Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [255]
Fermeture Annuelle
This phrase, meaning “annual closing,” is one you’ll see often during the month of August, when nearly every resident of Paris (or so it seems) is on holiday, either for a few weeks or the entire month. It is an important one to remember because, similar to on ponts (above), some restaurants may be closed, sites may keep different hours, some shops may be closed, and the plumber will be unavailable to fix the problem you’re having at the apartment you’ve rented. All this changes at the time of la Rentrée—the “return,” and it is often spelled with a capital R—signifying that everyone is back from vacation, school is starting, and the busy fall season has just begun.
Films
One of my favorite forms of travel immersion is to invite friends and family over for an evening of a themed dinner and a movie. It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with some of the foods you may be eating on your upcoming trip, and the movie is just icing on the cake. Potluck is especially fun for guests who enjoy the challenge of making something new or bringing an appropriate favorite, and guests who aren’t cooks can supply the wine. There is no shortage of films featuring Paris to watch after dinner. Some I particularly like include: Amélie (2001), An American in Paris (1951), Avenue Montaigne (2006), Le Ballon rouge (The Red Balloon, 1956), À Bout de souffle (Breathless, 1960), Le Dernier Métro (The Last Metro, 1980), Funny Face (1957), Gigi (1958), Hôtel du Nord (1938), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Les Enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise, 1945), Paris, je t’aime (2006, and my absolute favorite!), Paris When It Sizzles (1964), and Paris la belle (Beautiful Paris, 1960). This last is an unusual documentary directed by Pierre Prévert featuring black-and-white images of Paris from 1928 with the same shots—in color—from 1959, with his brother, poet Jacques Prévert, doing the narration and song lyrics.
Fin de Série
This is a good retail phrase to know, as it’s used to refer to items that have been discounted because there are only a few left or will no longer be available (i.e., the line is being discontinued).
Flamant
Flamant Home Interiors (flamant.com), founded by brothers Alex, Geo, and Jacques, is a great store to browse in for anyone who loves the arts of the home. Its stated mission is “the revival of handicraft furniture and old objects adapted to the needs of today,” and the selection includes dinnerware, tabletop items, paints, and decorative pieces. (I am partial to its Manosque line of white dinnerware.) The Paris store is at 8 rue de Furstenberg/8 rue de l’Abbaye, in the sixth.
Flâneur
Eric Maisel, in A Writer’s Paris, defines a flâneur as “an observer who wanders the streets of a great city on a mission to notice with childlike enjoyment the smallest events and the obscurest sights he encounters.” I like that definition, but I like Bryce Corbett’s, in A Town Like Paris, even better: “The term flâneur exists only in French, describing a person who spends entire days wandering aimlessly with the express purpose of doing little more than taking in whatever he sees. A French man is never in danger of running too quickly past the roses to ever stop and smell them.” The word is uniquely French, and though I keep the word in mind here at home, it is positively Parisian.
Fluctuat Nec Mergitur
Paris’s coat of arms is a boat motif borrowed from the seal of the Watermen’s Guild, appointed by Louis IX in 1260 to administer the city. In the sixteenth century, the Latin motto Fluctuat