Quirky illustrations of the City of Lights

Mademoiselle London (hearts) Paris (sometimes) is a new book depicting the exploits of its heroine, Mademoiselle London, in an alluring, if more often than not, hostile Paris. “Bad love affairs, bad grammar and bad hangovers” are its feeding ground and what began life as a website is now a fully-fledged book, combining poems, prose and illustrations.

Mademoiselle London was brought to life by Katya Jezzard-Puyraud and Franki Goodwin. Katya is a writer (film/television/journalism) and thus provides the words, while Franki, who has a background in promotional media and graphic design, provides the artwork. Like their protagonist, they are former Londoners who have decamped to Paris, so it’s probably safe to assume that there is an autobiographical element at play. And as yet another former Londoner who took the Eurostar one-way, I can safely say that I identified with a large number of our character’s emotions and adventures.

Opening the first page of the book, one of the first things that strikes you is its bilingual presentation – every word appears in impeccably translated English and French. This was a conscious decision, partly to reflect the everyday mix of language in their lives, but also in the hope that it may serve as a handy language-leaning tool (“one that slips in swear words and slang”). But there is a final motivation – an aspiration that their translated texts might somehow break down some of the language and cultural barriers that keep the English and French at loggerheads. But they haven’t set their hopes too high – as they say in their press release “they don’t expect over six centuries of bickering to be undone by some bloody poems.”

Paris is an ideal candidate for caricature – its notorious rude waiters and shop assistants, and the snobbishness and condescension that characterise the typical Parisian are among the most well-known of its clichés. Whilst these ideas are often rather hackneyed elsewhere, in Mlle London’s poetry they were treated with such charming subtlety and just the right amount of savage British humour, that I really did find myself doing the forbidden and visibly giggling while reading the book on the metro.

The way the book mixes Paris’s oh-so dazzling setting and the dreams it inspires with the city’s hard reality, is fantastic. Poor Mademoiselle London – doing her very best to fit in, she is all too often brought back down to earth with a thud:

Listen chérie, You may be wearing a Hermès scarf but you still look foreign from here.

(Ecoute chérie, tu as beau porter un foulard Hermès tu as toujours l’air d’une etrangère)

So do you have to know London and/or Paris to enjoy the book? Far from it (although I did enjoy page 16 which explains why someone who spent their youth drinking at North London bus stops has some trouble drinking politely in Paris). You might be simply curious about either or both of these cities, someone who knows what it’s like trying to settle into a new city, or frankly, you might just appreciate some very witty text and sketches that will make you laugh. Mademoiselle London is at her finest when talking about her dating adventures. I cannot resist quoting the following extract from ‘When a girl goes through so many ones, it gets a bit hard to see who the real one’:

Love is in the Parisian air...?

There was this one:
A sparkly Eiffel Tower drive
A chase up the Sacré Coeur
A holding hands at midnight
and
A kiss with a tongue like a stabbing worm

There was this one:
A beard and a beany hat
A night of pastis and stolen tambourines
A riotous clash of teeth and groins
and
A mad Norweigan wife who throws chairs

In between those ones, there were these ones:
“This McDonald’s is expensive”
“Sorry about the sex questions”
“She lives in Strasbourg. She will never know”
and
“I want to come up now
Because next time I might not find you attractive.”

The book features a prominent marked ‘Numéro 1’ in the bottom right hand corner, suggesting future editions – I for one am looking forward to seeing where the next instalment takes our defiant heroine.

Mademoiselle London (hearts) Paris (sometimes) is available from a selection of Parisian bookshops and online here. Find out more on the Mademoiselle London website and you can follow on Twitter @MsMlleLondon.