffant hair style and red cowboy boots named Barbara (Pauline Solnik from Houston) and a married woman who makes lace garters, but moonlights at the Crazy Horse Saloon and who has affairs with younger men named Angelique (Catherine Jallian).
We laughed until it hurt! If you're sorry you missed it, then no worries...they will be back Kristin and Antonio will be back next month with "How to design your own Body-Language Business Card" -- so be sure to come and see for yourself how much fun and entertainment one can have for just the price of a coffee. (To see the photos and read more about it, visit parlerparis/apresmidi and plan on coming next time.)
Thanks to all of your help, but especially to American-born Normandy chef and author of cookbooks extraordinaire, Susan Herrmann, we are set to film another House Hunters International in Normandy this weekend. I'm not at liberty to divulge too much, but the show will involve an American couple settling in Normandy with a large family, seeking a large home that will accommodate many children for the price of a studio apartment in Paris!
We'll be filming for two days in the glorious countryside of the region where American soldiers landed that fateful day in June, 1944 (D-Day) and where cattle-breeding is its most important industry, supplying us with some of the finest dairy products you will have ever tasted. Normandy is also well known for its apple growing and products such as Calvados, cider and of course, "Tarte Tatin."
Ms. Herrmann not only lives at number one rue Tatin, but is also makes the best Tarte Tatin I've ever eaten, of which I am hoping to have a taste this coming weekend. What could be more divine than having a brief séjour with an accomplished chef making dinner from such delicacies as "crème fraîche," Normandy apples and cheeses such as "Camembert" and "Livarot?"
Are you jealous? You should be...but luckily for you, Ms. Herrmann provides lots of opportunities for individuals to take her courses and sample her creative talents. Visit her site for more information:onruetatin.com and stay tuned for Monday's Nouvellettre® when you'll hear more about our weekend hunting houses in Normandy!
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
(in Normandy)
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P.S. Don't miss Saturday's 13th Anniversary Celebration at the Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group! Have cake and eat it, too when you take advantage of special discounts that day. Visit parlerparlor.com for more information!
