La vie en rose is a French expression that denotes having a lighthearted, optimistic outlook on life, with a tinge of naïveté. 

What about la vie en rouge? There is no such expression for "life in the red", but given the glaring and blaring signs of our times, I've decided to invent it.

Red, enraged, is the danger alert, the banner of the battlefield.  Yet, red also contains the contrary: the red of desire, a red to warm our hearts, a red to inspire. Red is a dazzling and ever-so-dainty poppy.

​​

This is perhaps our lesson for such red-alert times as these. Who knows, in the end, what good may come from the bad, and what bad may sneak out of good intentions? 

Who knows what to make of red, if not to accept it all single-shadedly?

​​

Red speaks in berries, lush and sweet,

A whispered promise, ripe to eat.

Red blares in sirens, urgent, loud,

A flashing fear that flames a crowd

Color of passion, of power, paid in strife,

Red is our blood, the currency of human life.

​

In this “strawberry season” issue of Déjà Magazine, I invite you to Brittany, the world capital of those blissful berries, and in particular to a soon-to-be-inaugurated temple of culinary delight. 

Returning to Paris, as we always do, you’ll discover what lies just south of the “red-light” district called Pigalle. SoPi, as it's now called, is the downhill slide from Montmartre into the 9th arrondissement. 

​​​

Under the Buyer’s Guide heading, I’ll provide some sense of current not-so-red-hot real estate prices, and for our “Peek Inside” you’ll see some fine properties located in some of the red zones (where prices are the highest). 

​​

Under “Finer French” I intend to have you blushing red with a novel notion of la séduction in a tribute to the rustle of Spring.

​​

Finally, I’ll woozy you with a few words about red wine. "A Tale of Terroir" taken from my book “Exquisite: Facets of my France.”