Over the years FUSAC has been mentioned in numerous guide books and magazines, two novels and seen in one film and one exhibition.
Cinema
The film was Love Actually a 2003 romantic comedy written and directed by Richard Curtis. Mostly filmed on location in London, the screenplay follows different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories. The story that shows FUSAC is between the cuckold writer Jamie (Colin Firth) and Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz). Jamie withdraws to his French cottage, where he meets Portuguese housekeeper Aurélia, who does not speak English. Despite their inability to communicate, they are attracted to each other. When Jamie returns to England, he realises he is in love with Aurélia and begins learning Portuguese. He returns to France via the Marseille airport where he hops into a cab with a FUSAC in hand! He finds Aurélia working at a restaurant. In broken Portuguese he declares his love for her and proposes. She says yes, in broken English, as the diners erupt in applause.
2 Novels:
In 2000 French journalist Jean-Paul Jody wrote the novel Stringer, published by Editions Babel. FUSAC was mentioned in the novel on page 16 as the main character was seaching for an apartment in Paris:
« …Trois étages plus haut, la chaudière de mon cerveau bouillonnait. J’ai repris mes esprits avant de sonner. Des pas légers ont glissé jusqu’à la porte et se sont arrêtés. Quelqu’un me lorgnait à travers l’oeilleton. J’ai tendu l’exemplaire de FUSAC dans lequel la fille avait fait paraître son annonce. La porte s’est entrouverte… »
In 2021 Marcie Maxfield wrote the autofiction EM’S AWFUL GOOD FORTUNE. I’m not sure if this title is ironic or not – it could be ironic in that many people view overseas assignments as good fortune, but for Em it was awful or it could refer without irony to the ultimately happy ending. Maybe it’s both… Paris! Tokyo! Hong Kong! Shanghai! Em’s husband Gee accepts a series of exciting overseas jobs that take the family from pillar to post. But Em and the kids Ruby and Rio would really rather stay at home. He takes the jobs it because it is how he provides for his family and he can’t find gigs at home. Em hates it because her life and career are put on hold as she feels she is relegated to be mom, nanny and organizer of overseas moves. The husband and trailing spouse have different points of view which leads Em to find some relief and happiness in an affair with Bleu in Paris. The affair leads Em and Gee to seek marriage counseling and they find their therapist in FUSAC! This nonlinear story is a novel but it’s also a reflection on the « tagalong spouse ». This is not your typical story full of glamour about the American abroad. What so many see from the exterior as a exciting opportunity turns out to be an all out struggle. Setting up life in a new place, with uneasy kids, not speaking the local language, multiple déménagements, constantly making new friends, uprooting again and again and lack of meaningful work or career is a long and lonely road not for the faint of heart and certainly not for a fragile marriage. Tagging along is an emotional roller coaster that affects the whole family. Perhaps the marriage counseling should’ve been done before the overseas move. At one point Em thinks “Every time Gee gets a new post I try to make it work, and it never does, not really. Someone always loses something. Tagalong math. Gee plus his job means me minus my career or me minus the kids. Or Ruby plus the house but minus her parents. Or Gee minus, well Gee never loses that’s the fundamental core of tagalong math.” In the long run the marriage survives but the author’s fierce, authentic and personal voice comes through loud and clear with a message: marriage and especially a tagalong marriage can be a tough ride, you’ve been warned. Publisher: She Writes Press
Magazines
BBI Boulogne-Billancourt information talks about FUSAC and the Book Room
John Vanden Bos de FUSAC, le Boulonnais du mois! in Boulogne Magazine
France Today, Frommer’s Budget Travel
Telerama, Paris Obs, Elle, Caractère
Madame Figaro found FUSAC in Dr Réginald Allouche‘s bag and he is quoted saying the contents of his bag is the essentials. « Avoir toujours l’essential avec moi. » We love it that there are cookies in his bag too! #figaromagazine . #fusacparis #throwbackthursday #lifeinparis
FUSAC in pop culture goes so far as even a page for pyjamas in the La Redoute catalogue!
Exhibition
The Language Matters exhibition in 2018 presented English language press in France through nearly 300 years. Language Matters was organized by the Université Diderot.
Blogs, a few examples
FUSAC Packs 28 Years of Paris Know How into Books for Expats on Inspirelle
Blog de l’ecole normale de musique de Paris
Guides
Moon Guides: Living Abroad in France
Time Out, Rick Steves’, Frommer’s …
Newspapers
The San Francisco Examiner, The Chicago Tribune, The LA Times, The Guardian…
The San Francisco Examiner
The Guardian