10 Days Is Enough of the French Lifestyle

Finding herself in Paris for the fall—and wearing sweatpants and a holey T-shirt to the local bakery, as opposed to the French uniform of ankle boots and a mini-dress—Marisa Meltzer decided it was the ideal time to try following the advice of Mireille Guiliano, author of the French Women series on diet, style, and business. The 10-day result? Some genuine improvements, but “ultimately I feel more at home in jeans,” she writes for DoubleX.

The leek soup detox prompted Meltzer to send “several emails to friends predicting my death”; the directive to drink lots of champagne gave her a “hangover such that I’m unable to leave my couch”; her attempt at wearing a scarf leaves her looking “more peri-menopausal than jaunty”—but “even so, after 10 days, I find that I’m eating slower, sleeping better, and looking more presentable during my morning pastry runs.” (More Jay-ZTV stories.)