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Reflections from an old timer in Paris: La Sécu
Reflections from an old timer in Paris: La Sécu
Reflections from an old timer in Paris: La Sécu
The first time I took my toddler to a see a doctor in Paris many, many years ago, I received a prescription a mile long. Back in the 1980s antibiotics were given for every ailment (common sense has since prevailed) but there were other, strange sounding names such as sérum physiologique, a saline solution for squirting up the nasal passage, unpleasant but efficient for blocked-up noses, and le suppositoire for a different passage, which actually proved useful for small children, but neither of which were in common use in Britain at the time.
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We had just arrived from Hong Kong and hadn’t a bean. Not even the La Sécu, since to obtain a social security number one had to be working, if not born in France. But someone had told me about the PMI, Protection Maternelle et Infantile, which, at the time anyway, provided free medical care for mothers and babies. Perhaps the doctors there were just being kind by a…
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Interview with Fiona Sze-Lorrain
Interview with Fiona Sze-Lorrain
Fiona Sze-Lorrain is a poet, literary translator and musician. She writes and translates in English, French, and Chinese and is the author of several poetry collections and most recently a novel in stories, Dear Chrysathemums, published by Scribner in 2023. Longlisted for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the novel celebrates diversity and women and features deeply compelling Asian women who reckon with the past, violence, and exile—set in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Paris, and New York. Fiona lives in Paris and we were thrilled to welcome her in February to the Book Room, where she talked about her novel. If you missed her event, you can read the questions we asked and Fiona’s answers below:
Bill & Rosa: You are a musician and a poet, you have published several collections of poems, I was wondering what was the determining factor in your decision to write a novel? Was it a character, or a story that you felt needed to be told?
Fiona Sze-…
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The Paris of Montana
The Paris of Montana
The Paris of Montana - a Department Store
It all started with a hat box we found in an antique shop in Montana. The box proudly displayed the slogan « The Paris of Montana » and of course we were intrigued. After quite a few years of researching every now and again we learned of a Dry goods store called Paris – in Montana.
‘Dry goods store’ is the collective noun for textiles and manufactured articles and can also include some non perishable grocery items such as tobacco, sugar, flour, and coffee. (A General Store which is a more common word, though similar, had all sorts of groceries, hardware and dry goods.) Dry goods were big business. Over one million people worked in the dry goods trades in the United States in the late 1800s ; there were hundreds and thousands of dry goods stores in American towns and villages.
One such store was called The Paris Dry Goods store. It was in Great Falls Montana and originally established in 1894 as a partnership between two Rom…
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about The Paris of Montana
ECU Film Festival 19-21 April, 2024
ECU Film Festival 19-21 April, 2024
ECU Film Festival in Paris
ECU Film Festival offers the European cinema-loving public much more than a full program of quality and riveting independent films. Every year, the festival provides a unique, inspiring and interactive experience that all attendees are encouraged to partake in. Whether it is workshops taught by industry professionals, in-depth discussions with “Official Selection” directors in the Q&As that follow every screening session or other various events such as networking events and parties - there is something for everyone to enjoy. ÉCU is committed to the promotion and projection of the very best European independent films. At the heart of ÉCU’s mission lies the belief in the power of independent cinema to transcend cultural boundaries and foster a deeper understanding of European narratives.
ECU Film Festival's “Official Selection” films are original and represent the best quality, creativity and innovation within the independent film industry. This…
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about ECU Film Festival 19-21 April, 2024
Driving in France: what you need to know
Driving in France: what you need to know
Driving in France: what you need to know
This article covers driving in France: paperwork, insurance, and how to obtain it. Buying a car. In case of accident. Items you are required to have in the car.
If you are British, you may want to follow this link for regulations post-Brexit.
DRIVER'S LICENSE:
Generally speaking (because there are of course exceptions, this IS France) if you are in France for over a year and your driver's license is not European, French law requires you to have valid French driving papers for driving in France. This one year period starts on the date of your first carte de séjour. Etudiant status is one of the exceptions; as a student you can drive with your foreign license for the duration of your studies. Some US states and other countries allow an exchange of licenses, other states and countries do not and you'll be required to pass the French exam to obtain the French license. Keep in mind an exchange must be done within the one year grace …
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Revealed: The Paris Olympics medals
Revealed: The Paris Olympics medals
French savoir-faire and excellence has come to the forefront again in the design and making of the 2024 Paris Olympics Medals. Design by the Maison Chaumet (where Gustave Eiffel was a client) and produced by the Paris Mint they carry lots of detail and symbolism. The cherry on the proverbial cake is a hexagonal (of course) piece of the Eiffel Tower embedded in each medal. This piece of Paris authenticity makes the medals truly unique.
In keeping with its desire to strengthen the links between sport, culture and heritage, Paris 2024 has called on the expertise of French jeweller Chaumet. Founded in 1780, the LVMH group company, Premium Partner of Paris 2024. Renowned worldwide for its expertise, elegance and embodiment of French crafsmanship, Chaumet is bringing the medal into the world of high jewellery with a design based on three inspirations: the hexagon, radiance and the setting. Read more about the Chaumet Family of jewellers as well as several other entrepreneurial Fre…
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English theater productions
English theater productions
News from Paris in the Anglo Theater world - Three new English theatre productions come to Paris
Just released :
Joanna Szybist, a French writer and producer has just directed and released an audio drama about a British musical in Paris. It’s called “My Lunch with Frank”. Written by Kester Lovelace it’s an intimate and above all true story of an English director in France. Great expectations, broken hopes… An intimate story about what happens when you meet your heroes... It involves the most prestigious theatre in Paris, a few high-profile media partners, some of the best French musical actors….and a posh London restaurant.
The story goes like this : Frank Williams, the author of acclaimed and multi-award-winning British musicals, had always been Lester's beloved playwright and lyricist. Lester had read everything Frank had ever written; seen everything Frank had ever done. Lester believed they were meant to become friends. At least, that’s what was supposed to happen at…
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about English theater productions
The history of Valentine’s Day
The history of Valentine’s Day
Valentine's Day - When Cupid’s bow is fired…
As far back as the early fourth century B.C., the Romans had celebrated an annual rite of passage for young men in honor of the god Lupercus. The names of willing young women were placed in a box and drawn at random by the young men. From this lottery each man was matched with a woman companion to share in mutual entertainment and pleasure (often sexual). In a year’s time a new lottery was drawn with new partners.
Needless to say the early Catholic Church fathers were determined to put an end to this practice. They decided to find a « lover’s » saint who could usurp the popularity of Lupercus. They found Valentine.
In Rome in A.D. 270, Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, had performed the sacrament of matrimony for lovers in secret. Valentine was violating a law issued by the mad emperor Claudius II who believed that married men made poor soldiers because they were loath to leave their families for battle. Since the Empire needed s…
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Immigration in France, A new look
Immigration in France, A new look
Immigrant or expat? A question long debated in our anglophone community.
As with most north western nations the history of immigration is a major part of France's history where a quarter of the population is either first- or second-generation French and ten percent are immigrants.
And as with everything in France there is a dedicated museum. The new layout (as of June 2023) of the Musée National de l'histoire de l'immigration (Museum of Immigration in France) at the Palais de la Porte Dorée takes on the challenge of evolving views on immigration. The choice of building itself is an interesting one.
The Palais de la Porte Dorée was originally called the Palais des colonies which was constructed between 1929 and 1931, for the Colonial Exposition. The Exposition attempted to promote an image of imperial France at the very height of its power. The Palais was to be a “museum of the colonies”, representing the territories, the history of the colonial conquest a…
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Bill & Rosa’s Book Room
Bill & Rosa’s Book Room
What is Bill & Rosa's Book Room ?
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about Bill & Rosa’s Book Room
First of all, for us, a Book Room is a comfortable place to spend some time. Think of it as the reading lounge on the ocean liners of yore with a western bent. Our maître-mots are
Read, Write, Relax. Buy, Borrow, Donate.Bill & Rosa's Book Room has several aspects. It is first a USED BOOK SHOP and a LENDING LIBRARY. There are many novels of all genres for sale plus non-fiction, biographies, history, some poetry, cookbooks, cats, books on Paris or France, memoirs and children's books. Most books are in English, but also in French and even a few bilingual. Prices start at just 2€.
The 500 volume lending library has four sections :
The Sylvie and Henry Noullet Library: novels mostly in English Bill and Rosa's Library of the American West includes no…Annonces
12.00 €
90+ Ways You Know You’re Becoming French
- Books |
- 22 avril 2024
This little book that fits in your hand was developed from the article « 20 Ways You Know You’re Becoming French » by long time Paris resident […]
9.00 €
Learn French and English idiomatic expressions
- Learning, Lessons, Education, Books |
- 2 janvier 2024
The Speak Easy is a game for learning French idiomatic expressions. The puzzles were published in the FUSAC magazine for 25 years before being compiled […]
Les Parisettes Boutique
- Services Offered, Shopping, Travel, Tourism |
- 2 janvier 2024
Les Parisettes is a concept store which specializes in souvenirs from Paris and the Eiffel Tower. Everything you’ll will find there carries on the theme […]