100 Days and Counting!

Found while looking for something else

You'll find this spot at Montmartre in Paris.

Dans La Poste

Be alert for a package in your mailbox in the coming week.

In order to properly enjoy it, you will need a little quiet time and the libation and companion of your choice. That means cuban coffee for El Condor and something a little edgier for Cathleen.

I'll be right here to answer any questions you may have.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!!!!

While some of us are engaged in more mundane pursuits, a significant subcommittee of the BYSAPC Les Fêtards (the party animals)are gathered in the Crescent City for a weekend of abandon, or at least a weekend of overindulgence.

That's right it's carnival time and the Mardi Gras celebration is in full swing in New Orleans. Representing the BYSAPC this year are Teri, Jeff, Cathleen and, of course, the Mistress of Ceremonies--Colleen. Over the next few days they'll be eating Colleen's wonderful crawfish étouffée, Teri's oh so tasty muffaletta a la avenue, king cakes from Heydel's Bakery and whatever meats Jeff deigns to throw on the barbie.

I'm more than a little sad that I'm not there, but I'll be dreaming of beads tonight.

You've already been contacted directly, by our Maitre 'D, but I thought I'd also post his message on the blog. And while he may not do no stinkin official blog votes, I do, and have posted his choices as a poll.
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According to our friendly concierge, Gabrielle, at the Hotel Madison, these are our best bets for a restaurant nearby along with her estimated cost per person:

“Le Petit Zinc” price 50 euros per person

“Aux charpentiers” price around 60 euros per person

“La petite cour” price around 70 or 80 euros per person

“ La truffière “ price around 100 euros per person (but gastronomic restaurant)

I've looked at reviews and I've seen good and so-so on all of them. The prices don't necessarily match up to Gabrielle's estimates. Below are some links for you to peruse. I've attached the link to Best Restaurants Paris for all of them plus the official site for the two that I could find. Also there are many other reviews out there for you to find. If it was up to me I'd choose La Truffiere but being the kind of guy I am I'll put it up for a vote. I don't do no stinkin' official blog vote stuff so just send me your vote by this Friday the 20th. Also tell me what time you want to eat and I'll take the average. Attendance is required so if your restaurant doesn't make it, too stinkin' bad.

Your Maitre d',

Mike

http://www.petitzinc.com/index_en.html

http://www.bestrestaurantsparis.com/en/restaurant-paris/detail/le-petit-zinc.html

http://www.bestrestaurantsparis.com/en//restaurant-paris/detail/aux-charpentiers.html

http://www.bestrestaurantsparis.com/en//en/restaurant-paris/detail/la-petite-cour.html

http://www.bestrestaurantsparis.com/en/restaurant-paris/detail/la-truffiere.html

http://www.latruffiere.com/site/us/index.html

It's not too late to parlez vous

Editor's warning: This blog entry will be about learning the French language and may not be of interest to you, so if you want to skip this essay, you're excused just this one time.

In my job I get a lot of "windshield time"--that is, time in my car as I do laps around the Heart of Dixie visiting its institutions of higher learning.

This spring, I've been spending a lot of that windshield time practicing my French. Lately, my French has been getting better.

While it's true that you don't need to know a single word of French to have a wonderful time in France, I firmly believe that being able to speak a bit of the language will enrich your experience.

Here's the minimum I think you would want to know in order to get around on your own in France. Truth is, you already know a bunch of the words you need. If you can say yes, no, hello, goodbye, please and thank you, you can go a long way, and I bet you already know all of those.

Next on the heirarchy of French to learn are some very simple phrases: where is ..., how much is ..., check please, I don't speak French--and you may already know some of those too.

Next I'd want to have the ability to count to 100 in French and read the map of the Paris Metro.

If you can do these things you should be able go anywhere and do anything in France on your own.

I also recommend carrying one of those little French/English phrasebooks. There are loads of them out there and they generally sell for less than $10. Books A Million or Barnes and Noble should have several different ones in stock. Take a look at them and pick the one you like. The truth is that I always carry a phrasebook and almost never refer to it, so I'm not sure why I'm giving this advice.

Even if you haven't started yet, it's not too late to learn some of the basics so you can impress the natives when you ask directions to the nearest bathroom. You still have over three months.

This time around, I've been learning French exclusively by podcast. It's been a fun way to learn. There are three different podcasts I've been working with, and you can download all of them for free on I-Tunes or by Googleing the title of the podcast. All three of them give you the podcast for free and make their money by selling you "bonus" materials like pdf guides and video extras. I haven't subscribed to any of the extras, so I can't vouch for how good or bad they are.

All of the podcasts range from a couple of minutes to about 20 minutes in length.

Here's a little review of the the podcasts I've been studying from.

Coffee Break French--This is the one I started with. It's my favorite and the most fun. It's also the most basic of the three podcasts and starts from the very basics. In Coffee Break French Mark is the teacher and Anna is the student. Both of them are very Scottish so they speak English with a very thick brogue. Mark really is a very good teacher and can be funny and even a little goofy at times.

Learn French By Podcast--This is my least favorite of the three. Hugh Nagle, who sounds like an Irish robot and Amelie Verdier who is very French and sounds kind of cute are the hosts. I don't like that one lesson will be pretty basic and the next will be really advanced. Also, they are obsessed with grammar and spend way too much time on really difficult verb tenses. If you already know a fair amount of French, you might like this podcast, but it's way too tough if you're just starting out.

Daily Frenchpod--Hosted by Louie, an actual Frenchman, who does a new podcast every day. The podcasts are usually quite short (under 10 minutes). Louie does a lot of different things, but most often he will read a short news article at normal speed and then go over it bit by bit. He translates some of the words into English for you, but they're invariably the words I already know while he doesn't translate the words I don't know. This one is good if you already know a bit of Francais and want to get your "ear" ready for France.

If you don't want to study from podcasts, I'm sure your public library has plenty of French Language CDs you can check out and use.

À Bientôt

The Hills Are Alive . . .

I'm having way too much fun with the whole French music thing. I've put together a CD's worth of French pop music through the ages starting way back with Edith Piaf and moving on to the current day and including the current First Lady of France Carla Bruni. She's actually kind of good, believe it or not.

You haven't lived until you've heard Johnny Hallyday singing Itsy Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Bikini in French, but lucky for you all, you will have the opportunity before too long.

I don't know how we survived before I-Tunes gave us access to just about anything we could ever want in the world of music. For example, do you remember the Nancy Sinatra hit from forever ago "These Boots Were Made for Walking"? Well, years ago Teri and I were driving through Quebec when a French version of this song came over the radio. For some reason we thought that was hilarious at the time and we remembered it. I went looking for it on I-Tunes last night, and of course it was there. I can't wait to share it with you too.

In addition to my French pop mash-up, I've got other musical treats to share.

I've also put together a CD of some of the best of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. They're really good, they sing in French and they are incredibly danceable. I'm thinking Cajun dance party on deck with Colleen giving us all lessons.

And I'm bringing along my Celine Dion CD recorded live in Paris and sung mostly in French. If you're not a fan you will be after you hear this album. Really. I'm not kidding.

I've had a few suggestions. Teri wanted Maurice Chevalier's "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" which fails on the twin grounds that it's sung in English and is a Christmas song. I did find a Maurice Chevalier song more in keeping with the French theme and it's in the mix. Kathy wanted to add a Claudine Longet tune, but I'm rejecting that one because the only Claudine Longet songs I can find are sung in English. Bummer.

So keep your musical suggestions coming or, better yet, put together and bring along your own "mood music" CD to share--it doesn't have to be French--just music you enjoy.

The medals have arrived

Our fabulous prizes for the boules tournament have arrived and the medals are way cooler than I had expected. They are simultaneously cheesy and fantastic and you're all going to covet one of the top three medals (although there will be medals for us all).

Now we need a sports commissioner to administer the tournament. You would get the official title of "Commissaire du Sport" added to your list of titles. Any volunteers?

Musical Edition

The French magazine Le Figaro recently announced the top 10 earning French singers. Here they are:

1 Francis Cabrel

2. Bénabar

3. Johnny Hallyday

4. Christophe Maé

5. Bernard Lavilliers

6. Thomas Dutronc

7. Mylène Farmer

8. Alain Souchon

9. Renan Luce

10. Christophe Willem

Personally, the only one of these 10 I've heard of is the 65-year-old Johnny Hallyday. Hallyday is, from what I can gather, the French version of Elvis only less dead. I see that the French First Lady didn't make the cut.

Anyway, do you have any favorite French singers or French songs or just songs sung in French (Zydeco anybody)? If so, let me know. I'm going to burn a CD or two of French music to add to the ambience while on board M2 and I'd love to add your favorites to the list.

I'm going to explore the French top 10 and add a few gems from CDs I already have. Should be interesting.

Also, if you have any CD mashups in French, English, Esperanto or any other language that you'd like to bring along to share with the group, feel free. The boat will have a stereo and your contributions to the musical atmosphere will be welcome.

So Close and Yet So Far

Four months from wheels up.