Thinking about traveling or moving to Paris? Don't go 'til you've read dessert expert David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris. The cookbook author extraordinaire's new book is a hilarious insider's look at the maddening quirks of the Parisians and how to live in the world's most romantic city.
Here are some insightful morsels of cultural differences from David on living in the City of Light:
What are the top faux pas to avoid while living in or visiting France? Any you've been guilty of?
David Lebovitz: I've done them all. I'd say the worst top three are:
1. Wearing sweats in public (I threw mine away after the first week I was here.)
2. Using the less-formal "tu" verb conjugation, which is much easier than the formal "vous" ... which, of course, I do all the time.
3. Not greeting everyone when you walk in a shop. Or into an elevator. Or entering a doctor's waiting room. I almost got kicked out of a taxi late one night for not saying "Good evening, Sir" when I slid inside.
Have you mastered the art of driving in Paris?
DL: To drive in Paris, you need to just not worry about what anyone else thinks about you, which comes naturally if you're Parisian. It took me a while, but I've got that down now.
Your recipes in this book look dangerous! Does yoga really help you stay svelte while developing these recipes? Or is it the stress of living in Paris?
DL: It's not the yoga, it's the walking. Paris is a great walking city and luckily, the bureaucrats think so, too, as they're always sending me back home for more paperwork.
Do Parisians really eat bananas and burgers with a knife and fork? What about the rest of France?
DL: Well, last week I was in the Rhone (near the French alps), and was served a hamburger--with no bottom bun. They must have presumed I was from Paris and figured I wasn't planning on doing the all-American two-hand grab.
You recently tweeted, "Did you get to the part about the black penis? Or did they cut that? No Paris-based book is complete w/out a story about one." So Tell us about your 'black penis' story.
DL: Oof! Let's just say I shocked a group of guests at a swank dinner party with my rhapsodizing over something that I was confusing with something else. In any case, it was a pretty uptight group and I think some of them could've used one of those ... instead of what I was actually referring to.
Guess we'll have to read the rest of the book for the whole story.
