Paul from Paris

1. Quelles sont les compétences que j'ai développées ? Réponse à compléter par des illustrations précises.
2. Quelle est la pierre que j'ai apportée, c'est-à-dire qu'est-ce que j'ai contribué à la société d'accueil ? Cette pierre porte-elle mes initiales, c''est-à-dire mon apport est-il identifiable ?
3. Quelles sont les qualités que j'ai le plus appréciées auprès de mes collègues ?
4. Quel a été le moment le plus difficile au cours de mon stage ? Pourquoi a-t-il été difficile ?
5. Qu'est-ce que j'ai fait pour encourager la société d'accueil à prendre d'autres stagiaires, notamment issus de mon programme ?
6. Qu'est-ce que j'aurais fait autrement si tout était à refaire ?
7. A présent, qu'est-ce que j'aimerais faire ?

Here's a little secret for travelers: it's great to visit Paris in the summer.

During the months of July and August, daytime temperatures are usually pleasantly comfortable. You feel at ease, without having to wear beach clothes. For a few weeks every year, temperatures warm up, but for the most part Paris is much cooler than Seville or Rome or Athens (or New York or Tokyo). And because Paris is at a northern latitude (compared to the US), summer days are noticeably long.

The big plus of the summer months is having substantially more breathing room. Parisians leave town en masse, so crowds thin out (especially from Bastille Day on July 14 and Assumption on August 15). You can find a seat on the bus or at a restaurant. There are still plenty of people in the city: the buses keep running, restaurants stay open. Although some establishments do close (usually for three or four weeks), others are open.

Between the weather, the long daylight hours, and the relative lack of crowds, morning and evening strolls are especially rewarding. Strollers might notice what I see as the biggest drawback to Summer in Paris: the presence of clochards (the French sounds better than "bums" or "vagrants" or the homeless; these people, mostly men, spend most of their time (day and sometimes night) outdoors and as a rule have alcohol or drug problems). I can't figure out whether the clochard population remains constant but becomes more visible because the overall population has thinned out; or whether additional clochards flock to Paris in the summer months.

Visitors this year may be puzzled by some signs at cafes and restaurants that proclaim VAT at 5.5%. After years of pleading, France got the green light from the European Commission to lower VAT charged on restaurant meas from 19.6% to 5.5%.

In France, VAT is included in the customer price. So a menu offered at €119.60 last year included the €100 rice of a meal, plus €19.60 in VAT. Today, the VAT collected by the restaurant on a €100 meal has fallen to €5.50.

The French government had bet that restaurants would drop price (for example, from €119.60 to €105.50), which would encourage people to dine out more, which in turn would encourage restaurants to hire more workers.

This being France, things haven't worked out that way. Many haven't changed their prices. When challenged, their claim that their costs have risen. But some restaurants have nt only dropped their prices to pass on to the consumer the benefit of the lower VAT rate, but they also use this point as a selling point to bring in diners.

What are kids –young people, 15-year olds– wearing in Paris these days? someone asked me.

The obvious answer: sportswear. Two brands hold particular sway: Abercrombie & Fitch, and American Apparel.

In their native America, both brands have developed a reputation with risque advertising.

Abercrombie & Fitch is partial to black-and-white shots of groups of shirtless, hairless, young men; to me, they look like a riff off Bruce Weber's work for Calvin Klein a few decades ago.

American Apparel doesn't have a single look or theme, but it likes seemingly impromptu, Polaroid-style moments with young women, often on a on a couch or rumpled bed. The photographer seems to take a prurient interest in the model, to which the model seems oblivious; the photographer is letting us in on a dirty joke.

In their campaigns, both brands share this: they court controversy, and they seem calculated to inflame a raw nerve with parents.

But here's what amazes me: neither company advertises in France (or, if they do, the advertising is quiet and confidential), and young French shoppers are unaware and unsuspecting of the brand's sultry reputation in the US.

In France, Abercrombie & Fitch is popular much as Levi's jeans were in the days of the Soviet Union. They're imported from the US (or from a lone European outpost in London), and they send a message more subtle than an "I [heart] New York" (or an Obama "Hope") t-shirt. The apparel otherwise seems in sync with comfortable, egalitarian apparel that young people favor.

American Apparel takes the egalitarianism a step further. There's no brand. But it's identifiable from thirty paces. What makes the line distinctive, what sets it apart, are color selection and, to a lesser extent, how garments are cut. I've often walked past its Paris store, which is low-key, even boring-looking.

How did either of these brands take root among young Parisians? It's a mystery to me.

Will the new law on opening shops on Sundays change life in France? Will it lead to Americanization? Expansion of consumer culture?

Probably not, for two reasons.

First, the law is hopelessly complicated (as discussed in a previous post). It's hard to understand or to apply. Instead of freeing up the economy, the new law politicizes business decisions on store openings. Savvy businesses like Ikea that depend on Sunday shopping –that's when families are together– long ago reached a modus vivendi with employees and government; everyone's happy.

Second, the big lifestyle change already occurred. It happened when French businesses decided to stay pen during the lunch hour. This could be from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm, or from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

In any case, business came to standstill for a few hours each day. Most people ate lunch at home. A few, mostly in the cities, ate at restaurants. But everyone paused at midday. Stores and businesses closed.

Today, this has changed. The culprit is urbanization: in the countryside and smaller towns, a midday break still is the norm. But in urban areas, most people eat lunch near their workplace. Many eat on-site, at cafeterias. The lunch hour is still very long –90 or 120 minutes– so people also use their lunchtime to run errands. This in turn prods businesses to stay open at midday.

The end point of the process is the sandwich shop. In Paris, these are everywhere, often with long lines at midday.

As any attentive visitor can attest, there's been a change in Europeans' views of the US since American voters elected Barack Obama president. As a French resident, I've been stunned by the scope of the sea change.

A recently published study by the Pew Research Center offers data on the changing views of the US and American policies. Two items stand out:

1. Viewing the US favorably

Since Obama took office, Europeans have been looking at the US much more favorably:

                 2008          2009
France        42%            75%
UK              53%            69%
Germany     31%            64%
Spain          33%            58%

2. Do you agree that the US will do the right thing in world affairs?             

                 2008          2009
Germany     13%            93%
France        14%            91%
UK              16%            86%
Spain            8%            72%

The numbers are remarkable, and the Pew study (in all, more than 200 pages) merits attention.