Paris: Stuff Parisians Like

Looking for some hilarious reading about Parisians, or perhaps trying to discover their secrets? Olivier Magny’s new book, Stuff Parisians Like, might give you some insights. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy a good laugh with this excerpt, or better yet, have Olivier pour you one at his Parisian wine bar, O Chateau, and have a good laugh with him.

“For Parisians, having an expat friends displays fantastic ‘ouverture internationale’ and implies that the Parisian is both a gracious host and possibly a polyglot. Talking about his expat friend, the Parisian will always mention his nationality: ‘Tu sais, Mark, mon copain expat canadien.’ He will also make mention of the quality of his position: ‘Il a un très gros poste chez Microsoft … un type assez brillant vraiment.’ The Parisian will always compliment his expat friend publicly on his French: ‘Non, vraiment, il parle très bien. Non, c’est vrai Mark, tu as fait de gros progrès.’ The Parisian doesn’t think Mark’s French is any good but he likes to come across as the benevolent paternalist mentor.

Having an expat friend is about adding glow to the Parisian’s life. Not all countries come with the same glamorous touch. Having an American expat friend is the ultimate luxury, then comes South American, then other Anglo countries, then Italy. Having expat friends from any other country will only be acceptable in left-wing circles for whom the betrayal of having friends in the corporate world (losers) will be compensated by the unlikeliness of their country of origin.

Expats arriving in Paris are usually very keen to make Parisian friends and to work on their French. Soon enough, they give up on French and, not long after, on Parisians. Those who love the city enough end up re-creating a Parisian life with compatriots, other international folks and Parisians who have lived abroad long enough. Those who don’t just leave—disenchanted.

For Parisians with social ambitions, the quality of a social circle will be judged predominantly on the proportion of its internationals. The higher the proportion, the more desirable the circle. In this way, Parisians get a taste of adventure through their international friends. Between real job and real life, Parisians choose not to choose: they opt for real Parisian life.”