December Things: Festive scamming, Parisian Gift Guides, Cheese Goals

Your monthly quick hits from Franchement, December edition.

I usually use these little monthly newsletters as a way to give Paris recommendations for the folks who are here for that, and to give shout-outs to people doing cool stuff on Substack. But this month, my number one motivation for getting this newsletter out is to implore you: do not go to the “Lumières de la Nature” at Jardin des Plantes this year!

I feel embarrassed and scammed after dragging my family to this, especially because we had my parents with us from out of town. I built it up all week, based on the giant, lighted dinos and insects of previous years. Instead, we were met with a few projections of rocks, some of them broken, more projections of AI animations that my child accurately described as “tele,” and then a ten-minute walk in the dark with absolutely nothing to look at. I don’t know if the budget wasn’t there, if some new hotshot was trying to make a name by “disrupting” the light show landscape, but the result was giving Jardin des Plantes Fyre Festival Edition. My mom rated it 2 out of 10, and comments on the Jardin’s Instagram were enthusiastically panning this year’s “effort.”

If I had more energy to put into a French customer service situation, I’d try to campaign for a refund. Instead, I’ll just do my civic duty and tell you to get your lighted extravaganza vibes elsewhere.

I was in a grumpy mood so I definitely contributed my two cents to the comments section.

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Around Paris

Mimi Sando

Mimi Sando: After looking at the vitrines de noel at Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, we happened to duck into a freshly opened spot, Mimi Sando, for a coffee and a cookie. The blush-colored space looked great, the desserts and sandos in the window were too tempting to ignore, and they were playing jazz at exactly the right volume (sadly, confusingly, the music was not coming from any of the records on the walls, but from a playlist). The chocolate chip cookie we tried was one of the best I’ve had this year, and I (unsurprisingly) have strong opinions on chocolate chip cookies. Will need to go back for a delectable-looking cheesecake I saw but didn’t sample. Mimi Sando, 31 rue de Richelieu, 75001 Paris

iRASSHAi: iRASSHAi is by no means new to Paris; I believe this Japanese concept store/cantine/cafe/place of wonder has been around since 2023. I finally stopped by for coffee after visiting the Pinault Collection, and I couldn’t get enough of the place, literally. I came back for lunch the next week, then brought my family to lunch the week after that, and did some Christmas shopping there too. I’d lunch there today if I weren’t busy writing this newsletter. I want to try every dessert, to-go option, soy sauce, spice, rice, and snack that they have to offer. I enjoyed the chicken karaage and café filtre served in the most beautiful glass, and my friend had great things to say about the Sarasin hot chocolate she ordered. While they’re not trying to be a family-friendly spot necessarily, the kids’ menu was refreshingly unpatronizing, and there is a changing table in the bathroom, a rare find in Paris. iRASSHAi, 40 rue du Louvre, 75001 Paris

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Around France

Uh, did y’all hear this (almost) big residence permit news? The French National Assembly approved a bill that would allow for automatic renewal of residence permits. This makes a lot of sense, given that 99% of permit renewals are approved anyway, wait times are crazy, and the crippling backlog exists just to address the 1% of requests that aren’t approved. The bill still has to be approved by the Senate, and debate around the bill is apparently very zesty, so I doubt it will actually go through. But the thrill and lightness I felt at reading the headline gave me enough joy to last me the rest of the year.

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Around Substack

The dreaded line outside the prefecture. Actually, last time I was there, the ops were tight, the lines were flowing, and I got in and out with my new visa in 45 minutes.

Work in France: Speaking of visas, I found Roberto and Carolyn’s first-person account of visa switching very interesting and helpful. The which visa? How visa? How taxes? conundrum is a rabbit hole we’ve all had to navigate, made worse that the visa types and rules around them seem to shift annually.

Cheese Goals: I felt inspired to augment my cheese ambitions after I read this interview with cheese expert Jennifer Greco, aka @ChezLoulouFrance over on one of my favorite Substacks, What's Up, Paris? In addition to being an inspiring career switcher and cheese workshop leader, Jennifer has major cheese goals. She is on a mission to try every cheese variety in France, and has tried hundreds so far. Read more about her deep cheese knowledge over at What’s Up Paris?

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Around Franchement

I didn’t realize I had quite so many holiday-related articles in the archives, but apparently I do, and I’ve temporarily removed the paywall from them in honor of the Christmas season.