à la une

This newsletter has been on hiatus for four months, during its midlife crisis. (What even is a newsletter???) That crisis was, in fact, parallel to another France-based crisis (Why do I even live in a city where drivers see a cyclist hit by a delivery truck and then honk their horns because he's not limping onto the sidewalk/clearing the street fast enough for them???).

TL;DR: The newsletter is back, and I've decided to leave France (destination TBD) in precisely 11 months, following a festival in the Alps where cows wear flower crowns. I'm also working on a book about what it's like when you live in a peculiar place, inspired by a Susan Sontag essay about living in Stockholm — itself excerpted in a book about Scandinavia, by Michael Booth, that I loved very much. ("Honestly, Sweden is full of prosaic, graceless mini-Garbos" is least among her myriad complaints.)

My plan is to write something like a book-length version of "Goodbye to All That," except about why all the soups here are veloutés and why the rent control is so strong and why the bedding is so expensive: basically, the big mysteries. So conversely, I hope to burrow ever more deeply into the French terroir now that I'm leaving, which hopefully will, in turn, make for an interesting newsletter. For the record, this is also what I do at the end of a failing relationship: If we're ever dating and I'm like, Should we learn how to scuba dive? Or take tango lessons? Or make fondue? It's a bad sign, though to be fair, the fondue could go either way. On verra, as they say. 

Some possibly useful information: 
1. This is a collection of all the best French recipes for the winter, from boeuf bourguignon to aligot, which is basically potato-cheese. Bundle up! 

2. I went to Bulgaria, and seriously, this country should be at the top of international travel lists: cheap, friendly, gorgeous. It's the new Iceland! Well, not quite, but it's really good. Check out this view! 

3. The state of French independent jewelry design may be summed up no better than by this €26 pin of sculptor Camille Claudel from Titlee. (There's also a Molière.) Beyond the pins, which are a little spendy TBH, there's a bunch of very good presents for the francophile in your vie. 

4. Sézane's new winter collection is out this week. To prepare, I did an excessive amount of math to figure out if it's cheaper buying the brand in France than in the U.S. The answer was convincing. 

5. Two of my own stories to share: I interviewed Susan Miller — "America's favorite astrologer" for Cosmo, which was a nerve-shredding experience (apparently due to a Neptune-related issue, my birth has cursed my father, as well as my future husband, a detail that seemed like such a bummer it didn't make the story.) And I wrote about humility for Man Repeller. My ex-boyfriend liked it, hopefully you will too! 

Finally: Since movies here come out on Wednesdays, not Fridays, I just saw Ford V. Ferrari — or the more francophilic Le Mans ’66, as it's titled here, with Matt Damon and Christian Bale. I don't know  my NASCAR from my Formula 1, but I loved this movie, about the rivalries and bromances behind a very particular racing car. Seriously, 90 minutes in I looked at my phone and was delighted to realize it had another hour to go. Highly recommended! 

A bientôt, 
D.