Paris Parfait

Overheard conversations

Mirrored stances at the stunning World Press Photo 2010 exhibition, Oudekerk Church, Amsterdam.

This weekend I had such fun at the brocante at Vanves, followed by a lovely brasserie lunch with Claudia and Claudia II from New York. I spent Sunday afternoon with Alexandra, a wonderful writer and witty blogging friend from Portland. We had lunch on Ile Saint-Louis, shopped for gifts for her family and friends, then had dessert - tarts and tea - at the charming la Charlotte de l'isle. It is a tiny place, but big on homemade taste!

Overheard conversation in a Paris restaurant: An American woman making no attempt to speak a single word of French, when addressing the waiter: "What do you guys have that's like pretzels or nuts or chips?" The bemused waiter: "We guys don't have pretzels or those things. How about frites or a croque monsieur, ham and cheese?" The woman agreed, as long as it would go with her requested "large glass" of Sancerre.

The three teenagers accompanying her looked mortified. In French, they asked the waiter for a menu. The woman looked at them incredulously. "You know French?" "Duh, Mom, we studied it last year," one boy responded.

Returning from Amsterdam, I overheard an American man on the train, talking loudly on the phone to his bank. "Can you let my wife have $1,200? No, I don't want her to have her own access to the account, because she'd spend too much. I want to control the money." (And her!) "No, I don't want to make it easier for her," he continued. "But I don't want a big panic when I get home on Tuesday. So better give her some money now."

Then the guy phoned a car repair shop and demanded an explanation for the crack in his wife's car's oil filter. He insisted they call him back within two hours to provide details.

Next, he phoned his assistant, who was on a holiday cruise with her mother. He patronisingly told her she's "such a sweetheart" to take time to talk while she's on holiday, then spent nearly 45 minutes asking her questions about work. Such a control freak! Bet his wife is glad he's away.

A sudden reversal backwards in time

During the Cuban Missle Crisis in the 1960s, American children were warned from certain pulpits that the Russians might invade and burn all the books and Bibles. No one suspected the enemy within: conservatives intent on revising history in the pages of school textbooks, slanting the truth with their own narrow-minded prejudices. A sad day for America and especially for Texas schoolchildren.

Of course, many school text publishers are based in Texas. Does this mean the Texas board's paranoid version of history will spread throughout the States?

In other news, why does this man still have a job?

I wonder how long it will take Henson Associates to issue a "cease-and-desist" order against the Arizona governor, for using a puppet that strongly resembles a Sesame Street Muppet?

London

Am off to the Tate Modern and other sites in London with my friend Lee. Back soon with more notes and photos from Amsterdam.

Photo of spiral staircase and chandelier, Oudekerk, Amsterdam.

Evening views

Evening light on the canal, Amsterdam.

The view from our window...

 

...and through the trees.

Back from a lovely time in Amsterdam with much to report. Will fill you in on some travel notes later this weekend, in between brocantes/lunches/dinner with some charming visitors.

Speaking of which, I came across a wry draft post I wrote three years ago, after some exhausting and frustrating experiences with house guests. I enjoy entertaining guests who are seasoned travelers with reasonable manners. But certain thoughtless visitors tend to treat their hosts as though they're running an unpaid B&B, expecting them to cater to their every whim.

If you want never to be invited back to someone's home, may I suggest:

1. Ask your hosts to make dinner reservations for Saturday night, then turn up too late to change clothes and get to the restaurant. This forces your hosts to rush to the grocery store before it closes AND cook dinner, even though they were already dressed up to dine out. Yea, you've disrupted their plans!
2. Cut the rinds off your cheese and put them back on the cheese tray, rather than on your own plate.
3. Dip your baguette in your wine glass (!) and drip wine on the white embroidered tablecloth.
   
4. Put your coffee mug directly on a glass-topped table, ignoring the coasters.
5. Ask if you should tell an off-colour tale at dinner. When told "No!" do it anyway, leaving everyone with unpleasant images lingering in their minds. Later, repeat the same stupid story.
6. Drink too much and constantly ask for your glass to be refilled - even though another bottle of wine has been opened and it's not the same vintage that's still in your glass.
7. Start eating before everyone at the table has been served.
8. Come to a beautifully-set table in your bare feet, even though your host and hostess are dressed in elegant attire.
9. After a long, hot day walking around the city, take your shoes and stinky socks off and leave them under the coffee table; then put your dirty feet on a cream linen-covered chair.
10. Be served seconds, then, after a cheese course and dessert, ask if there's more food.
11. Offer to "help with the dishes," then bring two plates to the kitchen and leave the rest for the hostess to clear, wash, dry and put away. Linger in the small kitchen and try to converse with the hostess, while she is washing said dishes and considering locking you on the balcony.
12. Eat greasy potato chips (you brought with you) straight from the bag, while sitting in an antique linen-covered chair.
13. After your shower, hog the bathroom while putting on makeup, even though there are two perfectly-nice mirrors in your room.
14. Arrive with four suitcases for a six-day stay, but forget important prescription medication. Wring your hands, but refuse to see a French doctor. Complain until your hostess begs a pharmacist to give you medication like the one you were prescribed in your home country - even though you didn't bring a copy of your doctor's prescription.
15. Insist you're getting up early to run in the park, then go back to sleep after the wake-up knock on your door. Expect your hosts to revise their plans to accommodate your delayed schedule.
16. Leave your bed unmade, clothes thrown everywhere and the door open while you're away during the day.
17. Argue about international politics or religion during dinner and manage to offend everyone.
18. Talk to yourself constantly, as you move around the apartment.
19. Shout from one room to the next and expect your hostess to 1) hear you and 2) respond, when she is washing and drying crystal glasses.
20. Spend an hour on the computer writing email, every few minutes complaining loudly about the British keyboard.
21. Enter or leave the apartment without closing the front door behind you.
22. When your hostess escorts you to the metro, buys your tickets and shows you which train to take, don't offer to carry her heavy grocery cart up or down the metro stairs.
23. Bring your children to dinner, even though they're not invited.
24. Refuse the host's offer for painkillers and a lie-down for your headache, then stand up in the middle of dinner and insist you have to leave immediately.
25. Turn up an hour or more late without phoning and expect the hosts to wait dinner.

Butterfly

Bonjour les tous! You may have noticed a lack of regular blogging lately at Paris Parfait. That's because May is a popular month for visitors to Paris. I've been a mad social butterfly, flitting from one rendezvous to another with blogging friends. Within the last ten days, have hosted three small dinner parties and been all over town for lunches, walks, brocantes, shopping and tea(s). What a treat it has been!

I've been spending lots of time with my dear friends Lee Renninger, Susan Gardner Creamer and Di Overton (all have been to Paris several times). I also had the good fortune to meet the fabulous Claudia Strasser - and her lovely friend, also named Claudia - for the first time.

In 1997, I was living in San Francisco, when I picked up a copy of Claudia's book The Paris Apartment at a bookstore in Monterey. Never did I dream I'd someday live in my own Paris apartment - and meet Claudia in Paris! On Tuesday, Di and I had a couple of hours of non-stop conversation with the two Claudias at Merci's cozy book-lined cafe. Such fun!

Claudia now lives in sunny Miami, writes the eye-candy-packed blog The Paris Apartment and often brings clients to Paris to shop for their apartments, whether a holiday home in Paris or elsewhere. Her friend Claudia Tessler is up to all sorts of philanthropic and green projects in New York. Both women are formidable (in the best, French sense).

Earlier that morning, Di and I had tea at Merci, before heading to the Antiquites Brocante at Place de la Bastille. It was rainy and cold and I was wearing a thin top and lightweight coat, which wasn't helped by a partially-collapsed umbrella. We didn't last long at the outdoor venue, before heading to lunch. I did manage to find a rare and beautiful Tibetan book of prayers at Bastille, but the grey miserable weather dampened the urge to browse (probably a good thing).

After meeting the Claudias, Di and I went shopping for dinner ingredients. Later we were joined by Di's partner Harvey and their daughter Charlotte for lemon chicken, whipped up by the resident chef. Before and after dinner, we were riveted to BBC coverage of events related to the UK election: Prime Minister Gordon Brown resigning and David Cameron taking office, after agreeing to a full coalition with Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. It's the first time the UK has had a coalition government since World War II! Interesting times, indeed.

These weeks of socialising have come at a price: I have numerous projects piled up, vying for attention. Am working on those now, as this weekend we head to Amsterdam to see friends and explore areas in which to live. Consequently, blogging again will be sporadic for a few days. But I expect to have lots of news and photos to share upon my return late next week. And two more blogging buddies will arrive!

Meanwhile, the brocante at Bastille continues from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Sunday. Stalls are lined up on both sides of the Canal St. Martin. If you're lucky enough to be in Paris, don't miss the chance for incredible antiques and vintage collectibles! Tickets are available at the door.

Photos at Merci, Paris, 2009.

P.S. El Secreto de sus Ojos - The Secret in their Eyes - is a must-see! After reading reviews for the award-winning film (including a 2010 Oscar for Best Foreign Film), I discovered it hadn't yet been released in Europe. So I ordered the DVD from Argentina, in Spanish (with English subtitles). It's brilliant - interweaving a dark mystery and a poignant story of love too long delayed.