Sometimes, you have to let things marinate before you form your real opinions on them, this is the case with Bravo’s new offering Real Girlfriends in Paris, okay so it’s not so new, by now everyone’s at least seen the preview and knows that it comes on both Bravo and is streaming on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.
It follows the lives of young creative ex-pats in Paris, and so far, it’s fascinating, because let’s face it, the Parisian way of life is so different from our own hustle culture. In one of the episodes the young ones say that while it’s normal to bounce from job to job in the US, in France, there is a waiter that has been a waiter for 50 years and that is his job, no waiting tables until he makes it, he just waits tables for a living – practically unheard of in American culture nowadays.
So what’s the deal with Real Girlfriends in Paris?
There is a young 30-40 something called Anya Firestone, who is actually an NYC Native from Hell’s Kitchen, however, she lives in Paris with her husband, Matthieu. Interesting story of how they first met, she thought that he was gay when she first met him, however, she soon learned, not unlike Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical that he was not gay, rather, just European and the rest is history.
He seems pretty well-adjusted so far, unlike a lot of other reality TV spouses, and let’s Anya pretty much do whatever she wants. So far he doesn’t seem too bothered by the gaggle of junior girls she is flanked by, nor the tiny poodle (name Jashi) that she carries everywhere, but then, it would seem that whenever he’s around, she makes sure that their time is not interrupted.
The girls have the most adorable nickname for her, “Mamanya” and she mentors them much like a second Mom, even though it could be argued that she is probably no older than Xennial age herself. You can tell that Anya has a good heart, but she gives off vibes that could come off as “particular” and “snippy” in some scenarios, oh well, no one’s perfect, so we’ll give Anya a pass this time.
The next girl we meet is Margaux Lignel, Margaux is only 26 and grew up between New York and Paris, both of her parents are French and right now she’s kind of in between positions so she’s relying on her Dad to support her, even though she says she does not want to continue to do that and says it’s “not a good look” she says she is more American than French, so that might account for that sort of bootstrap mentality.
Poor girl had the awfullest battle getting her fridge fixed, if it weren’t for Anya she would still be putting her groceries out on the window ledge! (Apparently in Paris, even in apartment buildings, it’s like pulling teeth to get someone to come and fix things… yike!)
And then we meet Victoria Zito, at first glance she sort of reminds you of Blair Waldorf of the OG Gossip Girl fame – but just imagine if perfect Blair had a secret on top of all the secrets that she already had in the Upper East Side.
Victoria says she grew up in Sunnyvale, Texas, in a very conservative Christian family who expected her to marry a man… but… the heart wants what it wants and Victoria’s heart didn’t want to limit herself to the idea of straight relationships – as it turns out she is bisexual. At Anya’s “American in Paris Thanksgiving Dinner” she announced it to her French “found family” and they all embraced her. Such a sweet sentiment!
She is not out to her real like family yet, she said that she didn’t exactly fit into their little box of what was approved and unapproved… so we’ll see how any of that goes down in future episodes or if she ever decides to come out to them at all. Just from her description… well, we’re just glad she was in Paris when she announced the news.
Adja Toure, who is only 24, actually has an Ivy League degree from Cornell University and grew up speaking French so it comes to her naturally, but some people confuse her with being French Canadian which offends her deeply because according to her, “The French Canadian accent is atrocious!” props to her, she doesn’t sound anything like any French Canadian that we’ve ever heard, so there’s that we suppose.
Emily Gorelik is one of those NYU students who decided to spend a semester abroad and then decided to stay. Of course, she had reasons, she was going to expand the family business (her Mother’s interior design company) to Paris, France, but she’s a little torn as to whether or not she truly wants to do that or just strike out on her own and do something. Either way it looks like she’s entangled with the family business and breaking away right now might prove more trouble than its actually worth, but we’ll see what the future holds for her.
Kacey Margo is the one who probably has the most down to earth job of the bunch. Originally a California native, she teaches English in a French Classroom and has had to bounce from Cali, to NY, to Paris for a few years and currently she is undergoing some visa problems but she is determined to get a work visa so she can stay permanently in Paris. I mean, we can’t really blame her, it is the city of lights after all.
It’s refreshing, seeing how the other half lives. You would think that these American ex-pats have it all made, but they’re just a bougier version of your average college student. Granted, some of them are very bougie (not every college student has a position with Chloe Collette) but it’s refreshing to see them live their lives almost as normally as we do back home here in the states… almost, it is France after all, and some things are going to be decidedly different.
But we’re here for the drama, we’re here for the tea, the dating, mating, relating, and everything that goes with it and it looks like these chicks are happy to provide. Stay tuned!!!
