More Photo Memories from Paris

Now that I'm home I was finally able to upload the photos I took on my camera (I'd brought the wrong adapter cord). Here, in no particular order, are just a few of my favourites.

  

This is Mom standing in front of a statue of a very naked man. Make that one naked man and a naked man-beast.

 And two of my favourite women in Paris, Valerie and Gilberte. You've seen them before 'cos we hung out together a lot! 

 And my favourite new male friend, Steven Guarnaccia. I chose this photo because he's picking up a big piece of meat from the bowl of meat they provide us as a snack that day.

 And here I was just impressed that I got a really nice photo of the Eiffel Tower.

 Mom on the Ferris Wheel. I loved that danged ferris wheel.

 Oh and there is the Ferris Wheel.

 This was my first bookstore event, at Les Enfants Sur le Toit. I adored these kids.

 So smart, and so many good questions!

 One night we actually got to sit outside and watch the world go by as we drank an aperitif under heaters. Heaven.

 Well, it's a reading cat. Cat. Book. Two of my favourite things in one piece of grafitti.

 Mom and daughter at the fittingly named restaurant, "Meres et Filles."

 That park I mentioned in my last post, right across the street from Notre Dame (as you can tell).

And last but not least, me with Nathan and Theo, and I can finally link to Nathan's Blog!

Now it's back to reality. But reality isn't so bad. It's great to see my boys again, and my naughty cats. And I'm working on the substantive rewrite of my new novel, "We Are All Made of Molecules," and I love rewriting. It is so much more fun than staring at the blank page!

Day 7 in Paris - Last Full Day, C'est Dommage

I'm actually posting this in the lounge at the Toronto airport, about two-thirds of the way home from Paris, boo-hoo. Though I must say I'm looking forward to seeing my boys, and my cats. Apparently Emily - yes, that cute little thing with the orange patch on her face, who likes to hide in my suitcase - has been peeing where she shouldn't while I've been gone. Honestly, the extent to which those two cats rule our lives, and destroy our home, is truly incredible. They're lucky I love them to bits (as I do my boys, but they tend not to exhibit the same troubling behavior). 

On Monday night we had a great dinner with Gilberte and Valerie at a little boite called, rather fittingly, "Meres et Filles," on Rue St. Paul in Le Marais. Simple and delicious, and lots of laughs all over again.

What is wrong with my head in this picture? It looks like the photo was taken in a funhouse mirror. 

On Tuesday I had the entire day off till the evening. Mom and I spent it walking all over the place, and doing some last-minute shopping. Walked from Le Marais to St. Germain des Pres to Latin Quarter to Ile St. Louis.

 

Mom eating a macaron from Gerard Mulot in Luxembourg Gardens.

By the Seine with a tour boat and Conciegerie in the background.

 

Me pretending to bike in Paris.

Christmas decorations going up outside the Pantheon. 

The weather was beautiful, a little chilly but lovely and sunny. Just before we crossed to Notre Dame Cathedral, we came upon a beautiful little park. I don't remember the name - I had never seen it before. In the park was a monument, a memorial to the thousands of children who'd been deported by the Vichy Government police. Some of them were so young they had never had a chance to go to school, and the memorial listed their names. Here we were, walking and shopping and enjoying this beautiful city, and in a moment we were completely gutted. 

I don't quite know how to segue from that to the rest of our day, so I think what I'll do is show a picture of youthful radiance and optimism.

 

This is Rozenn, the young woman who works for Helium, whom I said I'd like to take home in my pocket. She might rule France one day. 

In the evening I went to another bookstore, Merle Moquer, to meet with another book club. I briefly met the designer of the beautiful French cover, Jeremie Fischer, which made me very happy. Julia the organizer was very kind, and directed the conversation with a lot of great questions. Again, I love the way the French do things (see below). 

Really, nothing goes better with a good book than a good wine. :-) 

Now that I'm on my way home I'll be able to upload more photos from my camera and I'll try to post a few of the actual book clubs. Afterward we (me, Mom, Gilberte and Julia) went for dinner nearby and had a delicious meal and more good conversation.

Me, Julia and Gilberte

Gilberte and Mom - they really hit it off.

We got back to our flat at around 10:30, completely wiped after a non-stop week. This morning we boarded our plane. Business class (booked on my points) sure is sweet.

Mom with her champagne. 

Au revoir, Paris. Or should I say, "a bientot."

Paris Day 6 - What's That Smell, and Why I Love the French

So this morning I had a shower and when I came out of the bathroom I said to my mom, "Whoo, someone's been farting up a storm." And she said No, she had NOT farted, thank you very much, but she had opened the fridge to get out our breakfast things. What I was smelling was this:

A simple camembert. Man, it reeks! And yet, it is also delicious. How can something that smells like farts, also be so yummy? It's a mystery. 

Yesterday was another fun day. My translator, Valerie, picked us up at 10:30 and we made our way to Montmartre for my first book store appearance, at Les Enfants Sur Le Toit. I was nervous because I thought I'd just be hoping for foot traffic in the store. But no, there was a book club waiting to meet me! Six lovely children, age 11 and 12 I think. Eugenie, Alice, Shirinne, Thomas, Lucas et Gaetan. They were just as excited as I was. They asked me really smart questions, and Valerie helped translate. Others came into the store and stayed for the duration, and the store sold lots of books! It was really fun meeting some of my French readers. I have photos of the kids on my camera but not the adaptor to download them, but here are a few photos from my phone. 

This is me with the store owners and employees. And yes, that is a new top I bought at Les Aventures de Toile. Afterward I headed back to the book fair. Have I described this thing properly? Two levels, HUGE, devoted completely to children's books. It was packed again on Sunday, this time full of families. Honestly, it blows me away how much the French love their books, and their children's books in particular. This was clearly an outing for thousands of families. I honestly can't think of anything that compares to it in Canada, not on this scale. So this is why I love the French; the reading culture is still very much alive and well, and they still love real books. I haven't seen one e-device yet. (Not that I'm against them, I have one myself). I met some more of my French readers, which was really cool. It's hard for me to describe how exciting it is to meet all of these kids and adults who have discovered my books in French. I also met a woman from Belgium who told me my books do well there, and that Henry K. Larsen has been nominated for a literary prize there. Apparently the award is made entirely out of Belgian chocolate. So, I really hope I win that one! 

 Just to give you a sense of how crowded this fair is.

When I got back to our flat, Mom and I headed out to do a bit of shopping, then rode the metro (which was PACKED with families) to the Champs Elysee-Clemenceau stop to see flying Santa. Basically it's a man in a sled on a slow-moving zipline, suspended in the air. It's part of the Christmas fair we'd gone to the day before, and I don't know - we just really needed to see Santa fly. I will only say that the experience was anti-climactic. We then walked partway home along the Seine, with the Eiffel Tower lit up like a torch behind us - beautiful.

We stopped for an aperitif at the Palais Royale, sitting outside under a heater. Then Metro'ed back to our neighbourhood for dinner at the Cafe Beaubourg. I had a Parmentier du Canard. How have I missed this dish?? It's like shepherd's pie but with duck. It was great. 

Today it was back at the fair for my final signing. The highlight, again, was sitting beside Steven Guarnaccia, who is a very engaged and engaging man. Met a bunch of librarians and booksellers today. Then it was home to get Mom. We wandered through more of St. Germain des Pres and shopped. Ooh, j'adore St. Germain des Pres. Tonight we will have dinner with Gilberte. Then tomorrow I have the entire day free, till 6 pm when I visit Merle Moquer, another bookstore. I think there will be a book club there, too. Then Wednesday - home. And now, perhaps I'll eat a piece of the fart-fromage ...