FR2DAY magazine...

A cool new website has just been launched, FR2DAY, an English language lifestyle magazine that covers the French Riviera and Monaco.

Their 'about us' page says, "FR2DAY is a smart, easy-to-navigate online magazine covering the essential lifestyle of the French Riviera including What's On, Style, Food, Shopping, Gay, Showbiz, Action, Travel and more. FR2DAY also covers the talent behind the scenes, the emerging artists and musicians, the hottest chefs and haunts."

I've written a film review for them, Le Grand Bleu, and all the people involved seem to be making a real effort to create the best online magazine of all that's hot and happening on the Côte d'Azur.

Stop by and check it out when you get a chance!

Jacques Prévert....

Amongst all the reasons why I'll never be a cool Parisian (a. I don't live there b. just look at me, etc, etc.), according to Olivier Magny at Stuff Parisians Like, real Parisians like to know about good exhibits going on in the city, but they would never deign to go to one, that's for the tourists and the bored ex pat housewives.

But I'm going to Paris in November and I'd like to see the new exhibit at the Hôtel de Ville 'Jacques Prévert: Paris la Belle'.

I read Prévert at university and he has remained one of my favorite French poets. Originally I liked him because his poems were so easy to read, meaning I could understand his language without having to look every word up in the dictionary. Then of course, like a lot of poetry, it dawns on you that the meaning has nothing to do with the words....

I like him now for reasons similar to why I like Neruda. I adore the simplistic language that conjures up so much imagery without pandering to verbose, archaic, 'poetic' pretension. He writes of lovers, Paris, angst, politics, humor. It's the black and white language of Paris after the war.

Prévert wrote poetry (Paroles, Spectacle) and screenplays (Les Enfants du Paradise, Le Jour Se Leve). He collaborated with artists (Miro, Picasso) and photographers (Izis Bidermanas, Robert Doisneau). He created works that have remained relevant for several decades and are now being celebrated by the exhibit at the Hôtel de Ville from the 24th of October until the 31st of January.

I'll leave you with one of his poems from Paroles:

Alicante

Une orange sur la table
Ta robe sur le tapis
et toi dans mon lit
Doux présent du présent
Fraîcheur de la nuit
Chaleur de ma vie.

A quiet affirmation of writing...

I know I haven't done any other book reviews here, but to be honest, it's been awhile since I've been in love enough with a book to shout about it.

And also I know how annoying it is when someone tells you that you just gotta read this book. So all I'll say is, wow, this is the best writing I have read in a long time. Sentences that almost make me weep they are so beautifully crafted. You know how as a teenage girl you would rewind and rewind again your favorite song on a cassette? I find myself re reading sentences and paragraphs because they are just so damn beautiful.

The plot is haunting, the characters are small and perfectly formed, but the words, the imagery, the similes... (Whoever said similes should be used sparingly in fiction should use this as the textbook on how to use them perfectly).

I feel as if I've been dying of thirst and this book has offered me a ice cold glass of milk.

Have you read it? Did you like it?

On ne naît pas femme: on le devient.

Regardless of your views on the politics and philosophies of Simone de Beauvoir, you have to hand it to the lady; she lived one hell of a life.

Born in 1908, the centenary of her birth is being celebrated in France with a new documentary that airs tonight called, 'Je veux tout la vie', which features a host of writers, philosophers and historians commemorating her life and work, and in particular, Le Deuxième Sexe.

When presented with this text back at university, as a naive 19-year old, I thought, 'What's all the fuss about?'. She seemed to have lived a very unhappy life, flitting in and out of unsatisfactory relationships, and the one relationship she did stay in for 51 years was the one that gave her the most pain. 'How is that feminism?', I couldn't help thinking back then. Couple the 'feminism' tag with the 'existentilism' tag and you have yourself one very confused 19-year old.

If you felt overwhelmed by Simone back at university as I did, maybe I should nudge you back to the bookshelf and encourage you to take another look. At my ripe old age of 35 now, there are a few things that make more sense to me. And as a precursor to the likes of Gertrude Stein, Madonna and Hillary Clinton, there is still alot of respect due to Mme de Beauvoir.

I'll leave you with a quote of hers, which gave the title to this new documentary:*

"Je veux tout de la vie, être une femme et aussi un homme, avoir beaucoup d’amis, et aussi la solitude, travailler énormément, écrire de bons livres, et aussi voyager, m’amuser, être égoïste et aussi généreuse… Vous voyez, ce n’est pas facile d’avoir tout ce que je veux. Or quand je n’y parviens pas, ça me rend folle de colère."

Simone de Beauvoir, Lettre à Nelson Algren 3 juillet 1947.

Loosely translated:

I want it all, to be a woman, as well as a man, to have lots of friends but also solitude, work hard, write good books, but also to travel, have fun, be selfish and generous. You see, it's not easy having everything I want. And when I can't have it, I get crazy with anger.

I think this very well sums up women of today, n'est-ce pas?

A Duchess without direction......

I’ve decided that my blog lacks focus. ‘C‘est pas vrai….’ I hear you say.

Si, it’s true. I finally have a little more time to concentrate on the things that interest me, with the little ladies now comfortably settled in school, and I find myself itching to write. But write what? Finish some of the short stories that lay abandoned in my ’writing file’? Or maybe that novel I so eagerly outlined two years ago that still burns a hole in my brain but can’t seem to take on any form of life? I know, I could write some more hugely unrewarding press releases for the Duke’s company, and really feel like I’m really banging my head against a brick wall.

My vast body of published work (okay, three published magazine articles) used to fill me with confidence, but now only fill me with embarrassment when I re read them and cringe at my efforts. Where does a budding writer turn for writing inspiration when they live in a small dukedom somewhere deep in the heart of rural southern France? I know……, the big wide world of blogs, that’s it, where I know my words will always be published, and even just one comment will prove that it hasn’t all been in vain. Self-publishing has never seemed so attractive, or cool. Who needs to get paid? Surely the act of getting my words out there will fulfill my ’itch’ to write and maybe somewhere along the way I may actually write something that doesn’t make me cringe.

Well, that’s my train of thought at the moment. So instead of brainstorming ideas for articles to query the likes of Living France magazine, or starting short stories that draw from my extensive life experiences from the last 34 years, I shall now attempt to play out my stumbling efforts at writing about my life in France through the posts on my blog. I’m sure you are as excited as I am. Are you still there?

God knows it has been done to death already. Writing about being a foreigner in France is now as commonplace has people under retirement age moving to France. My only hope at being unique is that I’m probably more inept at adapting and slightly more naïve than my fellow expats. Surely there should be some humor to be found in my bumbling efforts? I’ve been here now for seven years, and I speak the language, but I sometimes still feel as uneducated about this country I live in as I felt 15 years ago when I stepped off the plane for the first time in France.

So please bear with me for the next few months as I try to put down on paper how it feels to live in a place that at times excites me, other times frustrates me, but always remains the place I call home, for better or worse.