Black Girl In Paris

Neighborhood Livin...

There are some things about Paris that I like, one of them being the neighborhood living. What is neighborhood living? Neighborhood living means that you do everything within walking distance of your apartment. You grocery shop, eat in restaurants, get your hair done, get your clothes cleaned, go to the doctor…ALL within walking distance of your apartment. This is so different from Chicago. I live near Hyde Park, but I can’t do ANY of those things. There are no restaurants within walking distance, no grocery store, no doctor..no nothing!

Here is a story that demonstrates the benefits of neighborhood living. One day I woke up with a swollen eye. I called the doctor and scheduled an appointment for the same day. I walked around the corner from my house to the doctor’s office. He gave me a prescription, which I then had filled at the pharmacy down the street from my house. Guess what. I was 15 cents short and the pharmacist said I could pay her back the next time!

Stuff like that never happens in Chicago….

I survived the Paris Greve of 2006 but another one is on the way….

I admit that I jacked this photo from the BBC web site....

I survived the Greve of 2006 but another one is on the way….

Something strange is going on in Paris. Last, October young men in the suburbs rioted for 25 days. Now, Paris has been taken over by thousands of university students and youth who are against the proposed employment legislation.

The Legislation: The French people have ridiculously high job security so that once a person passes a three-month test period it is almost impossible to fire them without spending lots of money. This makes employers wary of hiring new people. Thus, France has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe (around 10% compared to America’s 4%). This legislation has strong ties to the riots of last year because most of the rioters were jobless youth. Young people, blacks and arabs are the most affected; their unemployment rate is twice the national level, as no one wants to risk hiring someone who has yet to prove him or herself in the work place.

In order to make the job market more fluid, French Prime minister Dominique de Villepin introduced legislation in which young people would undergo a two-year test period before they receive full job security. This, he reasoned would make employers more willing to hire young people and thus reduce the unemployment rate among youths.

Despite the supposed positive for young people, they are having NONE of CPE. They want some good old-fashioned job security just like their parents.

Last Tuesday, I decided to go to work despite the strike that severely affected the train system. When I arrived to work (a school) half the teachers weren’t even there and I barely did anything! But while I was at work most of the youth in Paris were protesting the CPE. More than a half of a million people gathered near Place d’Italie and Republique to say no to CPE.

As of Friday, March 31, 2006, President Jacques Chiriac said he would go ahead with the law, perhaps with a few changes…And now I hear there is going to be another strike TUESDAY!!!!

Les Soldes: Shopping on Saturday

Isn't this a hot jacket? I got this originially priced 180 Euro jacket for 56 Euro!! I had been eyeing it for three months...

To begin my day of Saturday shopping, I stopped by Gloria Edzo's shop. Today was her last day in business, before she switches to just merchandising. As usual, Gloria educated an American sister. This time she explained to me that a man must never approach a woman in a club without buying a drink. (That definitely has not been my experience... What was I doing wrong, I wondered.) She said that a woman needs a drink to moisten her throat so she can talk to the man. It also means that he has a job..

After chatting with Gloria and finally buying the jacket that I had been eyeing for three months, I braved the "les soldes" shopping crowds. Everybody was out shopping, trying to catch the deals on the first Saturday of Les Soldes...Thank goodness I had a Parisian friend to guide me along the way.

I had only one goal - to get rid of these clunkers I have been wearing around Paris for the last three months and exchange them for something more stylish and European. My friend introduced me to the world of French shoes...We went to Heyraud (which had some high quality leather shoes for up to 50% off!), to San Marina shoes (average and a bit overpriced, but some styles were quite nice), and to Printemps, where I discovered the Free Lance brand of shoes (Leather shoes in the 400-500 Euro range. Georgeous but waay out of my budget). I also discovered Pura Lopez (great, but expensive pumps).

Unfortunately I did not quite find the style I was looking for. Nor was I ready to plop down the 150 Euros for some good boots... From what I hear, the sales get better closer to the end. So I will have to wait until then.

Les Soldes and French flirting...

Paris only has two sales--a winter sale and a summer sale. Today, the winter sale just jumped off.  Now I know what you are thinking. Does Paris really only have TWO sales a year? For a bargain shopper like me, that sounds like a nightmare. You mean I can only shop two times a year?

Well, I didn't go shopping as I planned (it's not like I have the money anyway). But I did stop by Gloria Edzo's clothes shop down street from my house in the 9th. I knew she was about to close her shop (and only do merchandising) so I was hoping to get this jacket I have been eyeing for three months at a stellar price. I love her shop and style (self-described as "ethnic chique"), but Gloria is so friendly and exuberant that it's impossible to leave her shop without buying anything. You start trying on things and she starts telling you how good you look and it's OVER.

I especially love her jackets. For a person who likes to mix the traditional with the funky, her clothes are perfect. Gloria combines some of the most unusual colors (dark blue and baby pink or a ) and prints that render that signature piece you can wear with nice jeans and a white shirt. Although she designs everything, her jackets stand out.

Well as usual, I started trying on the clothes and Gloria started telling me how good I look (and she was right). She made me feel like a queen (and also advised me to get braids down to my behind).

Then our conversation shifted to French flirting. That’s when Gloria started educating me. I told her I just didn't understand French flirting and that it was different from American flirting. Gloria proceeded to act out American vs. African vs. French flirting. To describe American flirting she talked loudly and walked around the room. When it came to African flirting, she got even louder and waved her hands all around. And then French flirting: She all of sudden became silent and made no movement. She held her nose in the air. But she exuded this confidence and sexiness...all with doing absolutely NOTHING.

The moral of the story: French flirting means communicating sexiness and confidence by doing nothing.

Dangit... I think I'm going to have to buy that jacket this Saturday (I'll post a picture of it).

French Clubbing vs. American Clubbing

Do you think any of these dudes danced with any girls at the club? - Yeah Right

Although I have been out plenty of times in my three months in Paris, no club or club night has quite hit the spot. I often go to Djoon to get my house music fix on Sundays. But clubbing on a Sunday afternoon just isn’t the same as clubbing all night on a Saturday.

That’s why I was excited to go to the “Rimshot” party at La Fleche d’Or last Saturday. The name says it all. This was a French “neosoul” party with live music, and good soul and hip-hop. As I arrived at La Fleche d’Or and saw the line down the block, I knew the night was going to be good. Thanks to the promoter papa pimp, I even got in for free (instead of paying 15 Euros)!

A multicultural blend of dread heads, hip hoppers and neosoulers (does that name exist?) packed the club, which used to be the old Alexandre Dumas train station. The Rimshot band (think of the roots band but with more soul than hip hop) covered erykah badu, Pharrel, and other neosoul stars. At 2 in the morning (after the band had played for like three hours), two DJ’s played old school hip hop (De La Soul), good R&B, (Aaliyah) and some underground stuff (Kazi?) I didn’t know. I gotta give it to the French folks. They did their thing. 

DJ Sly played some good stuff. But he dissed Chicago- he played NO Common or Kanye West.

Now my night was great, but French clubbing is different than American clubbing. I spent waaay too much time dancing by myself considering the fact the club was filled with dudes. In American clubs, you can easily walk up to a random girl or guy and start dancing with them. You just have to make that initial eye contact and take it from there. Not in France. French clubbers are incredibly standoffish. There is absolutely no communication between strangers. People come with their friends and stay with their friends. And it wasn’t just me. I danced next to two black French girls who danced with themselves all night! In America, girls go to the club in a group expecting to dance with other guys they meet at the club. I guess things are different over here…

By the way, if you find yourself in Paris on the first Saturday of the month, check out the “Rimshot” party at La Fleche d’Or.

My Christmas in Paris

This sales lady was so good that she had me buying perfume for 10 year olds!

These last four days have been hectic for me as I tried to finish my holiday shopping, beautify myself, and take some Christmas pictures for this blog before I head to the states!

My holiday shopping literally consisted of a trip to the perfume section of Galeries Lafayette. Now usually, I like to put effort into my holiday shopping. I ask people what they want and try to be a bit creative. But the 20 Euros off a perfume purchase of 100 Euros or more sucked all of the creativity out of me. Perfume for everybody! I went straight for the Cabotine for my mother (thanks Regine!), got my aunt some Coudray perfume,  grabbed some FCUK cologne (smelled so good…) for my brother. You know I went haywire when I picked up some young people perfume for my 10-year-old cousin! Thank goodness I had the sense to take it back two days later….earrings will have to do.

Unfortunately my Sunday shopping day was ruined by a bout of food sickness from food I ate the night before…it was not pretty.

But I had enough energy to start my week of beautification.  Since I’m going back to the States and in particularly to Mississippi, I knew I could not come back home looking jacked up. So I decided to go to a hammam (the medina hammam in Paris) to get rid of the dead skin and relax. A hammam, which has its origins in Turkey, is like a communal spa where women go to get a scrub down that removes A LOT of dead skin, and to relax in a dry sauna, steam room and pool. In my four hours there, the highlight was my dead skin removal. Having an old lady scrub your torso, legs and arms of dead skin. During the 10 minutes, the old lady and I managed to bond over my ridiculous amount of dry skin that just peeled away.  The look on her face said, “dang you got a lot of dead skin...." I told her I was coming back to remove the rest.

Today was get my hair done day. I found a natural hair stylist who hooked me up. But she’s trying to get me to dread and lock my hair…

I never thought I would say that I am ready to leave Paris for a little bit, but I am. Each day someone says that I looked tired. Well, I am. Although Paris is a beautiful city with great food, life and fashion, it is a very tiring city. For the last three months, I have taken the metro everyday, changing stations, walking miles underground.  I have managed the government bureaucracy to the best of my ability: I have a carte de sejour (which is more than some of my peers). Of course I have been researching for my black Paris project. But I still technically do not have social security or section 8 (just received another letter saying they now need my October pay stub, when I already gave them the November one!). But all will come in due time. (hopefully by mid-January so I can hit up some sales..).

From this point on, the blog is going to America! I’m going home folks….Check you later… 

Too much FRENCH bureaucracy!

I thought I had the French bureaucracy beat. Within two months of arriving in France, I had a bank account, a job (that quickly started depositing my check to the account), and a visa to stay here. Mind you that attaining those three things required me to travel across Paris with a load of photocopies.

But I'm not done! I still have no Social Security or medical insurance. And my temporary insurance ran out Dec. 1. And I am desperate need of the French version of Section/Housing vouchers (CAF). Rent ain't cheap here. I have neither of those because of one funky piece of paper!!!

I thought that the visa would open the door to everything else....but I guess not. It appears that the "fils de pay," --my paycheck stub is the key to getting social security and some section 8!! But somehow even though I have been payed twice by my job, I still haven't received a freakin paystub....So after making trips to the CAF office and the social security office, I still have nothing because of one missing document....