I don’t know if you came here following a recommendation or because you are planning your next trip to Paris, but I’m really happy to have you here. So pour yourself a glass of wine, play your favourite chansons in the background, and let’s get started.
So let’s start at the very beginning. My name is Zvi, the owner and creator of this site, and I’m a Francophile, meaning a person who loves French culture. How can you “practice” your Francophilia? There are two main ways of doing just that. The first one is simply going to France, and the other is to enjoy the different aspects of the French culture. This site can help you with both.
Travelling to Paris?
This site is called “Francophiles Anonymous”, which means that it is a website dedicated not only to Paris, but also to the entire country of France. However, Paris has a special place in my heart since I was three years old, and for that reason I decided to dedicate a whole section of the site to the City of Lights. In this section, you will find tour routes, restaurant recommendations, information about tourist attractions, hotels and more. If this is your first trip to Paris, don’t miss my “Paris for beginners” category, which was created especially for you. This section provides you with all of the basic information you might need, such as how to enjoy Paris without getting bankrupt.
But before we continue, here is a word of advice that is relevant to the entire site. Francophiles Anonymous was originally created in Hebrew, and contains more than 400 posts. Needless to say, translating 400 posts takes time, and even quite a lot of it. Since I didn’t want to wait for all the articles to be translated before launching the English version of this site, I decided to launch it even if it currently contains only a handful of posts. Therefore, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, you have two options: learn Hebrew or contact me, as I would be more than happy to provide free advice (that way I would also know which type of posts you’re looking for, and prioritize my translation efforts accordingly).
Before we continue: A French cabaret - A perfect way to end a perfect day in Paris
Do you plan to visit one of the beautiful regions of France?
Excellent! In spite of my love for the City of Lights, I find France to be an intriguing and diverse country full of beauty, interesting history, and great food. This is why every time I visit Paris, I also try to take at least a couple of days and visit the other French regions. For those of you who decide to do the same, I created the section Useful information about France. There you will find some interactive maps where one can find tourist attractions, restaurants, recommended hotels, and more. These maps cover Alsace-Lorraine, Britanny, Normandy, Provence, Perigord, and other regions. I didn’t stop there, of course, and together with some Francophile friends I have written numerous posts about these regions (to be translated soon). My goal is to provide you all the information you might require to make your next trip an unforgettable experience (and by unforgettable, of course, I don’t mean being chased by an angry French farmer or anything of the sort).
As you may already know, France is the largest country in Europe, and each of its regions deserves a site for itself. Since my vacation days are quite limited, it would be pretentious for me to say that I know well each and every region in France. This is where you come into the picture. The site is called “Francophiles Anonymous” for a good reason. My aim is to create a large community of people who love France, and who share their knowledge with similar minded people. If you travelled to any of the French regions and would like to share your knowledge, please contact me, and I will be more than happy to post your articles on my site.
Will our relationship remain purely virtual?
Definitely not! There is nothing I like more than to meet my readers outside the virtual world. How can we do this?
First of all, I would be delighted to meet you in Paris during one of my stays there, as part of the tours that I organize from time to time. Sadly, my vacation days don’t allow me to visit the City of Lights as much as I want to, and as a result, these events are quite rare.
Another way would be to come to my French culture lectures, which I currently organize in Guernsey and sometimes in Israel (when I come for a visit). Not only will you be able to meet me face to face, but you will also enjoy an evening full of French culture mixed with humour.
Finally, if you happen to come to Guernsey and wish to spend a pleasant evening in one of its excellent restaurants and chat about anything, you are more than welcome to contact me. And now would be a great time to start planning your next trip to France, to explore and to love.
Bon voyage!
