I've read in How To Find Your Inner Frenchie self-help books that French girls are not so chummy with each other.
That they're more competitive than bosom buddies. I checked this out last trip. 
From what I can see they're just like us. 
When French Girl talks about her girlfriends, it's something sacred, a religion. Though we've known each other 4 years and I've stayed with her and brought her NY bagels and Essie nailpolish (it's cheaper here), we're not exactly 'girlfriends' the way she is with her French girl friends. I'll always be an extra-terrestial/E.T. c'est la vie
French girlfriends go shopping together just like we do. 
They wear identical outfits and have the same hairdos just like us. 
They yackity-yack on the Metro while eating like we do. 
They goof around after they've 'won' free macarons at Pierre Herme on Jour Du Macarons. 
They browse together and call it 'licking the windows'/leche-vitrine. 
They kiss-kiss/bisous bisous more then we do. But we give hugs.Sharing macarons is a universal among girlfriends.
I like this little video of two French girl friends chatting away. I'm not sure of every word and the subtitles are in Spanish Portuguese Catalon! but the actions are the same the world over are they not?
BONJOUR FRENCH AMIES!
People say women compete with each other, and maybe that's true sometimes, but I think women make great friends. Love these photos: Isn't it sweet the way the French kiss in greeting one another?
ReplyDeletevery sweet, touching post today.
ReplyDeleteGirl friends are the same the world over and what would we do without them!?
Nice post and video. The subtitles of the video are not in Spanish, though. Maybe the language is Catalan?
ReplyDeletePLEASE tell me....
ReplyDeleteWHAT do French Girls carry in those HUGE purses?
They carry their LIFE Odette!
ReplyDeleteI love this question
I will do researche next trip!
ANonymous-it's Portuguese not Catalan or Spanish..my error
xxcarolg
I think good girlfriends are good girlfriends the world over!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I missed sending you greetings on your birthday, Carol! I've been out of blog-land and in performance land for a week or so...playing my harp at weddings and singing with the symphony orchestra. Whew.
I hope your day was magnifique!
Yes, CATALAN.
ReplyDeleteVery important not to mislabel Catalan as Spanish (I have best friends from Barcelona!)
Carol, how do you keep up the flow of super ideas, day after day? Just when I think one post is amazing and the most interesting ever, the next day comes another that's even more amazing. And this one has almost no macarons, either!
Milles remerciements pour tant de plaisir,
Berkshire Tsarina
"les amis de mes amis sont mes amis"
ReplyDeleteHave you the same formule in american ?
we have not "love your neighbours"...
A+C++++++++++
I wonder if they are more like "frenemies"...
ReplyDeleteI love the picture with the friends in black! So French!
ReplyDelete♥ Daniëlle
Thank you JUDITH!
ReplyDeleteYour comment made my day :)
Most days I get up clueless on what I'm going to post like today..
Sometimes I think, "Oh I'll just do a re-post of an older post"
But it's so much fun, the wheels start turning and voila -
something new pops out.
True I do look for visual themes in Paris or rather they FIND me when I'm running around and see something over and over.
The process is so much FUN!
Blogging is the best thing I've ever done truely.
merci
carolg
My closest friend here is French & she is very French. And we are the same kind of 'best friends' that one finds anywhere. Some of those books are just weird (amusing but weird). I'm in a town where live & plot the most competitive women on earth. Many of them are wonderful friends, too. And others, eh, we'll just stay mum.
ReplyDeleteI dislike the reduction of French women to their accessories & cliches. Your blog is great because it's fun & pretty, sense of humor. But some of the other ones are so strange to me. Having French friends & having lived there, they're writing about some fantasy that they want to sell to people - often literally as they are retailers, really.
People are complex beings, anywhere...
I agree with Justine - "girlfriends are the same the world over & what would we do without them."
ciao
xo
Carol, l would love to know if French girls wear the same stuff at the weekend, after work clothes, do they go brighter and more extrovert,
ReplyDeleteJill xx
Oh I love this post Carol! I guess we Americans are more huggy than kissy. : )
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch the whole film, but I noticed Le Pure Cafe in the background. Is that the same cafe from the Windows 7 ads?
I really liked this one - everyone is so attractive :)
ReplyDeleteles amis de mes amis sont mes amis
ReplyDeleteit's very old formule : the friends of my friends are my friends (too)
Wonderful post! You did it again. I am in awe.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Justine, girl friends are the same the world over.
All this now makes me miss my girlfriends,
Happy Birthday! (a little late)
ReplyDeleteSounds like they are a lot like us. I agree we Americans probably hug more than Europeans. Fun post!
ReplyDeleteDear Auntie Carol,
ReplyDeleteSo sweet!
Glad you are my girl friend.
I used to do a lot of "window-licking" with one French girlfriend. She very authoritatively told me what to buy and how to wear it.
ReplyDeleteAnd she was right about everything, course! Always heed a Parisienne's advice...
La Mom
An American Mom in Paris
Funny!
ReplyDeleteI had EXACTLY the SAME experience...
Maybe it's universal when you go shopping with a FG...
Carolg
I'll be in Paris in September, which is the only place I ever want to be.
ReplyDeleteMy friend and I have been studying your PB emails daily to learn how to dress and be French girls. I've been collecting my wardrobe and even photographed outfits! Here's my list of essentials (what I've learned mostly from you) to "becoming French":
Black leather biker jacket
Classic Tan Trench
B&W Striped top
Something Sonya R
High Heel Booties
Black Ballet Flats
Funky Oxford Shoes
Skinny jeans
Chain strap bag for evening
Leather Day Bag of good size
Red Lips
Endless scarves
But I question one of the photos of the two girls. They look American to me.
Look at their shoes!
I like this post, it is very sweet :)
ReplyDeleteMy French exchange partner's friends were like sisters to her, just like mine are to me. The French definitely understand girlfriends, I agree!
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT. READ EVEYDAY. I,TOO, AM SPENDING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER IN PARIS! Still can't believe it. Working on my "French Girl' wardrobe too. Counting the days. Georgette
ReplyDeleteVery sweet post. Girlfriend friendships are a treasure. I like the video you posted. By the way, the subtitles are in Catalan, not Portuguese:-)
ReplyDelete