Rosecrans Baldwin has always dreamed of Paris since his family trip there as a child. He loved the atmosphere, the coffee, the sights, the sounds, and the way it made the people around him feel. The second he saw his mother’s personality change after her first sip of Parisian coffee, he knew he wanted to move to Paris. Then his dream comes true when a friend tips him off about a job in an advertising firm and flies him out to the city of lights to interview for it.
Of course, Baldwin has never worked in advertising and barely speaks French. But those are just minor obstacles on the way to his dream.
Baldwin and his wife pick up their life in New York and move it to a small apartment in Paris. The thing is, as with all dreams, once there in the light of day the City of Light doesn’t quite live up to the memory Baldwin has been building up in his head all these years.
As someone who was a Francophile from a young age but never had the opportunity (and by opportunity I mean financing) to visit Paris I like having the opportunity to see it through different lenses while reading fiction and memoirs. I have a favorite book of French memoirs I got when I was in middle school and nothing yet has lived up to the fabulousness my 12-year-old-self felt for that book. So maybe my review is a bit biased because I’ve already read what, in my mind, is the best French memoir of all time.
Now that that intro is out of the way, “Paris I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” was a good memoir. It was fast-paced enough that I didn’t get bored with it in the middle and the chapters were divided in a way that kept the story flowing without letting any one particular point get overdone. There wasn’t as much humor in the book as was claimed, in fact most of it didn’t seem all that funny (dry humor or otherwise). In fact, there wasn’t really all that much substance to it at all. If taken as a series of vignettes, with a different story each chapter, it’s an interesting and entertaining read. Each story gives you a glimpse into Parisian life, from the red tape surrounding citizenship cards and medical insurance to the social status of owning an instant coffee maker. Taken as a whole, however, as a single book from Chapter 1 to the end, it’s just so-so.
This is the perfect book to get for your stay-cation. Pull up a chair on your patio, make some ice tea, and read these chapter mini-stories for pure enjoyment. I wouldn’t use it as a guide to Paris life or an eye opening memoir that will change your life (it attempts this at the end, but doesn’t carry it off).