You've got mail - No more Mademoiselle, new bells for Notre-Dame, things Parisians say and tearooms


Things are changing at a dizzying speed in France - in a move towards greater equality of the sexes, the government decided to banish "mademoiselle" ("miss") from official forms this week and four of the old bells in the North Tower at Notre-Dame will be replaced by new melodious bells to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the church next year. Many thanks to Joseph and Amy for emailing the following articles to me! Please click on the links if you would like to read more.

"Mademoiselle" Exits Official France, New York Times --  I hope that the near-sighted beggar who keeps waving his coin cup at me and saying "Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle" gets a copy of the official government memo!

New more melodious bells for Notre Dame



Stéphane and I had a good time watching "Things Parisians Say" sent to me by "My Little Paris". If you're not on their mailing list yet, you should be! As always, my ears and mind had to go into hyper drive to understand these fast talking Parisians. I love when the guy, who is obviously late for an appointment, says that he's at Châtelet metro station when he's at Buttes Chaumont (01:32). It's also funny how Parisians describe their fellow citizens as "selfish", "too stupid", "stressed" (01:40) and the 16th arrondissement as "dead, dead, dead, dead!" (01:42). Newsflash: The Rue Saint Denis is the new Rue Montorgueil (01:50) and the 20th arrondissement is the new 12th (01:48).

And many thanks to Nancy for sending the link for an article about tearooms in Paris. I look forward to trying some of them. Speaking of Notre-Dame, today would be a good day to go to The Tea Caddy! Please note that the prices are in francs and not euros.

Her Paris Tearooms: Tea for One

Have you read about something interesting in Paris? I would love to know. Please send me an email at mkoutandabout@gmail.com.

Other news: School vacations mean long lines in front of Versailles. Fortunately, I had booked a guided tour on Tuesday, so I whizzed on past! But look at that blue sky. Spring is almost here.

Comments

  1. But wait, how could they do that!? How could they get rid of Mademoiselle?! After all it is MY name!! : )

    Bon w-e!

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    1. I know! I immediately thought of you when I read the NYT article. Mme Ella just doesn't sound the same. It's way too serious. Good thing that the change is only for government documents and not blogs.

      Enjoy your weekend. Iced soy vanilla latte sounds so LA!

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  2. Glad you enjoyed and posted the Notre Dame article. Have you made it up to the top? I've done it once, and once was enough :)

    Amy

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  3. Many thanks for sending me the article on Notre-Dame! I haven't made it to the top yet but did spend a couple of minutes looking at the crowd of people who were enjoying the view yesterday. It was a beautiful day and I'm sure that they were pleased with what they saw, even if they had to climb 400 steps. I'll make it to the top one of these days.

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  4. I've read comments about people saying, "I hope someone still will call me Mlle!" I doubt just because it's changed on official forms that people will stop saying it all together. We know France won't change that quickly. Hope you enjoyed Versailles!

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    1. Your post on Versailles with all of the lovely photos was one of the driving forces behind my spur of the moment decision to go! Because I spent so much time indoors, I didn't have the chance to do the gardens justice. I'm going to have to go back for a return visit.

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  5. I understood none of the video, but your setup made it funny anyway. The actor is quite good.

    And that line! Mon dieu! Glad you had an all-access pass. It was all-access, yes?

    (Just a few more days on this writing project--it's crept into my dreams now. Soon, soon, life back to normal.)

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    1. The line at Versailles was crazy! I didn't have an all-access pass but since I was taking a guided tour we bypassed the long security line and were inside within minutes. I decided to become a "friend" of Versailles so I have unlimited access for a year and can go on special tours. It's an easy RER ride from where I live so I hope to be a frequent visitor.

      Good luck with your project. I've missed reading your blog but completely understand that you're busy with more pressing matters.

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