where is la poubelle?
we're living in (almost) a garret and it's a delight!
Bonjour-Bonjour,
Our long sojourn in France is coming to an end and I’m surprised that I am not at all ready to return. Of course I miss my people (you know who you are and I love you!), but the political climate at home… well, I don’t even know what to say except thank god for moments of light. Bad Bunny bringing love! Scott Dworkin bringing news of our wins! Ron Charles refusing to be canceled!
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We arrived in Paris by train to rain and a crabby cab driver who yelled at us for wasting his time. He’d waited an hour in the queue for his fare and got us with our stupidly large bags and stupidly short distance. He cursed and fumed and took it upon himself to add a 12eu tip to our fare. Bonjour, Paris!
Our apartment is 77 steps up. You cannot turn around in the shower. La chambre feels like a tomb, the bed squeezed in so tight. One person in the kitchen at a time! There’s some strange combination of microwave/grill that we cannot figure out how to use. Bien sûr, we’re reduced to one pan, one pot, two burners, one poubelle, and a French press. We love it!
We’ve given up on la chambre, opened up the sofa and are living in le salon. It’s bright and wonderful and at night it feels as if we are having a sleepover.
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We’re in the 4th arrondissement. Place de la Bastille is nearby with an incredible marché, so many wonderful restaurants and cafés.
And oh, the Seine… it’s a lifelong dream.
read:
Bien sûr I visited The Red Wheelbarrow bookshop near le Jardin Luxembourg. Penelope, the bookseller, is lovely and inviting. Her shop… chef’s kiss. I picked up BUCKEYE, by Patrick Ryan, which will be our April book group book, and Patrick will be joining in our conversation. I can tell you he is a wonderful writer, excellent editor, and all around good egg! Want to join us? The book group is a perk for paid subscribers. I’d love to get to know you better:
I’ve been listening to audiobooks as I wander about the city with no real destination— in full flaneuse fashion. I listened to Patti Smith’s new memoir, BREAD OF ANGELS, which she narrates and, no surprise, she has a wonderful voice, but also a quirky accent that is a pleasure. BREAD OF ANGELS will be our March book for the Mentor Book Group— in which we read memoirs, personal growth books and discuss what we might adopt in our own “work-in-progress” lives. Love to have you join in:
Smith’s memoir is excellent at the start, about her childhood, her family, her wonder at the world. And, once she walked away from her musical career and wrote about the family she built, about her struggles to write, it was wonderful again. The center— her rockstar career didn’t capture me. Her memoir was like a supermarket, everything around the perimeter was terrific… in the center, the detergent and pancake mix aisles, not as great.
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I’m also listening to MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME, by Arundhati Roy. My savvy and supportive agent suggested I read it as I embark upon a memoir of my relationship with my mother. What strikes me right at the start is Roy’s admission that in writing her memoir it was difficult to balance fidelity to her younger self, to the trials she endured at the hands of her mother, with the more expansive and adult understanding of her mother. It is a walk on a knife edge.
Today I was lucky to see Ms. Roy at Shakespeare and Co. where she was signing books.
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Finally, I was completely absorbed by THE CORRESPONDENT, by Virginia Evans. Writing the story of a life through letters seems both liberating and confining at the same time. The epistolary novel is such a gift to the intelligence of the reader. We get the pleasure of the character’s voice in her correspondence, and the thrill of piecing everything together with no connective tissue, no narrator’s voice guiding us. Sybil Van Antwerp’s letter writing is a stand in for personal contact and engagement. In her letters she reckons with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the solitary and safe life she’s built around herself. She corresponds with her family, former work associates, and literary icons including Joan Didion, Ann Patchet, and Larry McMurtry. She also writes letters she never mails to a mysterious figure from her past. Pain has long arms. Sybil grows with fits and starts into a delayed self-awareness—huh, I know that growth! I know those fits and starts!
The r.w.e. book group selection for February is THE CORRESPONDENT, by Virginia Evans. We meet this Sunday, 15 February, at 9a pacific time on zoom.
The book group is a perk for paid subscribers and let me tell you we are a lively bunch!
I’ve made a read.write.eat. Bookshop where you will find many of the books I’ve recommended. Buying books from my shop is another way you can support my newsletter.
write:
I’ve not been keeping a diary of our trip. I rather foolishly think that these newsletters I write will somehow be enough to put me back in my experiences when I’m home. Yes, I’m keeping Morning Pages with some regularity, but those are mostly my petty and not-so-petty musings and complaints. I also talk into my phone and send myself messages. I write in my notes APP. I write on bits of paper. It’s like a grocery bag full of scraps!
Finally, I started keeping a notebook.
Where a diary requires narrative, my character, and my voice, a notebook is fragments. It gives me the freedom to record serendipity! glimmers! lyric moments! The fragments are both more comfortable and more precise as I am not grooming them to fit the diary voice.
Of course Joan Didion said she writes to discover what she is thinking. I would push that further. What catches my eye enough to snag a photo, make a quick sketch (which I’ve been trying…see that French press up top?), or jot a quick note reveals what is important to me on any given day, what surprises and delights me. Didion also says, “…the common denominator of all we see is always, transparently, shamelessly, the implacable ‘I.’” My notebook introduces me to me. Bonjour-Bonjour!
I guess that by keeping a true notebook, just serial jottings, I am experiencing a break from the performance of my own voice. My notebook is the equivalent of a blind contour drawing while a diary is a careful portrait. My notebook may include a dog I saw on the rue, the light shining on my coffee cup, an overheard sentence at the café:
“Well, she’s going to have to face chickenpox sometime. That’s life isn’t it? We all have to face chickenpox.”
Snippets that entertained me, and that may find a place in something I’m writing.
At a cafe in Paris, a British husband and wife spoke with me about politics and teenagers. (HA!) Their daughter had a party. Her friends had sex on the toilet. “Tore it off the wall! Flooded the basement!” The husband had a bit of bravado in his voice, a smile on his face, describing the sounds and his repair job. The wife smiled as if she were trying not to, with a bit of pearl clutching. We always think our kids reflect us… Him slightly proud. Her slightly embarrassed.
What are you writing in your notebook? What are discovering about you?
eat:
I’m harkening back to our time in Nice where I was lucky to take a cooking class with Rosa Jackson. That’s Rosa, signing her excellent cookbook, NIÇOISE. Let me say, if you find yourself in Nice, and you love food, love to cook, love to learn about a new city, Les Petits Farcis is perfect!
On the morning of our class, Rosa met us at the marché where we learned about the farmers, the vegetables, and the history.
After, we returned to her kitchen. Our Niçoise menu included:
Socca, a lovely flatbread made with chickpea flour
Pissaladière, caramelized onion tart with anchovies and olives
Semi-salted Cod w/garlic confit and olive-oil mashed potatoes
Lavender Crème Brûlée
A few take aways:
Confit your garlic cloves by cutting them in half and removing the green sprout from the center as it tastes bitter. Place cloves in a small, ovenproof dish and cover with olive oil. Bake in a low oven (300 F) for 40 mins, until the garlic is very soft and golden. Store in the fridge. This is great to have on hand to squeeze into rice, on roasted meat, even a bit in a creamy salad dressing.
When making mashed potatoes, consider adding celery root to lighten the mash, to add minerals, and a lovely green/celery flavor. So delicious!
Peel (honestly I do not peel, but I am using tender new potatoes) and wash your potatoes and place them in a saucepan large enough to hold them in one layer. Barely cover with cold water, add a large pinch of sea salt and 2T butter. Bring to a boil and cook on high heat, uncovered, until most of the water evaporates and the potatoes are soft.
Peel and cut the celery root into large cubes, place in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Add a large pinch of sea salt and 1T butter. Bring to a boil and cook on high heat, uncovered, until most of the water evaporates and the celery root is soft.
Mash the potatoes and celery root with the remaining liquid, olive oil and parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside in a warm place until needed.
For the crème brûlée, here is Rosa’s delicious recipe:
1 c whole milk
1 c heavy cream
2 t dried lavender flowers
1/2 c white sugar
5 egg yolks
White or cane sugar, for sprinkling on top
Preheat the oven to 250 F. Place six crème brûlée dishes or ramekins on a baking sheet.
Pour the milk and cream into a medium saucepan and add the lavender flowers. Bring to a slow simmer over med heat.
Meanwhile, place the yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth and a little frothy. Very gradually add the hot milk and cream to the yolk mixture, stirring constantly, until smooth. Divide between the six crème brûlée dishes using a small ladle.
Bake in the centre of the oven until the custard is set but the center is still jiggly, about 45 mins. Transfer the dish to a rack and let cool for 10 mins. Refrigerate, uncovered, until chilled, at least 1 hour.
Sprinkle a bit of sugar evenly over the chilled crème brûlée. Caramelize the sugar with a kitchen blow torch or under a very hot broiler (faites attention!) until melted and golden. Serve immediately.
Honestly, the whole day was a delight. I met lovely people, shared a terrific meal, and felt part of a new city. I encourage you to sign up for cooking classes when you travel.
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Yesterday in Paris, I took a baguette baking class at La Cuisine Paris. And look! I think I did well. Stay tuned for notes on that!
I hope your day is full of worthy notebook entries and lovely meals! If you find yourself regularly reading and enjoying my work and you’d like to show some thanks, you can do so with this charming button:
If you aren’t ready to hop on, yet you wish to send a little love my way:
Stanley, resting in his pied-à-terre!
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Thanks for being here with me. Thank you for sharing my newsletter with your funny and fun friends.
Tell your people you love them, and take care of your skin!
Merci,
PS:
In case you missed it, here are a couple missives from our time here in France.
And, to stay in the loop:
I am amazed at the way we are so similar. Of course I am reading Buckeye! Half way through and finding it intriguing.
It’s really fun to join in your adventure vicariously. We are off on our own in a couple of weeks to Argentina. I hope I will be learning to tango!
Thank you so much for recommending my class! It was such a pleasure to cook with you!