Stars and Stripes Forever

Bonjour again!


With about a month left until the start of my European life, it is time to really try and assimilate more French culture into my hum drum life in Nevada. I started with the wardrobe in my last little chat, and I now may distill the carefree joie de vivre of the French in a single key item of clothing: the Brenton stripe shirt. My favorite come from Petit Bateau and J. Crew.

www.petit-bateau.us

www.jcrew.com

Now the hardest part -- the language. What I've found to be helpful is watching French cinema. I particularly love anything that stars Audrey Tatou or Marion Cotillard. They are two French women that exude the simple elegance typically associated with the French culture. With Audrey's quirky, indie rolls to Marion's deeper emotional cinematic portrayals, I have a movie to satisfy whatever mood I happen to be in. While I still have to watch with the subtitles on (this isn't a secret miracle to learning French), the more I watch the more familiar I become with common phrases and the mannerisms attached to speaking French. Hey, every little bit helps.

Audrey Tatou (google images)

Marion Cotillard (google images)

xoxo

Krystyne