Flamby vs. Cupcake

It started off as a joke.  A laugh between friends and family.  The little Southern girl who got so flustered over cultural idiosyncracies that she one day exclaimed during a rant, "As soon as I have my French citizenship, I'm running for President!"

While I still lack the citizenship, and probably the money and sponsors, I've decided to share the laughter and dreams through the written word. 

Do you dream of service with a smile instead of customer service that makes you (almost) cry?

Do you long for ice cubes in your local grocery store to allow for hours of party rockin' with cold beverages?

Do you feel that if a Parisian were to say "excusez-moi" in the métro when knocking you over during the morning commute, they just might explode?

If you want change you can believe in...come join the fun bus that is Flamby vs. Cupcake.

Overly processed flan ain't got nothin' on cake and icing made with love and Southern hospitality.

Bureaucracy is Fun!

Almost six months after getting married, I am finally going to my appointment at the Préfecture de Police.  Fab and I have been racing to get all of my/our documents ready since if even just one little document is missing or not up to their standards, they will cut off my head and feed me to the sharks in the Seine make me come back in two or three months.  Which isn't kosher for numerous reasons that I shan't renumerate here.

I look forward to my annual Immigration visit about as much as I look forward to a root canal.

I have been really dreading this year's immigration process because Claude Guéant's Interior Ministry is tightening up on immgration.  I know that this has yet to apply to me, but it is still disconcerting.  He (Guéant) hopes to reduce professional immigration by 10%, given the current economic conditions in France and its high unemployment rate.  It has caused quite the scandal among the nation's student population and university administrations, since it mostly concerns those who come to France to do their studies and then try to apply for jobs afterwards.  It's a xenophobic and racist policy, meant to play to those voters who might go for Marine Le Pen (France's borderline Facist political party leader) in the 2012 Presidential election.  She's got a softer discourse than her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, which means she has been appealing to more people (but not by wide margins...)  The Euro crisis ain't helping things either (who do people blame when unemployment is high?  Immigrants).  Basically, she has made Sarkozy's UMP party nervous about her performance in 2012.  Few people wish to repeat the election run-off between Jacques Chirac and Jean-Marie Le Pen of 2002.

Anyhow, I'm really glad that Forest of 52 Martinis put up this video on her Twitter feed.  It made me smile as well as shiver in anticipation of tomorrow.  I'll share it with you for a giggle.  We've all been through bureaucracy, no?

Always Keep Your Papers

Dear audience of Francophiles, I know I tend to impart wisdom about where to go eat in Paris or about common myths associated with being American or French.  You know...practical stuff.  But today, if I can give you any sort of advice on how to survive in Paris, let it be this:

Always keep your papers.

I'm not sure how it all started.  I think it happened when I was going through my papers in a frenzy one Sunday afternoon.  Since moving to Paris, my important papers have resided in folders in a backpack.  Now that I have been here for 2.5 years, the backpack is starting to bulge.  Immigration papers, payslips, assurance maladie papers, phone contracts.  I am made up of one impressive French paper trail.

Erin v. l'Administration française

People often ask me what I like and dislike about France.  The like part is pretty simple : food, wine, amazing cheese, public transportation, health care that is worth a darn.  The list could go on and on.  The dislike part makes all my French friends laugh because I imagine they feel my pain : French administration.  French bureaucracy has a horrible reputation.  It is known to be inefficient, incredibly bloated with personnel that are considered to be pretty lazy.  The statistic that is often cited is 1 in 5 French people are "fonctionnaires" or government workers.  They get 10 weeks of vacation, they work from 9 AM to 4 PM, while the rest of us poor souls get less vacation and work from about 9 AM to 6 or 7 PM.  I cannot really describe how they treat the French people, but as of late, I have had my fair share of "war stories."