Fashion designer/painter Klein is fed up with her life. So,
indulging in her childhood fantasy of moving to Paris, she
finds herself on a plane with her deranged cat - and no
real plan. After getting to Paris and without speaking the
language, Klein lies and cheats her way to get a fabulous
apartment with hardly any furniture.
Klein's main goal is to settle down with a gorgeous man and
have many French babies. She meets the English-language-
challenged Gilles, Chef Nico, the gorgeous Le Creep
Alexandre and the famous ex-boyfriend Thierry. Each man
helps her to find friends and shows her the beautiful
landscapes of France.
Along with her manhunt, Klein focuses on her painting and
displays one in a gallery. She learns a new medium and
somehow, during her two years in Paris, she finally finds
her place and realizes that men aren't necessary, but they
are good company.
This is a great story of love and adversity and shows that
everyone should follow his or her dreams. Though Klein goes
through many hardships, her story always seems believable.
Ms. Lobe's descriptions of Paris made me want to drop
everything and live just like Klein. I enjoyed how this
book was set up with a look at Klein's relationships. This
is a great novel with a lot of heart.
Klein is a New York fashionista with a great résumé, a
terrific boyfriend (on paper), and a show-stopping Tribeca
triplex. She has trunkfuls of fabulous footwear, but not
the significant relationship she'd longed-no, expected-to
have by now. And there's one other thing: she's gaga for
France, for French men, for la vie francaise. Fleeing her
Big-Shot Boyfriend and their sleek loft, and bidding adieu
not just to a job but to her career, Klein starts over in
Paris. From a tiny walk-up in the 7th that she had to lie
(in broken Franglais) to get, Klein plunges into the
mysterious world of Gallic Men: the casually sexy Renaud, a
prototypical Frenchman with a flute of Moët and Galoise
always at the ready; three men named Jean whom she dates
simultaneously; and a completely wrong Monsieur Married
Aristocrat who wants Klein for his very well-kept mistress.
An American in Paris never had life so good-Café de Flore,
painting in a garret, afternoons in the Jardins de
Luxembourg-or so bad. Every day is a new struggle to fit
into the maddening, unique manners and mores of Paris. But
Klein isn't going to get over her passion for France and
its men anytime soon.