Bonjour/hi!
Hello and happy unofficial kickoff to summer! I’m very pleased to share the FP Frenchy 50, Summer Edition, featuring the best of the season’s French fashion, beauty, books, and more. Lovely things from $4 (napkins) to $430 (a very luxurious candle), I hope you might find something you like. (I want the Balzac tank and the cherry-print plates from Monoprix.)
Note!!! Owing to our bicontinental vibe, all the brands featured are French — most ship internationally, a small minority only within France. (A good portion of those with prices in euros will indeed ship beyond French borders.) See it here!
And now, the news from France!
1. It’s Sézane’s big summer sale — get on over to the Archives to see what’s before the rest of the country wakes up.
2. Due to what I have to imagine is a Tesla-like slide in demand for travel between continents — especially from Europe to the U.S. — transatlantic tickets for summer travel are lower than I can personally remember: I’ve seen fares around $500 RT for travel in June and July. (I would normally guess this ticket would cost $1200 on a major carrier.) I actually put a ticket on hold at United, delighted that it was under $1K, only to come back two weeks later and see that the fare had dropped by $120. The cheapest tickets I’ve seen have been on the budget carriers, like Norse — I’ve flown it! it sucks! but it’s fine! — though a friend is coming to visit me in France this summer on a $500+- ticket on American.
If you’re looking to travel to Europe in the next six months, I recommend throwing some dates into Kiwi to look around for the best price (always remembering to book directly through the airline).
3. “I moved from Los Angeles to Paris to live with my boyfriend at 46.” (“Before the move, there was a lot of paperwork.”)
4. Lenny Kravitz’s Paris home is legitimately gorgeous.
5. This is one of those “propaganda I’m not falling for” videos, subject: Paris, and among the victims are: Shakespeare & Co (agreed, it’s too crowded), Angelina’s (ditto), and Polène bags (which I know are French but feel very made-in-NYC).
6. Nicky Bell has a stellar fashion round-up from Cannes — my fave is Gracie Abrams in Chanel.
7. The guy featured in this “May I see your apartment video??” has two incredibly fluffy white cats, a fascinating bathtub, and a very specific top-floor living space.
8. Emily (originally of Paris) has been spotted with one of her boyfriends in Rome, for season 5 of the Netflix show.
9. Ollie Stewart had an incredible resume: “Born in Louisiana in 1906, he was the first Black reporter accredited as a war correspondent during World War II, and after the war, he lived in Paris until his death in 1977.” His grand-niece took his self-penned 1953 guide to the city: ““With money, a companion, a good stomach and an appreciation of good living, Paris can be the most satisfying place in the world — even if you don’t speak the language!”
10. Maybe you would like a quick rundown of Diptyque’s new summer collection?