11.14.2009

La Parisienne

I'm certain I've mentioned this before, but I'm a bit of a Francophile. I've always wanted to be French: dress like a Frenchwoman, speak like a Frenchwoman, and eat & drink like a Frenchwoman. It's the simple glamor of it all, the Audrey Hepburn of it all. It's why I loved From Here You Can't See Paris so much or Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles so much. Or French Woman Don't Get Fat, which I credit with inspiring me to eat and live better.

And then there is the "conversion experience" (which I wrote about here, among other places): Julia had it, Alice had it, MFK Fisher had it. All of these women traveled to France, at various times in the country's history, and were never the same again, having experienced la joie vivre, la belle France, la vie en rose, and all that stuff.

So imagine my thrill when Cup of Jo directed me to Yves Saint Laurent's new Parisienne website and blog*. Yes, it's a marketing campaign, but it's a brilliant and inspiring one.

What does this have to do with food or children's books, you ask? Well, they have a blog post about eating on a plane like a Parisienne - how simple to stop by a cheese shop and get something non-stinky, along with some bread. Take it on the plane. How hard is that? Buy wine from flight attendant. So simple. If you don't want to buy wine on the plane because it's overpriced and not all that good, you can pull an Alice Feiring and pack your own vials!

Along with the food, the blog gives advice on packing like a Parisienne and perfecting the messy French knot in your hair. The model has long straight hair and I bitterly thought that, once again, the curly-haired of us were going to be left out. But it totally works on my hair - I've worn the messy French knot for the past three days. Though, truth be known, I need to take a break from it because now I'm just feeling sorta lazy.

Now, if only they'd teach me how to tie my scarves beautifully instead of just haphazardly wrapping them around my neck...

Eat, drink, and channel your inner Frenchwoman.

(Photo by Anna Wolf)


* Careful with the video on the main Parisienne page - it ain't exactly work appropriate.

1 comment:

~ lg said...

Sooo... we were totally inspired and roomie E and I began practicing the messy French knot. But I became Alfalfa with a sincere point in the hair and she, well, she didn't get the "bun" part and just wound up with a mess. More practice needed, n'est-ce pas?