The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Dear Joan

Many Catholic churches in France seem to have a statue somewhere of Saint Jeanne d'Arc, or as you might know her, Joan of Arc. Sacre Coeur in Montmartre has two of them: a small one to the right as you enter the church where there is also a beautiful stained glass window that tells her story; and the second statue is one of the two enormous riders on horseback that flank the steps on the exterior. Even the Pantheon, which started as a church but which was converted to a non-religious burying place for France's great men (and Marie Curie) has some amazing murals depicting scenes from Joan's extraordinary life. I'm partial to this contemporary statue in Notre Dame. I'm not Catholic so I don't pray to saints as a rule, but I seem to have an affinity with Joan. Maybe it's because my middle name is actually Jeanne (though my family pronounces it like "Jeen"). Or maybe it's that I admire strong women, and Joan was as strong a woman as we could ever find anywhere. And she was only 17 when she had visions, fought wars, put a French king back in charge and reunited France before her/the... Read more →

You know it's serious when Ikea stops selling meatballs

Possibly you've been following the Great European Horsemeat-disguised-as-Beef Scandal of 2013? If you haven't, let me get you up to speed. People in some countries (France among them) do voluntarily eat horsemeat. To those of us from countries where this is simply not "done", I know it may seem wrong that people are choosing to consume horsemeat instead of something more "usual" like beef, pork, lamb or chicken, but for the purposes of this story let's just agree that people eat a lot of odd things in different parts of the world -- including bugs, snakes and monkeys -- so we're not here to judge. So, yes, in France, some people do choose to eat horsemeat, and it's not a secret. In fact, you can go to certain butchers who advertise that they sell horsemeat along with all the other meats: Not a horse hotel but a butcher selling both beef AND horsemeat, Rue de Poteau, Paris 18ème The scandal has erupted all over Europe, not because horsemeat is bad for you or because someone was selling tainted horsemeat (I take that second part back; in the midst of all this someone DID sell horsemeat tainted with a horse drug... Read more →

'Tweet On

One of Georges' sisters taught me a very creative way to camouflage express one's age when one is "of a certain age". Instead of saying, for instance "J'ai quarante-huit ans" if you were 48 years old, you would just say "J'ai t'huit ans." (Zjhay tweet ahn) And then let 'em guess what that's supposed to mean. The "tweet" part is the normal liaison in French when you say the numbers 28, 38, 48, 58 and 68: vingt-huit, trente-huit, etc. (If you don't care about knowing any French, you can just take my word for it and don't agonize about how to say it.) T'huit ans is useful, no matter what your actual age might be, when you just feel like it's nobody's business how old you are. Staring down a milestone like 30, 40, 50 or 60? You, too, can be just t'huit ans. 29? 39? 49? T'huit ans sounds better. Getting up there in the 70s or 80s or higher? T'huit ans, baby, t'huit ans. And I'm not talking about Twitter. I'm using t'huit ans today, though, not because I care to hide my age (although at 52 I'm feeling more t'huit ans-ish every year) but because I'm celebrating... Read more →

The oldest tree in Paris

I'd like to introduce you to the oldest tree in Paris! Located in the Square René-Viviani next to the Eglise Saint Julien-le-Pauvre (and obviously just across the river from Notre Dame), this tree is believed to have been planted in 1601. It must be propped up, and it lost some upper branches during the First World War, but it's over 400 years old and still alive. Notre Dame is still two times older, at 850. PS: Even Georges didn't know this was the oldest tree until we just happened to walk through the square today, and then I mentioned it. Sometimes we "tourists" can know certain (small) things about a place better than someone who has lived here his or her entire life! Read more →

Notre Dame: Up Closer and Personal

Another interesting addition to Notre Dame in this 850th anniversary year is the installation of a temporary raised viewing platform in the open square just in front of the cathedral. It's free, and you can either climb some steps or take a long, gradual ramp to get up to the viewing area (the ramp is nice for older folks or those in wheel chairs or with other mobility issues). You can also sit as long as you want on the tiered levels that face the church. Once you're "up there", you are high enough to get a better look at the facade of Notre Dame, from a much different (and better) angle than is possible from the ground. You are able to see some more of the incredible architectural details and to marvel at the craftsmanship of the stone work, all done by hand more than 7 centuries ago. I took these images with my iPhone but plan to go back tomorrow (with Georges and Le Garçon) to see the bells with them, and I'll bring my Nikon so I can snap some better quality photos. It may not be obvious from this view but I was really able to... Read more →

Our 850-year-old Lady of Paris

You may not have heard, but 2013 marks the 850th anniversary of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. Let us just stop and reflect a moment on this. EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO, they started building this magnificent spiritual space. The United States of America, an entire COUNTRY, is only going to be 237 years old this year. Columbus only sailed for the New World in 1492. So Notre Dame dates back to when people believed the world was flat and no one even know the other half of the world even existed. Ouf! That's called perspective. Suddenly, being almost-52 feels like being a toddler. She looks wonderful for being 850 years old! The cornerstone of Notre Dame was laid in 1163 during the reign of Louis VII, but the church was not actually fully completed until 1345. It took them 182 years to build it all. Talk about commitment and dedication to the work! As part of marking the 850th anniversary, four of the large 19th century bells were removed from the North tower, melted down and recast into 8 new bells, each with its own name and with unique decorative details, as well as a 9th... Read more →

I'm still hearing those people sing

I will start by telling you how I liked the ending of Les Misérables: I cried non-stop for 10 minutes straight, even while quietly singing along with the film in the last scene. I needed all of the rolling credits at the end to get my sobs under control. And oh yeah, Georges used a tissue, too, at the end. That made me so happy! And the predominantly French audience APPLAUDED. Which was very cool, too. Now, other impressions I had, in no specific order: We went to see the film in the big Gaumont theatre on the Champs Elysées and they used one of their largest salles, but the room was not at all packed full even though we were at a 7pm show on a Saturday night with the film being open here only since Wednesday. I suspect the film will just not do as well here as it has done elsewhere. Perhaps French audiences are just not going to be as open to this idea of a musical Les Mis, no matter how much great press the film is getting. Which is a damn shame because it really was amazing. Georges liked it much better than he... Read more →

Not Misérables Now

In the theatre, butts in the seats, waiting for the 15 minutes of "publicités" before the movie starts. Can't get the songs out of my head... Show time! Read more →

And another one down

My sister doesn't usually read my blog (at least, I don't THINK she does), and therefore she won't see this post. But I'm going to go ahead and put a big old "Happy Birthday, Sue!" out there anyway. Why? Why bother, if she won't even see it? Because my little sister has turned 50 today! FIFTY! This adorable curly-top red-head has clocked 50 years. Could we be any cuter? But what was my mother thinking, buying that butt-ugly "Early American" sofa? And another one bites the dust. This means that my mother's two children are now both in their 50s (and my mom will turn 80 in December). In June, my brother-in-law's youngest sibling, also a sister, will turn 50 as well, and then ALL of us in our family - of our generation in the family tree and on both sides of the Atlantic - will be over 50. After this year, Georges will have the next major milesone in 2014. Oh, la. We are now all officially over that proverbial and really annoying hill. That hill where, once you're on the other side of it, everything starts to hurt, to change, to dry up, to fall out, to... Read more →

Love Day: today and every day

I can't say that Georges and I are going to have the most romantic Valentine's Day this year. For one thing, we're not alone; le Garçon is with us this week, so no chance of a night out alone until the weekend (and we have a date planned for Les Mis already, of course!) Today, the weather in Paris is absolutely dismal: it's cold, it's been raining non-stop, and all I really want to do is cocoon up at the house after having run around all afternoon with doctor appointments (me first, then the boy; and yes, everything is fine). After perusing Facebook this morning, it seems that a lot of people I know are either boycotting V-Day altogether (even those who are in happy relationships), or are lamenting that they aren't being Super Mom and sending their kids to school with all sorts of home-made Martha-Stewart-esque red-pink-and-white treats. I get the feeling that Cupid is taking a vacation this February 14th. Although hopefully he's NOT on that Carnival cruise ship that's stranded out in the Gulf of Mexico, because THERE'S a romance killer if I ever heard of one (no hot water or food, no flushable toilets, no air... Read more →