The Most Pretentious Couple in New York?

The Real Housewives of New York City is one of my guilty pleasures. For one thing, none of these women are housewives, apart from the Countess deLesseps, and she has a housekeeper who seems to do everything while she gives orders. But the couple that really makes this show is Alex McCord and her husband Simon Van de Kampen.

Seriously they have to be one of the most pretentious couples on the planet, but you can't hate them for it. You just have to laugh as you watch Simon insist that his son Francois (for the record Simon is Australian and Alex is American, so why there kid has a French name is anyone's guess) ask for a lemonade in French. In a restaurant in Brooklyn no less. Although if they had been eating at Florent or Pastis, that might actually have flown.

Alex doesn't believe in having a 'girl's night' out. In fact, when she was invited to one, she brought her husband along, which freaked out Ramona, who is a nutbar all on her own. She and Simon do everything together, including shopping. If you have ever wanted your husband to go shopping with you and be interested, trust me, you won't after seeing the episode where the two of them dropped thousands shopping in St. Bart's. They even wear matching thongs on the beach.

The couple have a French au pair to try and get Francois to learn to speak French, but this kid is resisting it with every fiber of his being. The best episodes were watching them get ready to go to the Met opening night and the episode where they took their child to a charter school for an interview. However, I was surprised that they actually enrolled him a public school instead of the Lycee Francais or some other school in New York where they teach languages from an early age (although seriously since they live in New York, they might be better having Francois learn Spanish as well).

The glee with which they looked to see if Alex had made the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times was hilarious (by the way she wore Roberto Cavalli). And the way they talk about climbing the social ladder in New York. Is this really something that people concern themselves with? I say this from the bottom rung of the social ladder and because I can think of other things I would want to spend $10,000, and none of them are tickets to the opera.

On the one hand, I think its sweet that they love each so much and they love spending time together, but they seriously need some other friends. I mean does Simon even have any male friends? At least Alex now has the cast of TRHONYC. I do give them props for eschewing the Hamptons for St. Bart's, but points are taking away for Simon wearing a thong on the beach.

I can't wait to see what is in store for them next season.