Portraits of Belleville: The Barber of Belleville

Enough already, you get it: Belleville is all about diversity. And I know I mentioned how that diversity extends to the place where I get my hair cut, where all the barbers are Sri Lankan. So mostly this portrait is an excuse to tell you about my most recent adventure at that barbershop, where (like in many Chinese-owned stores) conversation occurs through a mix of grammatically suspect French, somewhat more intelligible English, and wild gesticulation. We're getting really good at wild gesticulation, if not the other two.

You can't really tell from the picture above, but my barber wasn't actually working on my hair - he was working on my eyebrows. Now, this was a big moment for everyone concerned. Maggie's been on my case to trim my eyebrows for - well, ever since I turned 26 and apparently entered old age. So here I am, finally taking the plunge so the family portrait we take on the cruise looks nice. Meanwhile, my barber had clearly never trimmed an eyebrow before. I know this because when I asked him to do it, he looked to one of the other barbers, asked a question in either Tamil or Sinhala (my Dravidian languages are not so good), and looked back at me somewhat forlornly. I asked the other barber if maybe he wanted to do it, but no, he gestured towards the first guy, so I sat down. What happened next? See for yourself . . .

All better!

My first Parisian haircut!

Louis has had several haircuts during our stay in Paris, but I managed to put off finding a reliable coiffeur until this week. With several special events coming up soon (stay tuned!), I knew I could wait no longer...

Before:
After:

Not the best haircut I've ever had, but certainly not the worst, either! And it didn't break the bank. Thanks, Franck Provost.

First French Haircut

I've now spent a total of 8 months of my life in France, but I've never gotten my haircut in the country. (All my previous trips were just long enough that I could "do without.") That changed Saturday morning, when I took the plunge and braved my first French barbershop. (Just like documenting a baby's first haircut, I thought it was important to document this "first.")

Here's what I looked like when I went in:

Unfortunately, you can't hear the Bollywood music playing in the background. As befits a Belleville barbershop, this one was run by South Asians. (Belleville's diversity never ceases to amaze me.) In fact, I'm not sure my barber spoke French. He certainly never asked how I wanted my hair cut - and I never offered, because I barely even know how to describe how I want my hair cut in English.

30 minutes and 7 euros later, here's how it turned out:

Maybe you've seen my television program - with all the make-up on, and with different lighting, I look slightly different:

Actually, I'm really pleased with the haircut - the part is only temporary, but the length is right, and you can't knock the price. In another two months, I'll be going back for more . . .