We are going to Europe, so I’ve decided to get Paris ready. My yardstick is an “Agnes B” skirt I bought on sale, when Agnes sold through Myer, some years ago.
It is a skirt in search of a waist, which means I have to find mine! Hearing my plight L.A. Darl found an old article in The New York Times, “ Aging Gracefully, the French Way”. It states “The No 1 response to my informal survey of Frenchwomen about the years of magical aging is not gaining weight”. Ever. I knew it!
If a Frenchwoman happens to see an additional kilogram or two on her bathroom scale, she will do whatever is necessary to force the needle back where it belongs. “ I keep my weight steady, no ups and downs” the French actress Leslie Caron, still Gigi-like at 79, said. “ I avoid all excess” She claims to eat all kinds of food in small – her friends say minuscule – portions, and she doesn’t drink alcohol……sounds like a load of laughs……It’s not so much that “ French Don’t get fat”, as the title of Mireille Guiliano’s best seller had it. Rather, Frenchwomen won’t get fat. Hhhhhmmmmmm.
They don’t exercise either…” If Frenchwomen don’t walk enough to stay en forme, there is always a pill, a lotion, a machine or a treatment to do the trick.
Pharmacies have counters full of diet and figure improving remedies. One cream promises “accelerated reduction in the areas resistant to diet” ( hips, thighs and buttocks) no mention of THE WAIST!
A comment from Cincinnati in the States: I lived in France for ten years and must strongly disagree with this article. There are very few French women in my opinion who are natural beauties, and most women go to bizarre lengths to conform to the national standard of attractiveness. Most women diet to the extreme, eating no breakfast, vegetable consommé ( or something similar very low in calories ) for lunch and a small dinner. A friend’s mother reacted with horror when I asked her if she ate bread. Never, not since the war, she responded.”
Another comment from the “Oil Coast “ USA : Sorry, the myth about the French women aging well only exists because of the difference between how America views grown up women and how France does.
Well I’ll be able to see for myself – and you- soon enough, but I think it maybe off to the Gym and hold the baguette for the little fat duck…….
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