BET domine Los Angeles depuis Mardi !

La chaine Afro-Americaine populaire BET (Black Entertainment Television) a celebre le plus grand evenement annuel de musiq noir Americaine a savoir le rap, la soul, mais n’oublions pas non plus la categorie de cimema, et devinez qui etait present sur place ? Moi, la petite beurette de Hollywood, bais oui, car en effet ca ce passait just a cote de chez moi …au Hollywood Shrine Auditorium. Tout le monde etait la, Beyonce et son petit ami Jay Z, mais egalement, Nelly, T-Pain, Bootsy Collins, public enemy, piddi D, Eve, Kelley, Flavor Flav, Neo, Lyod, T.I (quelle beau gosse !) Ce qui etait vraiment chouette c’etait le fait qu’une chaine de television comme BET aient prie le temps de celebrer tout les anciens « heavy weights » de la soul a savoir Diana Ross, la reine du son Motown, Gerald Levert récemment decede. Ce spectacle etait vraiment emouvant.. Franchement, le fait que BET est honorer la memoire de Gerald Levert mais aussi James Brown, le parrain de la Soul, demontre une grande affection mais egalement un respect profond pour les patriarches de la soul, car en effet, il ne faut pas oublier que tout les rappeurs de notre epoque se sont inspirer de leurs musique.

T Pain & Young Joc at the house of Blues on Sunset !

Pour tout les oufs de R&B, ne ratez surtout pas la visite de T-Pain ( la nouvelle signature du label Konvikt) mais aussi le rappeur Young Joc, a la maison du blues (celle sur Sunset Blvd) otherwise known as the house of blues www.hob.com/sunsetstrip, T-Pain y sera présent ce Mardi a 20H00. Pour ceux qui ne savent pas qui est T-Pain bais faudrait kan meme sortir un peux plus !!! T-Pain est la nouvelle sensation americaine du son R&B, il a embrase les ondes americaines surtout ici a los Angeles avec ces nouveaux hits singles « I am in love with a stripper » mais egalment un hit encore plus recent « I m buy u a Drank ». Tres talente, T Pain est egalement un auteur, rappeur, producteur ainsi qu’in compositeur et interprete. Si vous ne l’avez pas encore fait, je vous recommande tres fortement d’acheter vos tickets.

Les boites de nuits...

My pick of the day will be the Montmartre Lounge in heart of hollywood, next to hollywood & highland and just a few minutes from dwn L.A.. C'est un endroit tres kool et grave branche frequente pas la Jet Set de Los Angeles. Pour plus d'info http://www.mlhollywood.com/
Si vous passez dans le centre ville de L.A. otherwise known as downtown L.A., ne ratez surtout pas le club standard, il s'agit d'un hotel dont le club est parche en haut meme du gratte-ciel (la grande classe) avec une vue magnifique du centre ville de L.A.. Le DJ assure a fond avec un melange de R&B, Hip Hop, et de la House musik, la JET SET de hollywood y est tres forte presente, et ce qui rend l'endroit encore plus magique, c'est la piscine perchee sur le toit du gratte ciel... ca assure a fond ! L'hotel standard est tout d'abord un Hotel avec deux locations : sur West L.A. ainsi que sur Dowtown Los Angeles, en ce qui me concerne, je n'ai pas encore eu l'occasion d'aller visiter le Standard de West L.A. , pas de probs, je remet ca pour la semaine prochaine ! http://www.standardhotel.com/

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Decouvrir La Banlieu, et choses a ne pas rater !

The sujet du jour will be over the Inland Empire otherwise known as I.E..
Located about 20 miles east of L.A. and off the 210 east FYW, this humongous area is comprised of many cities and stretches all the way out to San Bernardino & Riverside Counties; cities that are included are Covina, Glendora, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fontana… all of which are cities belonging to the Inland Empire. Most of those cities can be described as “blue collard & middle class”, however one thing I did notice having lived in Pomona for a hot New York minute, is the stigma associated with living there. People in L.A. tend to look down on I.E. folks, kind of like Neuilly vs. Seine St-Denis phenomenon . Undoubtedly the money & glamour is west of the I.E., however from an objectionable point of view, one cannot ignore that more homes are build there than anywhere else in California and the I.E. has one of the fastest real estate growth of U.S.A. Homes are also much cheaper there. However I lived there shortly and driving to work to L.A. was the hell of a commute. To put things in proper perspective driving from Pomona to Downtown L.A. would only take me 25 to 30 minutes MAX without traffic, however during work week this would turn out into 1:30 minutes chaotic inferno!! Back & forth, bumper to bumper style!! Unless you’re in for long commutes, I wouldn’t recommend it. Another drawback of living in the I.E. as a Frenchie was that I was the only Frenchie there! There weren’t anything to do from a cultural & culinary stand point; everything that goes on really happens in L.A. Also, I did notice that many MANY rednecks & Bush Lovers/followers live there. All these bumper stickers of I support Bush, etcc turned my stomach out !! So not too frenchies friendly..
On the bright side of things, if you’re planning on visiting L.A., take the time to check out Ontario’s mills Mall, the LARGEST mall I have ever been in! Bring some sneakers! You will probably need two or 3 days just to check out all their shops & boutiques and make sure to take your family to Rain Forest Café located in Ontario mills mall! Another spot which I recommend for strolling & shopping is Victoria’s garden which is an outdoor mall located at (909) 463-0115 - 12590 N Main Street in Rancho Cucamonga. This is very similar to the Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles, for more info check out this link http://www.thegrovela.com/ Also in my list of things to do if you’re visiting L.A. in September, MAKE SURE to check out the Los Angeles County Fair located in Fairplex Pomona. This is the LARGEST fair in the world PERIOD. With hundred of activities to choose for the family & kids, and some of the best fair food as well! For more information on this unique fair check out http://www.lacountyfair.com/2007/homepage.asp. Finally when the heats get unbereable, make sure to head to San Dimas Raging water, in San Dimas, CA, one of the largest water park in Southern California, this guarantees you to cool you & the children's off !

Roscoe's Chicken & Waffle ! A ne pas rater !

If you're visiting from France and looking to expand your taste bud beyond the traditional mexican eateries, I urge you to check out Roscoes' house of Chicken Waffle, an institution of its own . With 2 locations to choose from (Hollywood or Pasadena), you're just minutes away from getting a real taste of Soul Food. It may sound weird to have both waffle & chicken on the same plate, but hey this isn't about la bouf francaise, but Chicken & Waffle, d'accord ?
My favorite dishes: Potatoes with scrambled eggs with hot smooth creamy country gravy, Grits, Buiscuits & yes ofcourse the chicken & waffle and oh yeah, you got try their collard green !

http://roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/

Bouffer a Los Angeles sans grossir, mission impossible !

Help! Can anyone please tell me why is it easier to get Lard Fat (a lot people are going hate me for this) than Hollywood skinny? Thankfully for moi, I am lean, sexy young & fabulous, however, I still want the option of eating healthy; and by healthy I don’t mean pre-packaged spinaches, or organic tomatoes that’s the size of a water melon !! All right, I may be exaggerating, but you get the idea? Eating organic will put a whole in my purse, so I will limit organic to special occasion, however, what ever happened to buying some good old camembert and baguette, and not have to pay $ 10.00 for both item ? Is it because it’s French ? Seriously why do French things cost more? Has French food gone Haute Couture or what? What about a box of Couscous? Totally outrageous! Regardless of that, I will not let money come down between me & my camembert, Baii oui, what can I say, I am a Frenchie after all! Regardless of that, it is very challenging to leave a health conscious life when you are always surrounded by greasy fast food stands (mostly my favorites) that offers huge portion fit for a KING, I mean you can have portion tailored for freakin’ Shrek the ogre at the price of $ 5.00. ! Trop grave !

Got question ? Ask a Frenchie !

In the spirit of social and racial correctness, I will raise the oh so touchy subject of race in an attempt to educate my American friends about the fact that France is just as racially diverse as America is. A lot of you americans tend to be unaware of that fact.
Yes it is possible for a person such as myself, a French woman of North African descent to be French ! Ever since I have been in this country, in specific Los Angeles, people have been confusing me for a Mexican, or a person of hispanic descent, mainly by whites but also by others such as latinos, blacks, and everything else in between. Hello : Extra, extra, extra, read all about it : France is JUST as diverse as the good ol' U.S.A. Any Americans who have stepped foot in Paris for example would know that. Not all French people have blond hair or blue eyes ! Oh and one more thing SVP and en passant : I am not an immigrant ! For the record, I am just as French as Geraldine or Julien ! Yes it is possible to be French and be called Malik, or Rachida, or Tarek or even Mehdi ! Zut alors !

In summary, diversity is what makes the world go round ! Never assume, if you don't know just ask a frenchie !

My life under the palm trees- Une rebeu aux States

Bonjour tout le monde, I am a French girl, a Parisian and a transplant who's been living in Los Angeles for almost six years now. I have decided to create this blog, because I have so much to talk about, so much but from an URBAN perspective. Everything that I write about will be from the perspective of a French North African girl, une beurre, rebeu, fatma, en bref, une pettasse bien ds sa peau ! I feel compelled to write and share my experience because as a singled out minority (French-Algerian) living in Los Angeles I feel it's about time, our voice be heard ! I feel inspired to share my unique adventures to those who love & appreciate diversity & France. More importantly I want to send a message to my community back home in my banlieu de St-Denis right on the Paris outskirt, that dreams do come true, at least here in the States, sky's the limit ! If your dream is to move to the U.S.A., don't let anyone come between you and YOUR DREAM.