First- the lesson
Lotus and I went to France to see the iconic art and architecture in person.
And I went with the wrong attitude.
On previous visits to Paris some years ago, I found the people stuck-up and unfriendly.
This visit proved that my prejudice was just that, using a small sample to generalize the majority.
I found people to be very friendly and helpful, just everyday people, those who were not paid in any way for their help.
Being a New Yorker, I sort of accept the arms-distance attitude as a city thing.
But our experience didn’t bear that out at all.
To begin, at CDG airport, I asked a worker about our destination, and he not only helped, but shepherded us through Immigration, saving us a wait of hours, and accompanied us to a point near the car rental hub. Then, once we reached Montigny-sur-loing, our final destination, we found that we had no street number to find our house. So we mistakenly disturbed someone else, who got dressed and helped us find the right location. Later, he informed us about places to shop. Lucky? Yes, but it alerted me to a different attitude than I was expecting.
In general, the people were friendly and helpful. A couple people even stopped on the street to inquire about where we were from and where we were going. One man, with whom and his wife we ended up spending some lovely time, stopped his car on the street to compliment us on our Slubbie shirts.
As with all prejudices, mine were founded on a bullshit foundation and never stand up to reality. Lesson learned.
The Revelation
Lotus and I are naturalists. We are committed, as is clearly emphasized by our plant-dyed clothing, to people doing their part to preserve and improve our planet, or at least our part of the planet. We have no plastic in our home, cook with Japanese donabe made from clay, plant as many vegetables as we can with deer, groundhogs and squirrels who are only too willing to share, and eat only real food; veggie and fruit scraps skins, etc. are put in compost holes, not the trash.
So the revelation was how well this part of France resonated with us—miles away, but we felt at home.
The respect for nature and the environment comes with the territory there. Centuries-old buildings which still look very clean and only gently-aged, narrow unimproved roads, local food and produce, NO plastic. Even the French national food—the baguette—is fresh daily and a fanfrkintastic staple food.
There is a centuries-old viaduct which runs through the town which is now used for train tracks to and from Paris. Everything, from the centuries-old architecture adapted to modern times (OMG very narrow streets and roads!) was still looking clean and robust.
These principles are reflected in our Lotus & Michael clothing. Plant-dyed, long-wearing, multifunctional wear that saves the planet and our customers’ budget. Our love for nature is glorified and signified in our embroideries.
For example, our latest FW style which I love is called Slubbie, a natural-indigo dyed rough-hewn woven that could pass for a thermal knit in both look and comfort. It is completed by a bright yellow Chrysanthemum embroidery that make it both a fashion statement and a—well, statement about what our beliefs and priorities are.
Here’s a pic and a link:
https://www.lotusandmichael.com/products/slubbie-lotus-indigo-plant-dyed-thermal-shirt
In fact, we each took only two outfits, and they were perfectly comfortable and appropriate for the chilly French fall.
When we entered the small Carrefour store which is the main shopping location for the town (or at least it was for us), there is no plastic to be found. The locally grown fruits and vegetables can be wrapped in recyclable paper; the meat counter uses butcher paper to wrap your purchase of locally grown meats and cold cuts. Perfect! We felt the affinity.
Sure, there is packaged food available, but not the overwhelming shelf-occupier as it is in the US. Judging by the purchases of most of the people at checkout, they are real-food eaters.
(Except for one disturbing incident. A family checking out in front of us with three young kids had multiple bottles of Coca-Cola, original and sugar-free. We were really disappointed that the reach of sugary beverages had seduced this family).
Within walking distance of where we stayed, there were forests where you could forage for mushrooms, and then get a free judgment from the local pharmacy as to whether they would kill you or not.
I went to that pharmacy because I had not brought my nasal spray and my nose was running like a waterfall. I was pleased to see that the remedy the pharmacist gave me (cheap! Like 2 Euros), was plant-based. And it worked!
So here we were, Lotus and I who sometimes feel like strangers in a strange land with our naturalist lifestyle, in a place where it was—normal.
We also noticed that people were generally taller in that part of the world. Is this a coincidence or a result?
Our mission is to make what we experienced in Montigny-sur-liong normal here in the US. For the planet and for our own health, that is the way to be. Americans have been overcome and manipulated by the power and greed of the big companies, and our collective health has suffered.
For me, I felt like a little bit of a hypocrite because I teach and preach Krishnamurthi’s choiceless awareness and Bruce Lee’s empty your mind in my NYU strategy classes, but yet I went to France after many years with some preconceived ideas. I realized that those concepts are easy to preach, harder to do. The good news, though, is I readily opened my mind to the fact that what I had been thinking was wrong.
What we weren’t wrong about was the multifunctionality and unique beauty of Lotus & Michael’s plant-dyed garments, even in a totally different environment. We got lots of compliments and lots more looks because a. we were well-dressed and b. we two wore the same styles:
Jacket: “Papillon” -potato-dyed roughwear jacket with butterfly (Papillon) embroidery on pocket: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/products/papillon-lotus-potato-dyed-jacket (same jacket available for men)
Pants: “Tater”- Potato-dyed man-tailored trousers with signature trim and our double happiness embroidery: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/products/tater-michaels-man-tailored-potato-dyed-pants (same trousers available for women, pictured above)
Pants: “Bambo x Happiness” plant indigo-dyed man-tailored trousers with signature trim and our double happiness embroidery: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/products/bamboo-x-happiness-lotus-pants (same trousers available for men)
Shirt: “Leap” gardenia-dyed shirt with grasshopper embroidery: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/products/leap-michael-s-go-to-shirt (same shirt available for women)
Shirt: “Slubbie” plant indigo-dyed thermal look shirt with chrysanthemum embroidery: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/products/slubbie-michaels-indigo-plant-dyed-thermal-shirt (same product available for women, pictured above)
That’s all we took for one week (no checked baggage), that’s all we wore. And, as we have been claiming, they were perfect on every occasion- Fontainebleau, Barbizon, Monet’s garden and house at Giverny, forest foraging. If you want to see more, take a look at our YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP5akQ88HS0&t=41s
Let’s see where life takes us next time. This one was an eye-opener. And a welcoming environment.
