Becoming French

Paris Opera Quiz

Just for fun, test yourself on your knowledge of the Paris Opera Garnier...

1. The Paris Opera Garnier has 1900 seatsA. trueB. false

2. The crystal chandelier weighsA. 4 tonsB. 8 tonsC. 10 tons

3. The Opera Garnier is the...A. 1stB. 10thC. 13th...opera house in Paris

4. The Opera Garnier was constructed under which leaderA. Napoléon IIIB. Louis XIVC. Napoléon 1er

5. Charles Garnier, whose name is still attached to the building was the architect who won the contest to design the opera. He wasA. 55 years oldB. 40 years oldC. 35 years old

6. The French opera and ballet were founded in 1669 by Louis XIVA. TrueB. False

7. The Grand staircase is made ofA. alabasterB. several kinds of marbleC. granite

8. The Opera Garnier offers guided tours daily.A. TrueB. False

9. The other Opera in Paris is called the Opéra Bastille. In what year was it built?

A. 1989

B. 1969

10. The official name of the Paris O…

Historic, lovely and delicious Parisian Bread and Pastry

The idea of Parisian Bread and Pastry is obvious, but these are exceptional and historical. Important for their history and longevity, these Bread and Pastry places, that one must visit, also have invented their special iconic pastry, loaf or decor.

Nicolas Stohrer, as the story goes, learned his trade as pastry chef in the kitchens of King Stanislas I of Poland who was in exile in the East of France. When the King’s daughter, Marie Leszczynska, married King Louis XV of France, she brought her favorite pâtissier with her to Versailles. Five years later, in 1730, Stohrer opened his own Parisian Bread and Pastry shop on rue Montorgueil where it still is today. The creations at Stohrer are classic, reflecting centuries of French tradition. One of its most celebrated is the Puit d’Amour, or Well of Love, where a base of puff pastry gets topped with bourbon vanilla pastry cream and caramel glaze. “It’…

How do you know you’re Becoming French?! 20 more ways

How do you know you're Becoming French?! 20 more ways

When you...

have an Opinel or three know that seeing and hearing a rumbling mass of military planes and helicopters in the Paris sky around July 11 is not an invasion but a rehearsal for the Bastille Day parade... that Bastille Day not only is not the name of the holiday in France but are words that mean absolutely nothing to a French personfind creative, inspiring solutions to any problem…but only at the last minuteknow what Système D is (and what the D stands for!)have at least two pairs of espadrilles in your closetknow what PSG stands for, the full name of the SG in question, what OM has to do with PSG, and what OM stands foriron your plain white t-shirts and jeans-then wear them with outrageously expensive perfumemake the last item on your grocery list a gigantic bouquet of flowershave underwear items that match not only each other but also what you’re sporting on top of themdrink your morning c…

Discover or Rediscover the secrets of Montmartre

By Patricia Killeen

Discover or Rediscover the secrets of Montmartre on the tour even Paris Expatriate “Lifers” and real Parisians take!

Eileen Grison has been living in Paris for two decades and has made Montmartre her home. Passionate about her neighbourhood, and initially showing her family and friends her favourite and often secret Montmartre corners, Eileen was encouraged by them to organize professional tours. At home in Ireland, after graduating with a degree in Italian and Cultural studies she subsequently worked as a tour guide for CIE, one of the country’s largest tour companies. In 2012, she created her company“Lingo Immersions”, offering Walking Tours of Montmartre. As someone who “loves all things culture and travel related” and having completely immersed herself in the culture of Montmartre, she was ideal for the job. I recently took one of her tours: “My Famous Artists of Montmartre” with some Parisian friends, and we had a fantas…

The Statue of Liberty in France

The Statue of Liberty, whose full name is Liberty Enlightening the World was one of the greatest gifts ever given. The original was given by the people of France to the United States in 1886 and was installed in New York's harbor but did you know there are lots of Lady Libertys in France today? There are at least 25 in France and even more throughout the world.

In Paris alone there are quite a few. The one you need to know about is the one on the Allée des Cygnes which was a gift from the American community of Paris to Paris to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. On her tablet is the dates July 14, 1789, as well as July 4, 1776. Oliver Gee of the Earful Tower has covered five of the Parisian statues.

In addition there is another one on the roof of a peniche near the Eiffel Tower and one in the Musée d'Orsay. Yet another is very tiny and hard to see; it is incrusted in the torso of César's Cenataure (place Michel Debré Paris 6th) near hi…

New Arrivals at Bill & Rosa’s Book Room – English Books Paris

Each week in the Book Room online, we recommend newly published English books we love. We also present some in French or bilingual, for kids or adults, fiction or non. Many are books about France of course, but there are many different subjects. To discover all our titles come visit Bill & Rosa's Book Room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdoODVrfv4c This week's theme in the Book Room: Halloween

HALLOWEEN COLORING BOOK. This book comes with a brush and needs only water to make the magic paint appear. 16 Halloween-esque scenes are full of bright color and rich detail once simply wet with the brush. There's a haunted house, trick or treat, witches and more. On the practical side the cover folds over to prevent splashy painters from getting the whole book soaked at once! The same publisher has many other subjects in this same format and series: Christmas, nature,…

SOME OTHER PARIS – A totally different look at the City of Lights (Streaming on YouTube)

An unconventional look at current life in the City of Light, Some Other Parisexamines everything from the Yellow Vest protests to the Parisian art scene through the eyes of expats, immigrants and French citizens. The documentary takes viewers far beyond the Eiffel Tower, past the fancy fashion houses and the haute cuisine. It is an immersive journey through the Paris of artists and intellectuals; inhabitants of a densely populated, expensive city, dodging around the cost of living, tightly packed public transportation, pollution and dog poop on the sidewalk.Directed by James H. Jewell III and executive produced by Kara Jewell, thisdocumentary film features twenty interviews with artists, musicians, poets,novelists, playwrights, radio personalities, a journalist, a real estate broker, a gamer, a charity worker, a costume designer/refugee worker, a sign language tour guide, and a rabbi. Residing in Paris is perhaps the only common denominator this diverse cast of c…

BBI Boulogne-Billancourt Information talks about Bill & Rosa’s Book Room

BBI Boulogne-Billancourt Information - it's a pretty dull title for a magazine, but a really nice municipal publication just like Boulogne-billancourt is a really nice town. We read it every month to see what is going on in sports, culture, politics, business and best of all the history pages of our city. Julie Fagard, the journalist who interviewed us, clearly enjoys her job. She was lovely, interested and asked some great questions. She very much liked the concept we have put forth. The Book Room is rather unique in Boulogne as there are no English book shops and no used book shops in this town of nearly 110,000. The article has already brought in a dozen customers on the first day we were open after publication! I looks like we've hit a chord. We're happy to give back to Boulogne-Billancourt, the second largest city in Ile de France after Paris (and 30th largest in France), as it is a great place where people are friendly and smiling. There's great shopping on the vibra…

ICS Paris is a unique international school in Paris

Formerly known as EIB – The Victor Hugo School, ICS Paris is an international school in Paris hosting students from Nursery to Grade 12 in the heart of the 15th district. A member of ICS, Leading International Baccalaureat (IB) School Group in Europe, ICS Paris fosters all the values at the heart of an IB education from Primary to High School leading our students towards the IB Diploma.

With a small-class policy, ICS Paris welcomes over 600 students from 70 different nationalities and educational backgrounds. With more than 30 years of experience in education, ICS Paris is a well-known international institution in Paris, unique because of its tailored English-speaking curriculum, enhanced by compulsory French lessons from the age of three. Our international and rich curriculum follows the IB Diploma for our High School, IGCSE for the Middle School (currently also MYP candidate) and Cambridge and IPC for our Primary School.

Students at ICS Paris…

International Bookstores in Paris

The most recently opened of the bookstores in Paris is our own Bill & Rosa's Book Room is composed mainly of used English books (about 2500). We also have a certain number of French language books (about 500). And when we also received books in other languages Norweigian (30), Spanish, Portuguese and Polish we were reminded as to what a cosmopolitan city Paris is. In fact we read recently on the city of Paris' website in carefully inclusive French that the population of the city is composed of 22% Paris-born, someplace else we saw 26% foreign-born and the rest of Parisians are non Parisian French. The international community stems from 176 nationalities. And 3/4 of Parisians think the ideal city is multicultural. This got us to thinking that there must be bookshops that deal in other languages beyond English and French so we set out to see what we could find and composed this list. After the foreign language shops there's a list of English bookstores in Paris and a few…