Several years ago, a French friend introduced me to the song “Marly-Gomont,” by Kamini. I thought it was brilliant; the lyrics were clever and the beat was infectious. It’s been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube, so others must agree. In the song, Kamini talks about moving to a little village in Normandy where cows outnumbered humans 20:1 and his was the only Black family. Racism – overt and implicit – are the themes of the song. I often use it in class when doing a unit on immigration.
Netflix recently recommended a French film to me with the English title The African Doctor . When I started watching it, however, I saw that the title was actually Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont and it was the story of how the family came to the village when Kamini was just a little boy.
His father, Seyolo Zantoko, a recently graduated doctor from the Congo, but who trained in France, agreed to be a physician in a tiny village that could not attract a new doctor. He hoped that he’d be able to bring over his family from the political unrest of the Congo and eventually be sponsored for French citizenship. Integration came slowly and put a strain on the whole family. I don’t think it’s a plot spoiler to tell you that all eventually works out well for the Zantoko family. The story is told with lots of humor along the way, even though the message is a serious one. I highly recommend this film to you. Have any of you seen it?
Octagon House
Sausalito Houseboats – On our way to Muir Woods, we stopped at the colorful houseboats in Sausalito. I can recommend Fred’s Place (1917 Bridgeway) for classic and tasty breakfast or lunch options if you want to have a meal before going for your hike in the woods.
Stinson Beach – After our hike, we drove a few miles to the beach and just enjoyed a lovely walk along this wide, uncrowded beach.
After having spent an idyllic time in Aix-en-Provence this summer, the film 
The film, by director Danièle Thompson, examines their relationship over many years, culminating in the rupture over Zola’s depiction of his friend in 
I don’t think it was a great film, but it gave a view of the friendships and rivalries of an incredible group, such as Manet, Monet, Maupassant, and Renoir, at the time of the Salon des Refusés and the birth of Impressionism. I also enjoyed seeing the streets and fountains of Aix incorporated into the film, as well as the singing of the cigales, or cicadas, that are the soundtrack of Provence. It’s in French and subtitled in English.
This year, I discovered a new-to-me French clothing brand near Saint Sulpice church, Maison Standards. This home of chic basics has been around since 2013, but used to be only online. Now it has a handful of Parisian boutiques in addition to Internet sales.
As it was during one of the twice-yearly official sales periods, when big discounts lure customers in, the first thing that I noticed about them is that there were no markdowns. The founder, Uriel Karsenti, keeps prices relatively low by eliminating middlemen. Because the look is totally timeless, there is no need to dump one season’s clothes to prepare for the next.
If you also like well-cut classics in quality fabrics at fair prices, this is a brand to consider. And if you won’t be in Paris, their Internet business is alive and well, shipping men’s and women’s fashion to many parts of the world. The equivalent of “fast fashion” in French is la mode jetable (lah mowed shjet-ab-luh), literally “disposable fashion,” and that is the exact opposite of the Maison Standards esthetic. My only regret is that my closet is sufficiently well-stocked that I couldn’t justify picking up several pieces. I was on the hunt for a red dress, and they did have one contender, but the color was too tomatoey for me (a different dress from the one above), so I regretfully left empty handed. But I’ll be back.
Parisian chic
French Neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David was born on August 30, 1748. In both his art and his life, David displayed a tempestuous nature, possibly inherited from his father, who was killed in a duel in 1757. He trained under Vien, and his early paintings featured the same uncomfortable blend of Rococo sweetness and antique trappings as those of his master.
After their fall, he was imprisoned and was only saved from the guillotine by his royalist wife. This experience did nothing to quell the artist’s spirit, however, for he became equally involved with Napoleon. After the latter’s defeat, David fled to Brussels, where he remained in exile for the rest of his days. He died on December 29, 1825.
Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile
Upon returning from France, I was pleased to turn to Monty Don’s French Gardens on Netflix to revisit my favorite country while recovering from jet lag. There are three hour-long episodes: Gardens of Power and Passion; The Gourmet Garden; and The Artistic Garden that were first broadcast on the BBC. The host is an earnest and affable Brit who speaks quite good French and clearly loves everything he sees and eats. Everyone – from nuns to Michelin starred chefs – responds to him in the same open-hearted way. He criss-crosses the country in a classic blue 2CV with a straw hat shielding his head from the French sun. He even goes to Aix, that I visited and loved in June. If you want to take a trip to the heart of France – no jet lag required – I think you’ll enjoy this show.
Private Gardens of Paris
If you’ll be in Paris prior to November 17, 2019, I highly recommend that you visit the exhibit Backside / Dos à la mode at the musée Bourdelle. Located near the hulking and hideous Tour Montparnasse (oops, my bias is showing), this little museum was the atelier of sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. A few times in recent years, it has housed fashion exhibits in conjunction with the Palais Galliera, the museum dedicated just to fashion. I think this is the most successful collaboration to date, as the juxtaposition of couture items seen from the back alongside sculptures presented in the same way creates an interesting dialogue.
And it isn’t just pretty dresses. Did you realize that, apart from a straitjacket, men’s clothes always open at the front, whereas women’s have frequently opened at the back? I never thought about how this one simple fact kept women dependant upon others to get dressed or undressed. We teach children early in their lives how to dress themselves, but women did not have this simple independence.
The back can also be used as a canvas to write messages, explicitly or implicitly. Remember the furor caused by the writing on the back of Melania Trump’s coat when she was on a humanitarian mission? A look-alike of that “just a coat” is in the exhibition. Some gowns demonstrated Puritanical modesty from the front while saving all the show for the back. From clothes that made news in recent years to a court train from the 18th century, this exhibit covers the whole gamut. Which of these gowns would you choose for yourself?
