Emily in France 🇫🇷 Incognito
I don't look that French... but...
Most of the time, I can pick a fellow American out in a second. We're loud. We take up space. We smile too much. We're a bit too... clean. Too put together. Too coiffed. Too made-up. Too something. It's hard to say exactly what it is, except that I recognize it, when I see it, and when I do...
I hide.
I'm not proud of it. While I'm always happy to help a visitor to Paris, I don't necessarily want to be lumped in with my countrymen when I'm going about my day in Paris. Because all that loud, smiling, taking-up-of-space is perceived as high-maintenance by the French, and there's nothing I hate more than being perceived of as high-maintenance.
Usually, I can pull it off. I stay still. I try not to overhear conversations; I try not to take up space. I speak in French; I don't say much, so my accent doesn't betray me.
But Paris is a small city.
Every once in a while, just when I think I've hidden my Americanness, I run into someone I know. And suddenly, I'm one of the loud, smiling people, taking up space and declaring that things are "amazing!" or "awesome!" or "no problem at all!"
It's not terribly French... but it's hard to hide who I really am for long.
Where I'm Eating
Le Cheval d'Or has gotten a lot of great press recently... but despite loving the pork dish above, the experience wasn't exactly everything I'd hoped it would be.
As always, you can find my ever-evolving list of my favorite Parisian restaurants here.
Where I'm Going
1. Out to my favorite wine bars for Beaujolais Nouveau!
2. To the American Library, for a new stack of books...
3. ... to bring on my trip to Lyon, to explore the French culinary capital!
What I'm Writing
1. I explored why it's so important to age Saint-Nectaire in traditional volcanic cellars for Atlas Obscura.
2. I discovered why it's so hard to maintain weight loss and shared my findings for Eat This, Not That.
3. From the archives: I delved into the unique difficulties of celebrating Thanksgiving in Paris for Serious Eats.
What I'm Reading
1. This exploration of Mr. Rogers as a human rights advocate for Global Citizen.
2. This beautiful essay (written by my beautiful friend) about family, memory, and Jeopardy for Man Repeller.
3. OK... not reading... but I watched this video about language changing the way we think for the BBC.
A bientôt !
Emily in France