I’ve noted quite a bit of French nomenclature and references to different French cultural things in House Andrews novels. When did an interest in France come into your lives? And have you two spent much time in France?
This is the original text of WAR AND PEACE. I’d estimate about 1/10 of it is in French. My father was displeased with my knowledge of Russian grammar because I have received a C on two tests in a row in the 4th grade and he went to speak to my Russian teacher about it. She was very old school and she told him she had a fix.
Guess who copied a third of WAR AND PEACE by hand to develop “habits” of proper Russian grammar? C’était moi. Vouloir c’est pouvoir. Sadly, it wasn’t my will that was involved.
There is a very telling paragraph on that first page.
“He spoke that exquisite French, not just spoken but thought in by our grandfathers, and with that quiet, condescending tone particular to a man who’d grown old in society and was significant at court. He approached Anna Pavlovna, kissed her hand, presenting her with his perfumed and shiny bald spot, and peacefully settled on the divan.”
Russia’s culture has been greatly influenced by France. Russian nobles spoke fluent French. They corresponded in French. They wrote poems in French.
– Quand au front du convive, au beau sein de Delie…
Pushkin, the greatest of Russian poets
Quand au front du convive, au beau sein de Delie
La rose ebloussante a termine sa vie,
——
Soudain se detachant de sa tige natale
Comme un léger soupir sa douce âme s’exhale,
Aux rives Elysees ses manes parfumes
Vont charmer du Lethe les bords inanimes.
Quand je te vois sourire,
Mon coeur s’epanouit,
Et je voudrais te dire,
Ce que mon coeur me dit!
Alors toute ma vie
A mes yeux apparait;
Je maudis, et je prie,
Et je pleure en secret.Car sans toi, mon seul guide,
Sans ton regard de feu
Mon passe parait vide,
Come le ciel sans Dieu.Et puis, caprice etrange,
Lermontov, arguably one of the best prose writers in Russia.
Je me surprends benir
Le beau jour, oh mon ange,
Ou tu m’as fait souffrir!…
Russia sits on the cross roads of Scandinavia and China. A great deal of Chinese culture revolved around literacy, penmanship, and poetry. Russia is very similar, especially post Peter I. We were required to memorize and recite poems in front of the class. We were required to study classics. Half of the damn classics are in French. I do not speak French, because I know my pronunciation is atrocious. But there was a point in my life when I read it a little bit. It’s all gone now.
The knowledge of France among Russian intelligentsia extends to French literature and art. Russian word for a novel is roman, also French. People will quote things at you. If someone quips about Tartuffe, you must know where it comes from, so you don’t look stupid. The only greater sin is to not know Greek myths.
Here is a brief list of French writers one must be familiar with to be considered educated in Russia.
- Victor Hugo
- Honore de Balsac
- Voltaire
- Moliere
- Jules Verne
- Prosper Merimee
- Alexander Dumas
- Anne Golon
- George Sand
As you can see, most of them are classics. The problem with modern French writers is that they are often subversive and there is only so much USSR censors would allow through. But Albert Camus was a staple as well.
A couple of years ago we went to RARE convention in Paris and our publisher arranged for a tour of George Sand’s home. I greatly enjoyed it because I have read most of her translated works when I was around 12 starting with Consuelo, otherwise known as How to write a traditional gothic. When I eventually skyped with Dad and told him about it, he immediately said, “Did you know she had a relationship with Chopin?” There you go.
Now on to France. Gordon and I visited once, Paris only, during the aforementioned RARE, and we both absolutely loved it. I’d go again any day. The atmosphere, the city, the architecture, the people, the food, everything was lovely. Everyone treated us with calm politeness, people were friendly, and the service at the restaurants and shops was impeccable. We were there when protests were going and as we walked past the shop fronts, we noticed a lot of severe looking gentlemen obviously guarding the stores. Gordon asked one of them why, and the man shrugged.
The guard: Revolution.
Gordon: Again?
The guard: Every Saturday.
I thought it was the most French thing I had ever heard.
The only odd thing was that everyone kept mistaking Gordon for a Brit.
The waiter: UK?
Gordon: US.
The waiter: Really?
Maybe he just looks British? Or perhaps we don’t behave typically American, whatever that might be.
Oh also, traffic. French traffic will make your hair stand on end. They do not understand lanes. There is this roundabout around Arc de Triomphe… O_O.
On the professional front, our French publisher treats us and our work with so much care, it’s unreal. The collector edition of Kate Daniels in French is spectacular.
Ce livre est un trésor. Hopefully, my sad knowledge of French paid off and I didn’t bungle that up too badly. Cécile, if you are reading this, thank you for everything. Gordon and I are very grateful.
I mean, yeah, what have the French ever done for us? Besides helping us during our revolution, giving us the Statue of Liberty, Napoleonic law, and the Pink Panther? I mean besides that? Seriously though, I have noticed among many of my fellow Americans, a sort of contempt for the French that I simply do not and have never understood. Even Grounds Keeper Willy, a noted Scotsman, referred to them in one episode of the Simpsons as “Cheese eating surrender monkeys.” I’m not sure where this comes from, probably WWII, but none of the stereotypes portrayed in the media seemed to be true based on our visit to Paris. Okay, a lot of people did smoke. That aside, they seemed like very polite, welcoming people. Even to an obviously British middle-aged thug like myself.
“an obviously British middle-aged thug like myself”
::fans self::
I agree, we’ve received a lot from France. I always thought the contempt many Americans feel is a remnant of British-French relations (with the attitude from the British side), but I could be wrong.
They also trained or heavily influenced practically every American architect (and some landscape designers) for 100 years (that Beaux Arts tradition was deeply embedded, see: the City Beautiful Movement) and you even let a French man design the plan for Washington D.C. (Pierre Charles L’Enfant).
And who doesn’t like Jean Reno?
Could NOT agree more. My 2 weeks in Paris (for work, so I worked with locals as well) were incredible. My favorite part was being at the office a bit after 9a, getting a free cafe au lait that was to die for and being the first in the office. I’m not a morning person so they were DEFINITELY my people LOL.
But it is apparently law that every Frenchman have a t-shirt (long or short sleeves) with wide, blue horizontal stripes and smoke. I still shake my head a bit recalling HOW MANY locals wore the same thing AND smoked.
I also was there right after a bombing in Nice, so around all of the landmarks there were police with assault rifles, but I never felt unsafe about it. Granted, I’ve worked other locations in the US with similar law enforcement requirements (Federal Reserve Bank – regular patrols with assault rifles and bomb sniffing dogs – it’s was a thing 2008 – 2012).
I would love to go again and explore more – and every city should have tree’d boulevards like they do in Paris. Just don’t make me drive on a roundabout the size of what goes around l’Arc de Triumph. The smaller ones I’ve navigated in the US and Canada are P-L-E-N-T-Y thank you LOL.
The French surrender during WWII is an easy way to ridicule, but I think the contempt felt towards the French is attributable to the US culture of toxic masculinity*, where art and “fancy food” are girly things. REAL men eat steak and potatoes (forget that steak frites is available at every French restaurant). At least that meets with my experience.
You had a much better time in Paris than I did. My BF at the time, and his family, left the US every November. His parents would rent a house somewhere and the two sons would fly themselves out to stay with them. It was usually Mexico, but one year both his mom and I read “A Year in Provence” and managed to miss the fact that everything discussed happened between May and September. So when my BF and I arrived at the lovely house in… I forget the name of the town… everything was closed for the season, it was cold, and my BF and his father were miserable (from my ex-FIL, “it may be cold, but at least it’s expensive”).
However. We had an absolutely wonderful time anyway (the girls did, at least) with fabulous food (even if we had to drive a ways for it because almost all of the restaurants in town were closed), lovely scenery, and amazing history. No one made fun of us, which we were expecting from reputation.
Paris was different. We left Provence to spend 3-4 days in Paris (his parents were retired. We had limited vacation time). We did not have a single meal where we had decent service. The waitstaff was overtly mean everywhere we went. It’s entirely possible this was because of our price bracket, but it made every meal an ordeal.
____
*the French have their own version, I am absolutely not denying this.
I thought it was because they aren’t impressed enough with American tourists. I’ve never been but I’ve been told they are snobby, refuse to speak English and are less than appreciative of attempts to speak French
Stereotypes, as usual, do no one any favours 🙂 . The magical phrase “Parlez-vous Anglais?” makes all the difference.
My brother had a job that required him to attend a conference every year in Paris. He hated it. He found the air of disdain for Americans very unpleasant (note that he is a polite, well-traveled person, didn’t matter). He finally quit the job just before the latest trip was scheduled.
My experience was also that Americans were disdained. And my perspective is the American culture idolizes the French culture…perfumes are often in French, and there is adoration of French fashion, the art, the cooking…
I do think Paris one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but wow is it rainy!
The famous French journalist-philosopher (a category that exists only in France, and which they do so very well) Jean-François Revel addressed the historic development of French ideas about America in his _Anti-Americanism_. I wish only that he had written it, and I’d read it, before we spent five years in Europe instead of after we returned to the States — I would have had a much better understanding of the reason for several conversations that puzzled and distressed me during those years, and not just in France or with Frenchmen.
(https://www.amazon.com/Antiamericanism-Library-Jean-Francois-Revel/dp/0786185589/ref=tmm_abk_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1622869496&sr=8-1)
I was in Paris for a couple of days in 1996. We were 3 US citizens. The only rude person I came across was a person working in the subway. They were irritated I didn’t I understand the money (or the language, for that matter!). This was pre Euro and we were changing countries every couple days on a tour! Anyway, everyone else was lovely. They seemed appreciative when we tried to speak some French, poorly, and asked for translations of the menu. I was sadly behind and American in line one day, was sssoooo embarrassed by the way this jackass acted. I had to apologize when I got up to the counter and say “not all Americans are like that”. I think many US citizens got to other countries and are pissed off that it’s not just like the US. Why travel if that’s what you want?!
I went to Paris as a youngster with my family (not very many years ago) and found that the French treated us pretty decently and, especially with kids, were fairly appreciative of efforts to speak French (we even gained free pastries at one point). The main thing that tourists usually don’t know (at least, the one I do know) is that if you’re walking into a store, approaching a museum guard, literally approaching anyone or going into their vicinity (other than passing on the street) you MUST say “Bonjour.” It’s a thing. It’s not like in America. If you do not say it, and attempt to talk to them without it, they see you as very peremptory and rude, but if you do say it you’re likely to get a friendlier reaction. We also found that the reputation of the American Tourist is at least a little bit deserved when we went to a restaurant and another party of Americans came in, having made a reservation, then changed the number of people on their reservation shortly before coming, then brought a larger number of people than they said they would, then were angry about being seated downstairs, the only place the restaurant could fit them, and eventually just walked out, to everyone’s relief. There’s also the fact that France actually has the worst English language education in the EU (though much better than our French education) and surveys show that most French people feel uncomfortable speaking English. This may account for some feelings of standoffishness on both sides.
Also I think it’s a smart point that sentiments we picked up from the British may play a role.
The French also gave us ice cream. That alone is reason enough to love them.
I noticed, while in the service (Marseille, Toulon), that France was very much like the U.S. In the areas of retail, restaurants and bars. Much more than Spain, Greece, Crete, Italy, China, Korea, Japan, Philippines , South America and the Caribbean. I remember a riot in Toulon back in the mid 70s. We had been at sea for more than 6 months (the sweeping of the Suez Canal), I was on the old Iwo Jima, we had an expeditionary force of marines, and all their helos’. We pulled in on Christmas Eves, because of this and that they did not warn the taverns. No bars, no ladies. We tore that waterfront bar area up. broke into bars, fires in the cross walks, quite a show. Anyway, some time after midnight I ended up in an all nite “Pizza Hut”. I was sitting alone, about 3am and the only other people there were this French family with their 3 little toddlers. They sent one of the kids over and dragged me to their table and shared their meal with me. That is one of my sailor stories about France.
They gave us a lot of words with silent letters that makes them difficult to spell and impossible to pronounce when reading them for the first time.
If it wasn’t for the French the United States wouldn’t have the Louisiana Purchase. Considering that’s a huge chunk of the country…
I wanted to say that. The Louisiana that Napoleon sold to the US was a huge chunk of territory. If he hadn’t sold it maybe the US would be speaking French now :).
Unfortunately France would have been bankrupt. That’s why France sold the land. It’s really interesting that parts of Missouri still holds on to their French roots.
two world wars, back to back. plus vietnam. that was a lot of blood and treasure spent.
The French smoke a lot? haha… I remember working local crew for the moscow ballet at the naval academy(the 1st show after 9/11 also the 1st time they reopened the grounds to non military afterwards) and laughing with a co worker at intermission as almost all the dancers ran outside with the stagehands to smoke.
All those good things aside, the French loooved Jerry Lewis. I don’t know, it’s shaky cultural ground right there! (Heh)
Thank you for this post, it’s very much appreciated 🙂
A devoted reader from France
Does leaving a comment after Gordon counts as first?
You know what, I’m calling it: it does 😀
Aux commentaires, citoyens!
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I visited Paris and it was beautiful city.
I loved France when I went several years ago as well but the traffic!! ???? I was a teenage with my parents and we decided it would be lovely to drive out of Paris and then south through France and then into Switzerland. I still think about that drive out of Paris. Sometimes there were 3 lines of cars, sometimes 4 and then 6 and then back to 3. It was absolutely insane!
Are lanes really that crazy of thing to have?!?!
Aside from the no lanes in their streets thing France was wonderful.
“I do not speak French, because I know my pronunciation is atrocious. But there was a point in my life when I read it a little bit.” Welcome to my world. I read english quite well, but if I have to speak it, my pronunciation shames me so much that I can’t make any word get out…
“Oh also, traffic. French traffic will make your hair stand on end. They do not understand lanes. There is this roundabout around Arc de Triomphe… O_O” …. hehe… the thing here is to rush in there without questionning, you don’t slow, you just take your place in the line like it belongs to you…
As for the french publisher, I said it again and again, they did such an amazing job, I’m very grateful they re-publish your series and finally do justice to your wonderfull work.
“The guard: Revolution.
Gordon: Again?
The guard: Every Saturday.
I thought it was the most French thing I had ever heard.”
Lol, very funny !!!!
But unfortunately it is so true… I think we’re the most grumpy people in the world…
And what are your thoughts on the Louvre pyramid? Do the French people love it or hate it?
I like it, but I can’t speak for all of my country lol
The gallery (museum ? I don’t know the word) is wonderful, with beautiful arts, and real treasures… If you like art, it’s amazing. But there’s too much people, and the staff is atrocious, treat you like cattle…. But I think it has to be visited, really beautiful.
Gaëlle, please please do not be ashamed that you do not speak perfect English. Americans generally love when a foreigner even tries, and will happily help you with the correct pronunciation, just as they hope you will help them learn a little of your language.
Thank you, it is nice of you to say 🙂 But I’m very shy (like very very), so it increases the difficulty.
When Ilona and Gordon came for RARE, I stayed on the other side of the street, and couldn’t make me go to them… paralysed… extreme shyness + bad english is not a good combination…
I was going to say that also. I was quite surprised when different British friends said various unpleasant things about the French.
Guess some wars never end.
I love how Lafayette and Washington had such a close relationship. And how Lafayette was on the side of the revolution later.
Two of my friends have Ph.D’s in Russian linguistics (neither Russian) and they introduced me to a Russian friend. They said he was extremely picky that the women he dated know about X, Y, and Z, etc. The list in the post helps that make sense.
I’ve always liked the sound of French and have a French name and French great-grandmother. I agree with you about Paris.
Merci for answering my Q.
I visited Moscow with a college group one January break (funny fact: it was colder and snowier in my Hudson Valley home at the time of this, my so-far *only* trip overseas — we got to see Red Square with blue skies!), and the one time when my couple semesters of Russian might have helped us in detangling an evening bus-route confusion, my brain similarly froze… but I could still get out some French (my major), which was all I needed, even though the stranger-on-the-street we’d approached was NOT one of the intelligentsia (and possibly drunk).
P.S., I can still recite Pushkin’s Ты и вы, because I love it, though I’m sure my accent, with no one to practice it on, would make Ilona cringe by now.
P.S.2 (since you may note my name, and wonder), le grand-père de mon père était Quebecois, c’est tout.
P.S.3 (lol, sorry), who has read Dorothy Sayers? Even twentieth century erudite authors were fond of inserting paragraphs of French, la langue de la culture et de la diplomatie.
Read all the Lord Peter books. Had to piece out all the French bits.
A few years ago my husband and I went to Paris over a weekend where he was teaching some finance classes. When one of his former students learned we were going to be there, he immediately suggested we meet him and his girlfriend in Paris so they could give us a tour. We were staying just a couple of blocks from the Arc de Triomphe.
They showed us all around and we ended the evening going to a restaurant where the locals ate. Nothing touristy. When we were being seated, the waitress immediately recognized that we (or at least I) were Americans (probably because we were speaking American English). She immediately launched into a very animated speech with lots of hand gestures in French, pointing to the kitchen (I presume) and sounding very concerned.
Us: What’s is she saying?
Our Host: She’s concerned about how you (meaning me) are going to order your beef.
Me: The beef?
Host: Yes.
Me: (laughing) Oh, I already discussed this with Bill (husband) before we left for Paris. I plan on only ordering chicken because we were concerned for the well being of the chef (as in not causing him/her an aneurysm or an other type of self inflicted harm or quitting from the insult) if I asked for my beef medium rare.
Host turns to waitress and explains in French that all is well and the chef is safe.
Waitress throws us a relieved look and takes our order.
We had a wonderful time. Our host’s girlfriend taught me how to navigate the subway system (a first time riding any subway) and I managed to visit the Eiffel Tower and Sacre-Coeur all on my own without getting lost!
Everyone was polite, helpful, and just all around nice. And I loved that at least in the EU, that what you paid in a restaurant was the complete price. No trying to figure tipping in a foreign currency (even if the currency is uniform in the EU). =)
If I ever get to France, I want to see the Camargue.
I don’t know that I ever will – there are a hell of a lot of places here in the US I’ve never seen that I want to visit.
I’ve you’ve never left the U.S., I strongly suggest you visit somewhere. Yes, there are things to see here, but we’re a very young country. There’s something about seeing things from the first millenia A.D. that really drives home that history is more than the Pilgrims and the American Revolution.
Don’t bother! We visited a couple of years ago …. we had the archetypal vision of wide-open marshland with white horses and black bulls – what we got was mile after mile of places offering horse rides, and cafes/bars, you couldn’t even see the coast. Really commercialised and tacky. It was SO disappointing ????. The only other place which was such a key-down was Andorra – in the summer, it’s just a building site with nose-to-tail traffic jams!
My late husband had a conference in Paris some years back. I was lucky enough to go with him. We stayed in a small hotel close to Notre Dame. He would leave for meetings and I wandered around the neighborhood.
It was March, so the vast sea of tourists was yet to come. I spent the whole time cold, because spring in France and England is much later than spring in Houston. (We didn’t get snowed on until London, at least.)
I found the smallest street in Paris (one block long and almost wide enough to get past a parked bicycle without turning sideways) and wandered past the cathedral. Luckily, enough tourists come through that I could find a place for lunch, though I usually just pointed at the menu item.
I did drag my husband into the cathedral for a tour. I was so glad that we saw it before the fire. We just missed the new bells. They were already off display but not being rung yet.
It was a wonderful visit. I don’t imagine I’ll ever be able to do that sort of thing again, but I’d certainly *try*.
An excellent list of authors and I loved seeing Anne Golon’s name as I’ve read the translations many times from childhood on. (Quite a bit over my head as a child but enjoyable nonetheless.)
So “Minou, minou?” is French for “Here, kitty, kitty”? Or is that a different part of the book?
It’s the “kitty, kitty” scene, indeed 🙂
In 1978 at the age of 23 I went to a French restaurant for the first time in my life. I fell in love with the cuisine and went on to learn how to bake and cook French food and learn French wines. I have never been to France but I thank the French for teaching me what food should be.
Yes! My step father was a hobby only French chef. I grew up eating the most decadent foods. Coquille St Jacques is still my all time favorite.
I have never been to France but I have celebrated their cuisine every day of my adult life.
Am I the only one who jumps to thinking of Julie & Julia when French cuisine comes up?
No.
I was an exchange student in France for the summer when I was 17 (a long time ago). On the way to the Cognac area, I traveled through Paris. My French was pretty good then. The cab drivers and train ticket sellers always asked if I was British. I was mystified and told them I was American. They invariably were surprised. Will love France always. Wonderful people, art museums, food. Where else can you eat bittersweet chocolate with baguettes? Didn’t know of the deep connection in language and culture with Russia. Thanks for the wonderful information and fond memories from when I was very young.
We drove in Paris many years ago in the Spring and noticed that the signage on the streets around the Arc de Triomphe said (in essence), “No parking except on Sunday and in August.” Also, we were living in Rome at the time so the driving in Paris did not seem that bad.
Oh I must agree living near Nice that I find italien driving truly scary. Crossing Italy to go to Venice was a hair whitening trip. There would be miles if empty highway and when the only other vehicle would appear, be it minivan or semi, it would decide to insert into our lane 3 feet in front of us imitating a racing lambourghini…
Wow. Every poster jumped all over how wonderful France is. What I got from this post is that once again, the Americans fall FAR behind most of the rest of the world and insist on teaching us only in English, until high school, where we may get a 2-year course in another language and pass it without actually learning anything about it. I tried to learn some of the Italian my grandparents spoke, but my grandparents would not teach me, and my father was never really immersed in it because my grandparents immersed themselves in the America culture and did not speak it much once they learn English. I skip over anything written in another language because I usually have no clue what it says. I was, however, the only one in the store to know that the French people visiting wanted a pen, not crayons! LOL! I have a small smattering of curse words in many languages from growing up in a port city, but that’s it. I understand a lot of the Italian my father’s family spoke, but I was rather coldly informed by a Sicilian I worked with that it was not “true” Italian, but a specific dialect of the area from which they came.
We miss out on other countries because we learn our own history and learn theirs only as it relates to ours. I have never had the desire to travel to any other country because I would never know what anyone said there. And yet, they would know what I said, because the British have big influence there and they do learn that English.
Gordon was probably mistaken for British due to his DNA combining British and Irish to make anyone who recognizes it think he’s British. DNA will show in your general makeup and appearance. They weren’t far wrong. They just got his birthplace wrong.
“We miss out on other countries because we learn our own history and learn theirs only as it relates to ours.”
Every country does that, nrml. I found it fascinating when my daughters were in school in Germany and Belgium. Separately, while few American public schools teach foreign languages before sixth or seventh grade, twenty percent of Americans speak or are exposed to a language other than English in the home, and even more are sent to after-school or preschool classes in either the language of the family’s culture or something else — Hebrew, Chinese, German, Spanish, etc.
“We miss out on other countries because we learn our own history and learn theirs only as it relates to ours. I have never had the desire to travel to any other country because I would never know what anyone said there. And yet, they would know what I said, because the British have big influence there and they do learn that English.”
There’s so much to see and learn from other peoples’ perspectives. Please don’t let feeling “othered” deter you from traveling to places where you don’t speak the language. People have their own lives. You likely aren’t the first American they’ve ever seen and even if you are the topic of conversation, it isn’t a big deal. A bit like when a stranger walks into a small town restaurant. You might not do things their way but you’re there with an open mind to respectfully learn about their culture and enjoy their lifestyle. People generally help tourists and regardless of DNA, they can usually identify a not-local fairly easily.
If you want to start out simple, just travel to a big tourist friendly city. Most will have readable street signs and Google Maps. If you want to kind of ease into it, I’d suggest Ireland. Different enough that you’ll probably need to listen more closely and occasionally ask what things mean or repeat themselves. People are very hospitable and generally pleased people want to visit their country. Most will chat you up to ask where you’re from, where you’re going on a trip, and if you are having a good time. It’s not the place for an antisocial introvert to start out in 😉 That might be London to blend as another cog in the machine.
I always wonders why foreign tourists love Paris so much ???? I hate the outdated underground, and I feel like it’s the only thing I see when I go there????.
There are so many other places to visit in France, why Paris ? ????????
But I’m having fun reading the comments :p
And I’m writing this after having to transit between 2 train stations in Paris via the underground, full of stairs, no lift, and a very heavy suitcase ????
It is hard to see Paris in a week of that’s all the time you have. We did venture out one day and came across this little town having a carnival. The rides were painted fabulous.
We were there when Spain’s train was bombed. All of a sudden the underground we were on was stopped. We followed everyone off as the announcement was in French.
It’s got to be the museums. The Louvre and the Musee d Orsay. I saw art from there that was traveling the US. Wonderful! This was at the High museum in Atlanta. That exhibit was followed by more
wonderful French works from Russia’s Pushkin Museum. I would sooo love to go to Paris and Moscow.
So I went to Paris for a trade show, it was beautiful. Everything I heard about rude Frenchmen seemed to be incorrect, then I went to Montmartre. There is an artists community at the top of the stairs. We were being led around by our French representative. I saw this beautiful landscape and asked about the price. The artist, a woman in her 60’s told me she wouldn’t sell anything to an American.
It was a great trip, and everybody else I associated with was at least polite, but my lasting impression is of an older woman with gray hair and paint stained fingers who was an asshole.
I am French and in school, we studied Pouchkine and Dostoïevski. And it was encouraged to read Gogol, Tchekhov and Tolstoï.
I loved my trip. Crepes as street food, boutiques, great coffee. My favorite thing, we went early to a flea market, and stepped into a cafe for coffee. As we sat there, I saw a very chubby dog stand in front of the automatic sorts. Doors open, dog walks in, and proceeds to ever table, and waits politely for some food. Every one feeds him, no one blinks an eye. When he finished his rounds, he let him self back out. The French people love their animals. That made my trip!
I lived in the south of France for about 2 years. I found that if I took care to dress (skirt or pants, instead of jeans and a t-shirt) and act as though I respected the culture, things went well. After while, I realized there was a wall there. The people would be polite and friendly, wait until your family has been around for a couple hundred years before you could get past the gate. I was frequently mistaken for Spanish or Italian.
I also traveled around Europe. In the UK, people kept asking me where I lived in Canada – sometimes asking if I spoke English. I asked someone about that and got the reply “you’re just too polite to be a Yank.”
It’s sadly true that Americans abroad tend to be loud and somewhat overbearing, as a general rule. I saw everything from complaining loudly in a restaurant why no one spoke English to museum lines and rooms where these tourists read loudly from a book, like they were educating everyone there (when they were probably just so excited to finally Be There). It’s definitely a drawback to live in a nation where few people cross the borders to a neighboring country, unless they share that border. I think we miss out on a lot.
If France never gave another thing to the world she will still have done more than her share. Her beautiful gifts of language, art, fashion and food are only the start. I love France❤️
You have better knowledge of French classic than I have and I’m French. ???? French traffic is terrible!
I did improve greatly my English thanks to your books. You gave me the motivation to start my journey and now I almost only read in English. Thank you
The book is gorgeous. Is the collector’s edition still available for purchase? I did not see it on the publisher’s site.
Hey Hollu,
I know the hardcover version definitely isn’t, there were only 100 made, but I am checking with Cecille for you whether any softcovers remain 🙂 .
Yes please, these look so good!
Thank you, R!
I have just spoken to Cécile, who is the best, and a new batch of the softcovers will go on sale on their website (linked in the post) in August.
At the moment only 2 copies remain and they have been earmarked for a giveaway in the Ilona Andrews Fans group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/ilonaandrewsfans
So if you are a member or on Facebook and can join it, good luck winning one! 🙂 They are superb.
Thank you, R!
R, Is there anyway you can have Cecile let you know, then post on the blog, when those editions become available. I want one for sure. Thanks
I will definitely give a reminder for everyone ????
A lot of Russian commercial terminology is essentially French. When working in Russia in in 1994, I found that if I unfocussed my mind and thought of what was being said in Russian as accented French, I could get a head start on thinking up my next answer.
As an aside, our translator was a professor of math, who couldn’t live on his uni salary. He delighted to inform me that our causal methodology for forecasting had been illegal under communism, because only regression fitted with the Marxist principle of historical determinism!
merci depuis la France. Je pense que le bashing français est revenu après le refus de la France de participer à la guerre en Irak. on voyait énormément d’Américains devenir méprisant avec nous mais celà ne nous
Thank you from France. I think French bashing came back after France refused to participate in the war in Iraq. We saw a lot of Americans becoming contemptuous of us but that wouldn’t interest us because we knew that chemical weapons were bullshit.
A crazy challenge that the French love, crossing the roundabout of the star on a scooter. Finally if you survive…
It goes back well before the Iraq war ( the negative views of France and the French), a lot of it started when American tourists started travelling overseas after WWII, and quite honestly some of it was the ugly American middle America tourists who only had in their minds how great the US was and how the French should be grateful for ‘winning WWII’. From what I have been told by older French people I have met, it really got bad in the 1960s and 1970s, when there was the whole anger at American culture ‘destroying France’s.
My dad always said that one of the highlights of his life was he had a 72 hour pass ( this would be prob Aug or Sept 1944) and he said he spent 3 days straight walking all around Paris. His other fond memory was the humor he saw, they were travelling through towns in their tank destroyer, and when travelling the gun was angled up somewhat and had a sleeve over it to keep dirt out….and he said the french women, young and old,saw that and laughed, bc it looked like,well, you can guess ( for some reason the men either didn’t get it or they pretended not to).
The other thing he talked about is that at times French cooks would come and prepare meals for the troops, and he said they were using army food and creating miracles.
From the ANZAC point of view Australia/New Zealand and France have had a very good relationship with respect on both sides due to the First World War.
However, in the early nineties when France decided to test nuclear weapons in the Pacific (our back yard) and completly disregarded Australia’s objections to this – put a real strain on the relationship.
New Zealand was worse. France bombed the GreenPeace ship the Rainbow Warrior where it was docked in a New Zealand harbour and killed people. They caught the people who did it and had to own up to it. One of many reasons why there is so much tension around the Rugby World Cup when France and New Zealand play each other – that and the Haka https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjyoqKzkYTxAhWkkOYKHX0PAtAQwqsBMAx6BAgHEAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DwOuycLaJ-_s&usg=AOvVaw3L_RgM15SrbPgU9mNd-4ip
Gotta love a good Haka.
France: the original Foodies.
I admire many European and Asian countries because they’ve still held on to high standards of education, consuming knowledge and culture. I wonder how the US got to such a low point of anti-intellectualism that we’ve been on the last few decades…
Unfortunately disparaging others or keeping people in ignorance to foster division can be a conscious choice. It might be worse than simply apathy or lack of educational funding. For all we say to value individualism and the American Dream, a lot of “haves” don’t like it when “have nots” get “ideas above their station” which a decent education encourages.
Every time people try to invest in growth of new industries or education, we get cries of horror at the expense and that it will cost jobs in the more traditional sector. Then people complain when industries get developed elsewhere or taken by a forward thinking immigrant whose government often supported more of their career goals. I think economists will have some interesting data on how many hourly wage earners decided to learn new skills over the last year to better their upward mobility correlated with states who are stopping unemployment with the purpose of encouraging more workforce for unchanged low hourly wage jobs.
Many political people at the top crying about the expense also went to well respected universities with wealthy international students and have ties to corporations who profit from cheaper labor and/or globalization.
The anti intellectualism has always been here in the US, it just is magnified today. The wisdom of the common folk versus the ‘eggheads’, the sneering at ‘intellectuals’ has been around since the country was founded. Ignorance is bliss is not an uncommon strain here. Lot of places in the country refused to spend money on education, saying it basically was a frill whereas other places didn’t. The Scopes trial was over 90 years ago yet the battle between science and religion rages.
And yes the true haves use education inequality to maintain their tribe, take a look at the best public schools in the country and they are very well off areas with high property taxes. So we have that and then other places that disdain education. Think about it,Mark Twain described it, in his books the kids good in school were the outcasts (Sid Sawyer) or the bright guy.
In any event,sneering about ‘intellectual elites” is old hat.
I’ve been to Paris twice, once with some Girl Scouts and a German tour guide who didn’t speak French (that was interesting), and once with friends. That roundabout at the Arc d’Triomphe is a demolition derby! Our double-decker tourist bus pinned a car against the inside fence when it tried to pass us. Bus driver flipped the guy off, car driver was shouting things that made me sad my French classes were so old, and we kept going. It was a riot! And the people were so nice! Would love to return.
The French edition is so beautiful! I covet even though I couldn’t actually read it 🙂
I took french in high school MANY years ago. Our teacher Mademoiselle Strand drilled us incessantly on our pronunciation. Many hours of gagging sounds, correct formation of the lips for “du” and “de” My pronunciation after 40 some years is still good but no way can I carry on a conversation or follow directions. You see there was this cute boy . . . .
I’ve yet to make to France but all the citizens of France I have met over the years with the exception of one, have been warm and kind. The one exception was the TA in college who hated dealing with stupid American students and only bathed once a month. By the end of the month no one would go near her as she smelled so bad.
Met a lovely mother & daughter in New York and amazing artist and his wife in Hawaii. I have one of his paintings. We hosted a shy skate boarder when my children were in high school. He ate my cooking without complaint!
Did you know that the current Royal family of Sweden are descendants of a French Marshall?
Bernadotte.
I read a good romance based on the story and now I can’t remember the title good grief! I hope this is Covid fog brain. — oh now it comes, Desiree that was the book. All my history is from romantic fiction.. Sigh..
I love the movie Impromptu about George Sand with so many great actors!
Whaaat, I forgot all the French I learnes in school but I am now suddenly motivated enough to dig it back up from the dark pit that is my memory in order to read these amazing KD editions O.o
My thoughts exactly! Those books look gorgeous!
But I’m lucky that I’m Italian, so I could understand basic written French just from the similarity between the two languages ????
My daughters took me to Paris for my 60th birthday. It snowed on us the first day there but the rest of the week was warm spring. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Maybe it was that we told them when asked we were from Texas? I love Paris dogs. They were everywhere.
I don’t think there’s any real dislike between England/France, we just like abusing each other.
The English are convinced the French drive like madmen and use manbags way too much.
The French think the English have bad teeth and commit crimes against gastronomy daily.
It’s a thing we have.
My favorite sporting fixtures are always England/France, they both want it so much.
P.S France are a lock for Euro 2021 (football) get your bets on. 😛
Agree: Football, Rugby and good food.
I bet for France ????????????
Well,yeah,to the English VD is ‘the french disease’ and to the French it is ‘mal d’anglais’. The French were right about British cooking though *lol*. Some of the best food in the world is around Nice, it is an interesting mix of French and Italian cooking, kind of like the local dialect.
We loved Paris, even if we were corny enough to publicly kiss every time we crossed a bridge. This grossed out our four children, which of course encouraged our behavior. We found Paris and trips to other areas of France to be much as you described.
A thought about their assumption you were not Americans. Was he wearing shoes other than the trademark white tennis shoes, as many American do while touring?:)
Germans always thought I was French and my husband was German. As a first generation German American, the latter is understandable.
Finally, I really appreciate your blog. It is the highlight of my day when you post, and I always learn something. The ties between France and Russia are new to me–love it!
When we were in Paris we were told we had to go to the top of the Arc de Triompe and watch the traffic. Hysterical. 12 lanes of traffic coming into the circle with the incoming cars having right of way.
Of course I read this. I read all your post ! 🙂
This one was very interesting and also made me laugh !
It’s sadly true that french people are often going on strike 🙁
Just before you came to Paris I remember the shutdown in the US and I kept comparing both countries and thinking «wow, in France it would be the revolution».
I loved reading all the comments too 🙂 you made my week.
Thank you also for the compliment to our publishing house and the collector edition.
It is such a pleasure and honor for us to be able to publish your amazing books.
And it was very exciting to work on this collector edition and to discover all the chapter illustrations.
I already can’t wait for the next ones !
I hope you’ll come back to France again.
Un immense bravo pour votre travail !! Les couvertures sont magnifiques, et la traduction parfaite. Quand on compare avec la précédente édition de 2011, c’est incomparable !! J’ai même le tome 1 dans son édition de 2009, problèmes de paragraphe, mauvaise traduction, au secours…
Félicitations et un grand merci. J’ai lu les tomes 5 à 10 en anglais à leur sortie, mais ça a été un vrai plaisir de pouvoir enfin les apprécier dans ma langue. Merci Cécile !!
J’avais lu et adoré les livres de chez Milady. Ça a été un tel plaisir de pouvoir reprendre la série et de faire ces couvertures pour lui rendre justice.
J’ai hâte que nous travaillons sur la suite des collectors 🙂
Merci en tous cas à vous d’être au rendez-vous !
Merci à vous, tant que vous traduirez leurs livres, nous serons là pour les lire 😉
During the 19th century French was the language of diplomacy and the effective lingua franca of the cultural elites of the world, replacing Latin. The rise of English as the working language of the world was after the Russian revolution which explains the anachronism in Russia of French literature. One of the fascinating points about elites of the late 19th and early 20th century is that they tend to be far more educated in foreign languages and cultural references than we are today. A gentleman scholar would be at home in French and Latin, possibly Ancient Greek and German. In comparison we are far more limited. But we learn a lot of other stuff, scientific and social sciences.
That is very true, in the US colleges like Harvard and the like were the finishing school of the gentleman class and learning latin,Greek, and likely French was a big part of the curricula, it wasn’t until roughly 1900 that the modern view of education took hold in those schools ( schools like MIT were founded because the ivy league didn’t meet the ‘modern’ needs of industry.
While my husband and I went to Paris a few years ago, I read a guidebook by Rick Steves about traveling in France.
We followed the tidbits scattered in the book about How to behave. I will omit the details of the whys and how’s, but this is what we did; we always said, “bonjour,”and “au revoir,” when entering or leaving a restaurant or shop. We made sure to avoid wearing t-shirts and shorts, but dressed in what I call, “nice, casual.” Better than t-shirts but maybe same or more casual than business casual. And when speaking to each other, we made sure to speak in low voices, so as not to disturb others, maybe at the volume of what you might have at a wake or fancy dinner.
We always tried our broken French first when speaking, and the people we spoke to automatically switched to their English without blinking. The ones who didn’t know English just tried pantomime and slow French.
We were treated so well and politely wherever we went. It was delightful.
And when we saw people acting like “rude Americans,” we noticed how they stood out in their t-shirts and shorts, loud voices, and rude way of stalking in and out without a greeting or goodbye and expecting service.
I think we had such a good experience, in part because of our behavior that was consistent with the culture.
My husband and I followed Rick Steve’s as well, on 2 visits to Paris. Everyone was so nice, I never had any trouble. I speak no French but no one gave me any hassle and I wandered everywhere, including neighborhoods away from tourist areas. Oddly enough, my brain kept trying to answer the French with my bad Spanish. It slipped out a few times and people would laugh and say “I don’t speak Spanish”.
The funniest thing though, my first day in Paris we were riding the train to the neighborhood my brother in law was living in and it wad commute time so there were no seats. We were standing in the front of the train with our suitcases and literally every person on the train was staring at me. I tried to be friendly (American here, we can’t help it ;)) and smile when I made eye contact but no one smiled back or even looked away. I thought ” Oh no, its true the French hate Americans and tourists, this trip is going to suck”. When I told my BIL about it he just laughed and said the French just weren’t used to seeing tall blonds, basically I was the tourist attraction on that train. Too funny. It was an awesome trip.
Oh, and yes, many people asked if we were English? No, American. Australian? No. American. Canadian? No! American, from the United States. Not sure why but that happened several times.
This was a very interesting insight into styles of dress and non-lingual identifiers from the former CIA Chief of Disguises (from minute 3:58) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JASUsVY5YJ8. She specifically addresses American tourists and Parisian hot spots 🙂 .
And you just went to Paris, what is NOT the Best city to represent France and french people, so far away. Next time if you can stay à little bit more and visit others city you will love it, and people you’ll meet there are going to be kinder than parisiens !!!
I am French-Canadien and I am always delighted to read French written phrases in books. You would be surprised how often authors “try” to inject French in their novels. I think some of them use google translate because the meaning is often lost….in translation 😉 sometimes I have no idea what the author want to say, it is too mangle.
I would give Ilona Andrews a 90% mark, which is fantastic let me tell you. French is not an easy langage to conjugate and the French French ( yes , I say it twice because I’m a French Canadian) can use 4 different words for a door handle. Like come on, who need 4 different words? Is an door handle ! Anyway , that was my grain of salt on the subject,
Bonne fin de journée ,
Carmen
I remember realizing how much Russian aristocracy was influenced by France when I watched a War and Peace miniseries. So interesting! And I want that French collectors edition! I love the illustrations. “Minou, minou”. ????
At the time of W&P every western country was influenced by France and it’s ideas. It had been the centre of the Enlightenment and its cultural influence was huge – in Europe, Britain and in the US. Russia was particularly impacted as a result of Peter the Great trying to modernise the country, which brought lots of French influence.
When I learned Russian in the Army, a lot of the vocabulary came from Germany, as well. Military terminology, specifically.
When I visited Paris as a college student, I was mistaken for Canadian instead of American. Maybe I was too polite?
Your pronunciation is bad? Try learning French from a nun born and bred in Dublin, Ireland who still, after many years in the US, had that accent. Sweet woman but OMG.
Love this (my Dad was super erudite, mum too. Me…. not so much).
Your description of the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe made me chuckle. I’ve driven round it.
Reminds me of National Lampoon’s European Vacation or whatever the title was, although that circle was in London. “Look, kids, Big Ben.”
My husband was stationed in Germany in the late 90’s. Paris was the first city outside of Germany we visited. We went in thinking, I want to see the Louve and Norte Dame then never go back. We were wrong. We loved it. We visited 3 more times during our 3 years there. It is a beautiful city. The people were lovely. We tried out our limited French everywhere we visited and the shopkeepers winced, but appreciated the effort. We kept being mistaken as German, but when we defaulted to English and they found out he was military everyone treated us like gold. We loved our time there.
Within the past five years, a famous Russian poet passed away. He had been a youth soccer phenom but at the end of his teenage years he turned instead to focus on his writing. When he gave a reading of his work, he filled stadiums. I was so interested and impressed to learn that poetry (about contemporary life, sometimes critical of the status quo) could be a spectator sport in Russia.
Three summers ago, our teenage son spent two weeks in St. Petersburg, with a day trip to Novgorod. In his group was a concert pianist, now studying at Oxford. The pianist gave two free performances; the concert hall filled with local music lovers, my son and the other Russian immersion students listened to him play from the hallway. “They are very well-educated,” his Kiev-born Russian teacher here in the U.S. said of her former countrymen, “but they are poor.”
Thank you, Ilona Andrews, for the post.
I too learned French in order to learn another language. Dad wanted we siblings to learn Latin but our rural high school options were French or Spanish. Since Spanish conflicted with band, I learned French. And we taught ourselves Latin at home.
Gordon is a classic English speaking Anglo Saxon blonde gentleman. I can understand why he was mistaken for England English. Plus I have noticed that military service tends to result in a more universal accent rather than a Southern USA or Northern USA or Midwestern USA one.
I’ve always thought there was an interesting number of characters related to Quebec… Always wondered why…
I am not sure, but I think that much exposure to War and Peace might be considered child abuse in some jurisdictions. 🙂
Whilst I won’t argue that there’s plenty of ahole American tourists, having spent many years living in an international tourist destination, ahole tourists come in all nationalities.
As for the “surrender monkey ” thing, French troops are much like good professional soldiers anywhere. The general officers and government officials of France made and continue to maintain that reputation.
Our only visit to Paris and we got stuck in traffic circling the Arc de Triomphe!
(((0)))(((0)))
Just wait until you go to Ireland. Every time Gordon opens his mouth the locals will flinch and ask what your family name is because you’re obviously visiting family because you’re obviously Irish despite the accent. And are they the Moynahans from Tipperary or maybe Donegal? I might know some from Claire but her mother lost touch God bless her soul. And then you get invited to dinner anyway.
I had a serious flashback when I saw that “Minou, minou?” My mom taught French, and she named my first cat Minou. He was black with a tiny white spot on his chest. Dad and I had voted for Bagheera, but honestly, Minou probably worked better for calling him.
As for American tourists, they can be pretty awful. Back in 1983 I was on a Greek ferry with a bunch of drunk American college students. The Greeks were a lot nicer to me once they realized I wasn’t with those entitled little twits.
On the same trip, but on a bus, I was mistaken for a Brit by an actual Brit. He was a bit taken aback when I said I was an American of mainly Irish descent, until I explained that I wasn’t anti-Brit.
Also on the same trip, I met an American woman who was backpacking around the world. She was a pretty mellow individual who was interested in everyone and everything. She related how she had asked someone, in French, for directions in Paris, and a passerby came up and spat on her when he heard her American accent. Back then, it was hard to imagine an American doing that to a tourist in the US. Today, it wouldn’t surprise me.
So a Roman novel could be called a Roman roman?
And if he visited Italy it would be Roman’s roman in Rome?
Nope, it would be Roman’s Roman roman.
I love this community.
????
Love the Kitty, Kitty page!
It would make a great poster
Loved this, thank you for sharing.
The “minou, minou” GOT me.
We were in France 2 years ago for a soccer trip. When we arrived in Paris, my son and husband fell asleep while I went to a convenience store. I gathered a few things and walked to the cash register. The attendant asks me, American?” Made me laugh. I said, “What gave me away?” I’m born and raised in the Philippines and became a naturalized American at the age of 34.
Everybody was lovely, except for a couple of incidences. The soccer team (13 boys aged 11 years and 2 French coaches) and some parents were walking on a sidewalk on the way to the Eiffel Tower. We’re from Hawaii, the kids were a mix of mostly Asian and mixed kids. A Frenchman yelled at us, “Go back where you came from!” We had an argument at a local bowling alley because the lady in charge wouldn’t let us have our lanes despite a reservation. Despite this, I think overall, we had a great experience. I love how you can take your dog anywhere.
Regarding speaking French, I knew very little and my pronunciation is atrocious. The Parisienne were very gracious. Whenever we tried to communicate in our horrible quasi-French, they would rescue us by switching to English and were very nice about it.
Now I want your books in french
La Fayette… 🙂
Merci pour vos romans, je n’attends pas la version française, je les lis dès leur sortie en anglais. J’aime énormément vos différents univers. J’attends avec impatience la sortie de Ruby fever, et surtout la suite des aventures de Hugh et Elara… Bonne journée de France.
Are there collector editions available in English? How did I miss collector editions!!!
Hey Sian,
There is a collector edition of Small Magics by Subterranean Press here https://subterraneanpress.com/small-magics .
And also a special edition of Magic Bites https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bites-Special-First-Daniels/dp/0425264203. This special edition includes in-depth information about the world of Kate Daniels, with descriptions of its characters and factions. Explore Kate’s Atlanta like never before with answers to FAQ and a quiz to find your place there. And don’t miss the prequel story “A Questionable Client,” as well as scenes of events in Magic Bites from Curran’s point of view.
Hope this helps 🙂
People are people everywhere, only the scenery changes. Travel is what you make of it because you are always you whether at home or abroad. If you allow an attitude or expectation to disappoint then it will but if you just let yourself see the experience for an experience, good or bad then it will become ok. There are so many amazing things and places to see in the world that you cannot let the behaviour of people in those places put you off. They’re just strangers after all.
And on another note, as an English person, despite our legendary rivalry, I find most French people rather nice in person.
Vive la révolution!
I started French in Grade 5 here in Alberta, fortunately with a wonderful teacher who gave me a life-long love of the language.
At 17 I headed to Paris with my best friend and we au paired for a year, me in the suburbs, my friend in Rue Lepic, just around the corner from the Moulin Rouge. Every weekend I headed into Montmartre & we’d run around the parks, finding our favourite crêpe stands, getting cheap seats at the Opéra, ballet (saw Fonteyn & Nureyev for 20 francs!), concerts, anything that caught our eyes!
An amazing time for two prairie teenagers: we studied 6 months at the Alliance Française, then a semester at the Sorbonne.
Among my happiest memories were the countless hours we spent in museums and art galleries, thanks to the carte blanche/free admission all students in France were given. To this day, I am thankful for the civilized thinking that put young people in the path of such beauty and learning. My favourite museums were Cluny in the Latin Quarter & Malmaison, just west of Paris, where Napoleon’s Josephine spent her final days, my favourite art galleries the Rodin & the Jeu de Paume.
Oh, and the Bibliotheque Sainte-Geneviève, a stunning library where I’d spend hours studying Molière, Racine, les Fables de La Fontaine, Camus, thrilled to be in such a beautiful place, doing homework.
(To this day, I don’t know how I talked my parents into letting me go!)
Back home, I did a BA in French & Art History, then two years of Education and I became a French teacher myself. When I was hired for my first job, I made sure I contacted my grade five teacher, to thank her for starting me on the path.
You saw Fonteyn and Nuryev IN PARIS? OMG!!!
I am consumed with envy.
…the 20f seats were weirdly tucked at the side of the stage, so while we couldn’t see a ‘proper’ POV of the ballet, we were so close we could see the sweat fly off Nureyev’s face when he executed …I think it’s a Pirouette A La Seconde. that was a moment.
have you seen photos of his grave, just outside Paris? stunningly beautiful mosaic work, worthy of such a man. https://nureyev.org/rudolf-nureyev-grave/. Well worth a little pilgrimage… one can/must always dream, n’est-ce pas? ☺️
I went on a trip with my 18 year old daughter to Paris by car from Holland. I llet google direct my trip but had not checked which route it would give us, the fear I felt when my daughter said: “Isn’t that the l’arc de triomphe’ and I realised we were going over de roundabout was epic. I managed it and it was fun to drive over the Seine past de Eiffeltower but on the way back we took another rout.
I just love how other cultures enriches each other. I wonder if you have ever been to Montreal? Your description of les Silos du Vieux Ports is very spot on. a few of your lesser vilain are from Canada – i do not mind – it just surprised me because usually Canadian are portrayed as being very polite. Like the moderator said, stereotypes!
Anne Golon? “Angelique”‘s writer? Never thought it’d be so “Classic” – even though I loved It and still try to find the books I’m missing
Ilona and Gordon, I saw you both at Paris RARE two years ago and at another signing event the night before. You were soo kind, and it struck me that you took time to genuinely engage with everyone who came to speak with you, even though it must have been a long and exhausting day to talk with so many people without breaks. One thing I have noticed about French people (said as someone who is married to a French man and who lived in Paris for years) is that they often appreciate kindness and unassuming thoughtfulness. These are two qualities I so love about the protagonists in your books and that the two of you as authors seem to exhibit to your readers. I can see why you felt so welcomed and at home in Paris.
The cheese eating surrender monkey thing that Gordon mentioned in the comments above also resonates, my American brother makes a “joke” about this every time he sees my husband and inevitably brings up World War II. These stereotypes we all hold about each other are fascinating, whether they are overly critical or, as in the case of your upbringing Ilona, perhaps overly romantic in their portrayals.
On a tangent, I was wondering if Augustine’s siblings are similar in age to the Baylors. They should meet. (I saw a picture of a beauteous tortoiseshell kitty named Pancakes.)
We visited France a few years back with some English friends, with stops in Normandy and Paris. My husband was not thrilled. I think he started to feel differently when the B&B owner in Normandy called him a nice boy. I know he definitely loved Paris and would go back again. It was interesting to see the difference in the French treatment of my English friends vs of me. I attributed it to my face being open and smiling & my friends not as much, but I don’t know. I can’t wait to travel internationally again!
The only time I got to go to France was because we had … ahem… plane troubles*while flying back to Spain, and had an “emergency” landing in Paris. They were incredibly polite to us, and even allowed us to go into the city while we waited for our parts to be flown in from Rota (Spain). My friend Nellie and I had 2 hours to “see everything”. We made the mistake of mentioning that to our taxi driver in my pidgin high school French and Nellie’s fluent-Spanish-they-have-the-same-base French.
We saw “everything” in 2 hours… or as much as you can see from the floor of the back seat of a taxi being driven by a crazy man at incredible speeds while praying. We made it back to the airport with time to spare… it was the second scariest taxi ride of my life, beating out the “we’re going to miss the train” ride in Rome but still way less scary than the “I’m not in any hurry, really, please slow down” ride in Boston.
*When I was stationed in Rota, we could go to any NATO nation without a passport, with just our military id. France is not a NATO nation, but we all wanted to go, so that radio that seemed to go out whenever we wanted to do something but weren’t allowed, just happened to go out while flying over France. Same radio is why I, as a verboten woman, managed to land on and take off from an aircraft carrier. “Hey! It’s the Kennedy. Damn, that radio is broken. Guess we should land and fix it. Strap in.”
😀
LOL, Boston drivers are terrifying. I had to hide my eyes.
Lived this glimpse into your life!
I went to Paris on April 2012. The destruction of the twin towers in NYC still very fresh in everyone’s mind. I loved Paris. As an Architect, the experience was just Great!. As for people in general, it was a little mixed. Most interactions were polite, sorrowful (for the September 11th), and just friendly. Other instances not so much. Still, I would love togo back for another visit.
The traffic patterns around the Arc de Triomphe seem impressive but everyone obeys one simple rule that makes the ballet possible ; priorité à droite!
The only law all French obey is that all traffic coming from your right has the right of way. Everything coming from your left must cede passage.
Once you integrate the idea and work up the nerve to follow this rule, driving in France is safer than driving in the States!
OMG – the traffic around the Arc de Triomphe – that was the scariest drive out of America (North and South), Europe and Asia I’ve ever been on. Won’t do it again. Just will not.
To be fair, that particular roundabout is notoriously scary for everyone, including French people. Most French roundabouts are quite safe. Also, the way people drive greatly varies across regions. I would love to say that Paris is the worst but sadly that is not the case. There are places were traffic is much more relaxed though.
As a Parisian, I like interacting with American tourists as they’re usually very nice and enthusiastic about everything, especially the city. I hope that we will soon be in a situation where safe travel and tourism is possible again.
Anne Golon? Really?
Yes.
Love it. Both your posts and the comments section are always interesting! Thank you all. That collector’s edition is beautiful. And, one of my favorite quotes, “Kitty, kitty?”… 😉
If I remember correctly, during several centuries French was considered like an international communication language. It’s a very extense and precise language, even if it doesn’t have a word for “cheap”…, so it was used for legal procedures, commerce and for aristocracy in Europe. I think that’s why it was so popular in Russia, it gave you a certain standard to know French.
Besides, French people isn’t really conformist and question everything, which promoted the improvement of working conditions but, indeed, they complaint a lot and take actions for it, so we learn to live with it.
I lived in the South of France for almost ten years now and I think the food, people and the views are pretty good. Personally, I don’t like Paris, even a little bit, it’s the most stressful city in France, the Parisians are in a hurry all the time and there is to many people everywhere.
I grew up in Andorra, a touristic country, I’m fluent in Portuguese, Catalan, French, Spanish and I know a little English and most of Andorrans speak at least 2 languages of the 4 because there are the most common in the country. However, I must say that the locals don’t like tourist very much but they like even less a tourist that speaks in English (or another foreign language) directly, without even trying to speak another language, assuming that everyone would do the necessary to please them, it’s simply annoying and arrogant from our point of view, and that can be applied to every touristic city.
Besides, Europe in general has the same problem, it’s small and ancient, people live on the coastline or in the big cities, therefore, if you want to see some open space don’t go there and it’s not that easy to have several lanes in the middle of the city when almost everything is considered historic, which is exactly the thing that gives it its charm.
I never visited the US but I hope that my comment could throw some light to several of the oddities that you experienced.
I love France and my Mom is French but I grew up in Quebec. I grew up hearing horrible stories from my Mom about how snobby Parisians are (her family is from Paris and Normandy). So I was pleasantly surprised on my first visit. I did get a lot of questions about my accent (where are you from in France?) but generally felt treated as younger cousin. My French family in Paris decided to drive me around the Arc roundabout after a lengthy supper with a number of wine bottles. After a traumatizing car accident (in Canada) the year before, that was a hair-raising experience for me. I did think they were missing the lanes because of the drink but realized afterward those were seen as optional…
Someone pretty please tel me an English version of that book is available
It’s beautiful
Fascinating.
Wow, this is a beautiful edition. I wish the English original was available with these illustrations.
I LOVE the glimpses into not only your living background but also your educational background. From what you are saying, Russians appear more educated in the liberal arts (?). I taught in American schools so I find this fascinating!
Ilona,
I loved this! Thanks for the peek into the Russian educational system. My son’s best friend was born in Moscow and was shocked by the ‘quality’ of American schools compared to his schools in Russia.
Judith
There is a Robert Heinlein ya book where he has a character talking about what a joke the high school curriculum is … rats! Can’t remember the title – but I remember being terribly shocked by the criticism.
I bought it. I’m waiting for the next one… ????
Thanks for your great work.
I was lucky enough to have French in school starting in middle school, and then I worked on it with more classes in high school and college, subscribing to a couple of French magazines, and reading the Harry Potter books in French, which took me many years. I’m pretty much a fan of France, and all things French, excepting perhaps some of the smellier cheeses 🙂 When I visit France, folks tend to think I’m Canadian, although I don’t know if that means I have a Canadian accent in French, or whether it’s just the fact that I have decent French.
With that said, I do think Americans get a little bit of a bad rap when it comes to languages. If I live in the UK and want to practice my French, I cross the Channel in a few hours. If I live in Spain or Germany, or much of Europe, I travel a few kilometers and I can speak French to my heart’s content. OTOH, I live in Los Angeles, and I have to travel more than 2,500 to Quebec or more than 5,500 to Paris to practice. Or more than 4,000 miles to Tahiti – which does sound pretty good right now, although I hear that Tahitians aren’t necessarily all that wild about the “colonial” language.
Right now, I’m learning Spanish, since that’s a language that it’s easy to practice in Los Angeles.
And now that I’ve been made aware of HA books in French, of course I’m going to have to get some of those!
Minou, minou… best illustration of best moment ever!!!
My Hubby’s oldest niece hosts yoga retreats often in Bordeaux. As much as I would love to go, I don’t think I’d make the sea crossing well.
She plans to move there in the future. She and her sister are fluent in French, Spanish, and German.
I can understand Spanish and other languages I’ve lived around, but I’m hopeless when it comes to French. It’s weird. My sister and her kids are great with French. All I can think of is it skipped a generation.
I can commiserate with the over the top school stuff. Ugh.
France obviously have the US a lot, without them we couldn’t of won the revolutionary war ( on the other hand much of that was not done out of admiration (with some exceptions like Lafayette), it was done to hurt the British.
As far as the attitude of people in France ( really Paris), there is truth to the attitudes of Parisians to outsiders. Some of it may have been justified,the ugly American is not a myth, but the French themselves acknowledged it, in recent decades they had a huge campaign to get people to be more polite to tourists and non French and apparently it paid off. You go to Italy and attempt to speak the language, the people there love it and will help, do that in Paris and it is most like they are insulted ( we have an office in France, friend of mine said that is a lot better,too,now, bit in the past was bad news).
I think too there is the stereotype of the arrogant french person, who looks down on others,and that doesn’t help.
There also is contempt because of WWII and the runup to it. The French bad the largest military in Europe through the 1930s, even when Germany went into Poland in 1939 the French army was big and well equipped. I doubt man on the street knows it but France could have had Hitler shot by the German military had they put up even token resistance in 1936 ( Rhineland), 1938 ( Austria and the Czechs) and 1939 ( the Germans had only token defense forces I the west, like 5 divisions, had France mobilized and sent like even 20 divisions in, they could have taken the Ruhr industrial district and likely it would have been the end of Hitler and the Nazis. Most people I suspect it is bc the French gave up in 6 weeks in 1944,really didn’t fight at all, and Vichy France has a horrible reputation ( unoccupied France). People compare that to Churchill and it doesn’t come out well. I think people saw the arrogance ( degaulle who did fight was famous for it) and then ask ‘ what do you have to be arrogant about?’
Then again a lot of people see the British as weak,too, that they were a bunch of silly fops…just think of the 1930s you think of Neville Chamberlain and his bowler hat and ‘peace in our time’
Merci pour vos gentils compliments sur la France et les français et pour ne pas vous contenter des préjugés habituels : pas aimables, mauvais conducteurs … ah non mauvais conducteurs est une triste réalité , surtout à Paris mais n’oubliez pas que la France n’est pas Paris. Découvrez nos merveilleuses régions. Merci encore. Karine. French fan
Sophistication and cosmopolitan thou art Ilona and gordon andrews.
I’ve never been to France and someday I would love to go. I’d love to visit Paris and some of the famous cathedrals elsewhere.
Closest experience I’ve had is going to Montreal. I live in Vermont, so it’s not really considered any more special than going to New York City except there is more of a language issue. I went over their Thanksgiving weekend with a good friend of mine, and we honestly had a lovely time! (BEST CROISSANT EVER!!!)
We got a little lost trying to find our B&B in the Spanish Quarter (I spoke decent Spanish and my friend spoke decent Parisian French), but we still had some difficulty communicating because he didn’t speak English (not unusual in Quebec, especially in the countryside) and the dialect my friend knew was just different enough to make it awkward. The gentleman was extremely nice though and so patient! I think we resorted to my Castilian Spanish in the end and managed to get a general direction. He seemed really surprised to hear us use multiple languages, lol!
And to think…. I was teased for YEARS by everyone for choosing to learn Spanish even though we’re next door to Quebec, and it actually came in handy! More than once too. I worked in a Staples for many years and we would have guest workers from the ski mountain in to shop for computers. They were often from Spanish speaking countries in Central and South America.
The first time I drove into Paris from our apartment near Versailles I drove around the Arc de Triomphe (several times) and then down Champs-Élysée terrifying. Cars on my right had the right of way and I needed to figure out how to get off the traffic circle. It was not easy.
I finally learned my way around the city but since I did not speak any French when we moved there getting lost many times was my fate. I will say that New York City was easy after Paris.
I don’t speak or read French, but I have an urge to track down that special edition. How lovely.
Whoa, didn’t know that French culture crossed so far into Russian culture. That’s a cool little history lesson! Also, CAN WE PLEASE GET ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE ENGLISH BOOKS?!?!? *grovels piteously*
I booked a vacation river cruise trip in France, a first trip for both of us, in 2019. The trip leave date was May 5, 2020.
I can’t let it go. They still have some of my money but…. I think its a different world and I don’t know when travel will feel safe.
I got addicted to Escape to the Chateaux in the meantime… even though its so very English.
Really nice post to read thank you!
I’m glad you had a good experience in Paris, although really sorry you didn’t get to visit in good conditions the places we had advised you on.
And yes, there are a few round-a-bouts in Paris which are crazy to navigate and I’ve had the “pleasure” to drive through a few, and the one you mentioned.
Come back to France whenever you want, if you wish to visit the French Riviera, I’ll be your guide!
Thank you. As a French person, it’s actually disheartening to see how we are always represented as jerks in media or made fun of. So knowing my favorite authors liked going to France really lifted my spirit.
This was such a fun post and the comments are awesome as always. I have traveled overseas on EF Tours as a group leader with college freshmen and sophomores. I teach at a community college. It was the first time most of them had been out of the country and they were well behaved and we had no issues in any of the places we went to. I won’t list them but just think of the most popular sites in the UK, France and Italy and we have probably been there. Traveling overseas is eye opening and I highly recommend it. Greece and Eastern Europe are now on my lists. We didn’t have good service in Paris but the food was delicious. I think some Americans have definitely given a bad rap to us. But I emphasized politeness with my students and we had a wonderful time each trip.
I practice French every night before bed. I will probably never go but I enjoy learning. I love the pictures in the French version and will now have to order. I know the English versions so well, that working thru the French versions will def help me learn. I can’t wait to order!! Thank you for this post. I love learning about other cultures and your snippets of Russian life are so interesting to someone who has never really traveled.
For pure schadenfreude:
Admire the Arc de Triomphe and the traffic from street level.
Cross, using the underground passage, to the actual Arc in the middle of the round-and-round. Do not cross at street level!!!
Admire the Arc and then pay to go up in it.
Admire the Arc and minor exhibits from inside (OK), the view from above (good), and watch the round-and-round traffic from a bird’s eye view. The gloating over being on foot and not driving is superb.
Scandinavia and the World has several comics on French driving:
https://satwcomic.com/driving
https://satwcomic.com/buckle-up
https://satwcomic.com/take-the-wheel
I spent a month in France in high school, but I don’t remember being aware of the driving much. I think we mostly traveled by train, for one thing.
I love the illustration of Kate calling “minou, minou?” I had no trouble translating that! A memorable scene in the story.
My Swedish relatives were very amused when we walked around in Old Town Stockholm and again in Copenhagen. Both times I was taken by the arm and cajoled into posing for French tourists who were quite sure I was an authentic native.I tried to explain, but my Swedish relatives (by marriage) explained loudly, that I was just shy! So there are several French families with lovely authentic pictures of architecture, canals, and Tivoli Gardens. And an American-tourist. Lest you think I was dressed to deceive, I was outfitted in LL Bean top to toe. But better yet was the mistake in our hotel in Copenhagen. A group of very nice US Southerners asked me if I could direct them to Tivoli. I did and was overwhelmed with compliments on my English and how wonderful it was that I spoke English so well. I decided thank them and not to tell them that I was a Bostonian born and bred. I thought they asked me because they knew I was American.
“Minou Minou” is SO much funnier than “here, kitty kitty. “
C’est vrai! 🙂
My sister lived in Paris for a year after finishing University. My first visit was in March of 1983, while she was there. Since then, I have been back many, many times and will always go back.
“What is there to see still. Don’t you want to go somewhere new?”
Don’t they know? In Paris, there is ALWAYS something new.
I am only sorrowing over what I will see when we can travel again: poor Notre Dame.
I am a direct descendant of general Lafayette in the revolutionary war for the USA so… viva la France and long live America!!!
Minou, minou? Kitty, kitty? 😀
I am from Louisiana, and we speak both Standard French and Louisiana French in our home. And now that I have seen that French collector’s edition I know what my next “read it so you don’t lose it while living amongst non-French speakers” project will be. I also do not understand the contempt for the French, but we have so much influence in our home, our home state, and know so many lovely people in different parts of France that my viewpoint is just different. My accent is awful in Standard French, but when I explain I am from Louisiana I basically get a pat on the head and a “you tried.” My kids’ accents are better.
A big thanks for this article!
Personally, I really appreciated the French references in the Kate Daniels series <3 <3 <3
I didn't know that French and Russian culture were so intertwined!
The collector's edition (the few images available) is just splendid, I hope there will be more for sale because I could not get a copy.
The comments on France made me smile ^^.
I am sorry for all those who have had bad experiences in France 🙁
We must not forget that everywhere in the world, there are always people with preconceptions about others and there are disagreeable people everywhere in the world (there is nothing we can do). I think you have to try to go beyond all that and make your own idea while not relying on first impressions.
As everywhere we appreciate that people tries to speak a little in French (in addition, your accent is too cute!) especially since we speak (for the most part) very (very very) poor English !!!
Paris is a beautiful city, especially on the cultural level, but it is not absolutely representative of France or of the personality of all French people (for example, we don't all eat frogs or snails! :p).
As for driving, even the French have a sweat on their foreheads when they drive in Paris ^^.
So I invite you to visit other places 🙂 Besides, if someone wants to visit Bordeaux (wine region) or Angoulême (city of comics), I would be delighted to be your guide 🙂
Bises "masquées " from France 😉
and thanks again for this article
On a Rhine river cruise several years ago, one of our excursions was a tour of one of the massive fortifications making up the Maginot Line. It was fascinating: effectively a huge underground concrete submarine. It could be closed up and remain safe from bombs (at least, the bombs from WW1, which were hopelessly outmatched by the German bombs in WW2), gas, and almost any other type of action for three months at a time. But the technology in it was so outdated that by the time the soldiers could fire their weapons, the targets were a mile away.
When Germany invaded, they didn’t go directly into France, where the Maginot line could have actually slowed them down; they went through Belgium, where the outposts were twice as far apart, so couldn’t fire on the invasion. They then turned and drove towards Paris, and took the city within a month. The soldiers at the Maginot line refused to believe that Paris had fallen so easily, so the French generals had to go out to the line and convince them to open their doors.
Maybe you and Gordon didn’t smile enough to be taken for Americans?
I got to visit Paris way back in 1996. As a recent grad with my roommate…we were lucky enough to meet a lovely local who had studied in California and missed the chance to speak English! She brought us to all these wonderful spots that we never would have found on our own… the best of which (and we went to the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay, Norte Dame…) was the massive chocolate crepe from a street cart. I saved the chocolate smeared wrapper it was so good. In case I ever got to go back I wanted to find that vendor again… I’ll remember that crepe for the rest of my life.
“Vive La France, ???????? “ echoed!
I am laughing at the French translation of here kitty kitty ???? I speak fluent French and it never dawned on me minou was the translation. I knew a cat named Minou growing up, she did not belong to me but to a classmate. We had to take care of her for a week while said classmate was on vacation. My parents are not cat people and this cat was not happy being dropped off in our basement by her family and being left behind in a strange environment, understandably (we were also away when they dropped her off). She hissed a lot and was standoffish, as a kid I didn’t get it but now I do. My parents still remember taking care of her and how mean (really scared and confused) she was. Poor Minou!!
Glad you loved France. As a half French person whose father is from there it always pleases me to hear people enjoyed themselves. I hope you get to go again someday! I am partial to Normandy as my father is from there (not because of D Day) and Brittany and I studied abroad in Toulouse and loved it.
The British and the French grumbling about each other is the same as cousins belly aching about each other. You might moan but you’re still family.
We have a very long history together from the days when English kings and queens included parts of France in their kingdom and our aristocrats spoke, dressed and ate French (just like Russia) to today when huge numbers of British people live in France and call it home from home.
We’ve had bitter wars with France and wars when we fought side by side. Our dead from two world wars lie in French soil and we visit France to remember them. Our history is so often shared.
At the moment the politics have left a bitter taste. It’s a bit like being divorced when pain makes you say hurtful things and squabble (and nearly half the British did not want to be divorced). But our roots go deep and I pray for the tide to turn. Even if they call us Roast Beef and we call them froggies 🙂
I seriously doubt that the French drive with the enthusiasm I witnessed by a bus driver on the road from Milford Sound to Te Anu through the Southern Alps in New Zealand. He was driving the full sized tour bus like it was a formula one racer.
Is it still possible to buy the collectors edition of Kate Daniels in French? If yes where can I find it? I only see paperback versions on the publisher site 🙁
Hey Genevieve,
The special editions are out of stock atm but there will be a new batch of the softcovers available in August on the French publisher site ????.
Hope this helps.
Minou, Minou o.m.g. I am laughing until I can’t breathe…..this is soooooo much more charmingly disrespectful in French……
peace,
Sechat
I think Gordon looks very Scandinavian actually. If I would see him roaming the streets of Oslo I would for sure think he was Norwegian.
I have an online friend who is French and one of the nicest people. And I’ve heard other stories from people who visited…
But it reminds me of the time a friend from another state visited me in NY. We walked along the streets of Manhattan and she said, “You know, everyone knows how unfriendly New Yorkers are supposed to be but when I come here, people are nice!”
I leaned in and said, “Shhh. Don’t tell nobody.” *winks*
On the flip side, I have a friend who always complained how rude NYers were to her. The final straw was when she walked out of a 7-11 and complained again. When I questioned her, I discovered that she didn’t realize that her “perfectly polite way of asking someone to move aside in Nebraska” was actually extremely rude in New York! Cultural differences. Gotta love them.
I had no idea about the relationship between France and Russia. LOL How exciting to see your books in French!
That said, any chance of any of them being translated into Korean? I’m learning, and trying to read your books in that language would be soooo helpful since I know them so well. 🙂
Hey J.M.,
House Andrews do not control the availability of their books in other countries. The best way to read IA work in a specific language/country, is to please email a local publisher who publishes fiction similar to their work and let them know you would like to read the books in that language. House Andrews are very happy to sell foreign rights to other countries and have the books be available as widely as possible :).
Hope this helps 🙂
That scene where Kate calls kitty kitty , along w the bowl of milk scene are my absolute favs. Love the art work.
Hello, loved this post about your French Experiences???? As A Huge French Fan (only reading you in english) I have to say:
– Please, if you ever come back to France visit other places than Paris, like le Mont-St-Michel, Cannes, Strasbourg, and Lyon where I live???? I can definetly be your personal guide ????????????????????????
-About the traffics and lines, unfortunetly you took the on and only exemple of “rond point” (=round trafic places to avoid without trafic signal/light) in France without line????
Also Paris is know for is issue about trafic but honestly it’s not worth than NYC????
Love you guys♥️