Saturday, May 21, 2011

Paris in July - 2011


Here it is!!!! For the second year Karen from Bookbath, and I have decided to come together to host "Paris in July", a month long blogging experience to celebrate our love of all things French and Parisian. We just loved the experience last year, we just had to do it again.

For those of you who participated last year, the guidelines for the event will be pretty much the same (although we reserve the right to throw in some surprises here and there). Paris in July will run from the 1st - 31st July 2011 and the aim of the month is to celebrate our French experiences through reading, watching, listening to, observing, cooking and eating all things French.

I will actually be in France during July this year so, taking on the role of French Correspondent, I hope to be able to post from the scene!

My travel plans include some time in Paris, then actually riding my bike along with the Tour de France through the Pyrenees and the Alps from July 11 - 24th. Then I will be in Montpellier for two weeks attending an intensive French language program. This means I will be able to post on regional cuisine, art, culture and local history and geography. I will also be able to investigate or research any questions participants choose to send me during the month... Imagine what fun we can have with that!

There will be no rules or targets in terms of how much you need to do or complete in order to be a part of Paris in July - just blog about anything French and you can join in. Some ideas for the month might include:

- Reading a French book - fiction or non-fiction

- Watching a French movie

- Listening to French music

- Cooking French food

- Experiencing French art, architecture or travel (lucky Tamara!)

- Or anything else French inspired you can think of...

If you are interested in being a part of this experience leave a comment on this post and we will put together a side bar showing all of the participants. There will be weekly French themed prizes during the month for which we will randomly draw the winners from all the French themed posts of that week that link back to us. We will also be writing weekly wrap up posts for you to link your posts to.

We have designed a couple of images to represent our Paris in July experience so feel free to add these to your blog if you are joining us. We will write posts leading up to the start of Paris in July to give you some ideas about what you might like to include and to share the books, films, music etc... that we are planning to experience ourselves during the month.

Looking forward to travelling to Paris with you in July!

13 comments:

Tamara said...

Wow, there's already 16 others signed up over at Bookbath! Thanks so much for the support.

JoAnn said...

I'm so glad you and Karen are hosting again this year...and how wonderful that you will actually be in France!! Looking forward to July.

ds said...

Oh, my, I am jealous of your upcoming trip. Guess I'll have to participate vicariously--so please sign me up; last year was great fun! Thank you.

Heidenkind said...

w00t! Glad you guys are hosting it again this year.

Anonymous said...

I'll be joining y'all again this year. I've just come back from Paris so I'm still in a French fog:)

Karen said...

Hi T and everyone - it's great to see so many people jumping on board for this again. I'm so excited already!

Unknown said...

I used to live in Paris and dreeam of going back and delving into all things French. I am THERE!

Bybee said...

Tres cool! Count me in! I've got Cousin Bette by Balzac (?) and Simone de Beauvoir's Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, ready for the occasion.

Bellezza said...

Please sign me up! I'm going to read Hemingway's A Moveable Feast and The Most Beautiful Walk In The World by John Baxter. Also, I'm hoping to get in some more Emile Zola. Such fun1

annell4 said...

How wonderful! I would love to go to Paris!

Anonymous said...

well, I'm French, leaving in the US, and I do constantly things French, such as cooking, teaching French, so that would not be a challenge, but I would like to recommend to you all The Greater Journey, by David McCullough, about Americans in Paris between 1830-1900; it is a fantastic book, that fits perfectly here. You will love it!
here is my review:
http://wordsandpeace.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/my-review-45-the-greater-journey/
Emma @ Words And Peace

Tanya Norton said...

This sounds like such fun! I have just found your blogs tonight (I am a new blogger)and would love to participate in 'Paris in July'. I totally dream of relocating to France but my best friend (who is French) insists it wouldn't work!! Never say never I keep telling her! Ed. xx

Lisbeth said...

I am in on my favourite challenge. How lucky you are Tamara to be in France at exactly this time. Looking forward to reading your local sphere posts.
I will also be on the road with our new camper van. We will go to the north of Sweden, so not so much French atmosphere. I hope to be inspired to read some French books or books where the story takes place in Paris. I found one in a common book case where my parents live. I think some of you have already read it; Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop.
Will happily be inspired by your posts of anything French.