Le Soirée

Paris is a melting pot of cultures, a magnet in Europe of commerce that draws an international business clientle and the promise of a better life for many immigrants. It is a transient city of friendships forged of commonality, professionals with one to three year contracts arrive from around the world and band together as they settle into the routine of everyday life. The expat community in Paris is formidable, with an estimated 100,000 Americans alone calling her home. Some arrived with a short term contract 20 years ago and never left, seduced by the city of lights. Others (like me) went all rogue and opted for the bohemian life of a wannabe artist - usually writer - sometimes english teacher or tour guide, scraping together just enough income to keep the dream alive. Even more put in their time for the company and look forward toward leaving, disenchanted with the omnipressant scowling parisian and lack of common conveniences most of us take for granted. Like garbage disposals (the french have never heard of them) and clothes dryers. Naturally, groups have established themselves over the years and some people have become famous for their soirées, an institution here in France. There is always somebody interesting to talk to, plenty of wine and crummy finger food, and the stray frenchman clued in to the scene trying to score with an "anglaise". Sometimes groups organize and meet in pubs for happy hour to schmooze with friendly aquaintances over a pint or a mojito. Some soirées are held in private homes or hotel lounges and will cost a minimum of 25 euro for entry. My favorite events are picnics on the Pont des Arts where one can find a lively crowd every first night of the full moon. Thermoses filled with hot mulled wine or chocolat chaud keep one braced against the cold during winter, in summer it's a spontaneous banquet of treats offered for sharing as we ponder the moon and drink in the beauty of a million stars sparkling in the river below. It's the perfect setting for romance and the constantly on the make married-man-living-in-France-for-a-year-without-his-wife-and-children. There also exisits a notorious unemployed pseudo-intellectual who makes the rounds looking for a sympathetic woman with an extra chambre and a pantry full of food, but as his reputation preceeds him he arrives amid whispered words of warning, "Watch out for that guy...!" An interesting experience is the club "Suede", an ultra conservative and closely knit group of Swedish ex-pats who meet in a beautiful old building on the rue Rivoli. There is often live jazz enjoyed in the grand salon, a spacious rectangular room lit by traditional Louis XVII sconces and a grand chandelier. Twin fireplaces accented by large gilded mirrors above ornately carved mantlepieces flank each end of the room. The parquet floorboards groan and creak under your step and its music resonates through the room as you make your way toward the limited seating, period pieces upholstered in traditional fabric of the XVIII siecle. Large windows along the south end of the room afford a view of the historic Tuileries, a beautiful park located between the Louvre and the Place du Concorde. The club Suedoise accepts non swedish visitors, but one must have knowledge of: 1) the actual address and location of the secret "porte", 2) the secret digicode for the secret porte, 3) the secret password given to you by a registered dues paying member of the club, and last but not least 4) your name on the reservation list. Visitors donate 6 euro upon cracking the code, red and white wine is offered for a nominal charge at the bar. The expat scene is rather like the singles scene, with the occasional retired married couple thrown in for comfort. It is well established and clannish, one has the sense that everyone in the room has known each other (intimately) for years and new meat is devoured ravenously. It's a comfort zone that many expats never venture out of, claiming the french will never accept an outsider. Taken in moderation it is a great way to meet a wide range of interesting personalities, from volcanologists (yes, I met a 65 year old woman from Argentina who takes samples from live volcanos) to attorneys, IT specialists to teachers, and the stray frenchman trying to score with an anglaise. (I will address the latter in a future blog entitled, "To date or not to date..." in which I will share with my dedicated readers the intimate adventures of a woman in a mid-life crisis. It should prove to be juicy!)