My trip is half completed. I’ve seen many of the sights except for the Louvre, Tuileries Garden, L’Orangerie Museum, Sainte Chappelle, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, the evening tour of the Opera Garnier, and the Eiffel Tower. Even Pere LaChaise Cemetery, which I planned to see on Day 1, hasn’t been checked-off. Ooh, la, la. And I have the Diana Krall concert at L’Olympia on Wednesday evening.
But today, I needed to do laundry. Adine is a terrific hostess and since she doesn’t have a common 9 to 5, she’s available to answer questions and help me get my essentials done. I had seen that “The Intern” was coming out so I thought that would be a great way to spend a down-time day. Denis helped me with the right theatre to go to, just out of the Nation Metro, in “V.O.” That’s French for, Version Originale, i.e. en Anglaise avec French subtitles! And, yes, the French eat popcorn at the theatre. Tres bien! So, I set myself up for the 13h3o movie, i.e. 1:30 p.m. It was a great movie to relax with. I needed a break from the vacation.
Add to that, Denis and Adine had informed me that their local bookstore, or librairie, of which there seems to be one every other block in Paris, was celebrating its 10th anniversaire with the newest owner. Afterward, people would be invited to their home for a bite of dinner. A real fete francaise! Did you know that my host Denis, besides teaching, is a published writer, author, poet, all-round Renaissance kind of guy? No wonder he’s so cool. And, hello? Adine just Monday spent time setting up an outdoor exhibition of her photo-graphic art in park publicly accessible for free by passersby. She also has pieces hanging in an apartment/condo for sale in a swanky part of the Cite. An exclusive interior designer, well-known and sought after, included her creative graphic wall hangings in a 1-price sale of the condo, furnishings, and its contents, i.e. the art work. These people are extremely warm, smart, fun, and CREATIVE.
As for the book reading, Denis moderated the evening with a well-known Canadian-French writer and friend Nancy Huston and a couple other bookstore folks. Focus: to discuss your favorite or personally most-inspirational books. After introducing the works and explaining the basis of selection, another friend of Denis’ read excerpts from the works. And, of course, the event was totally en Francais. But what a good time. I had to work really hard to tune in to listen and watch everyone’s speech, and I picked up about 40-50% of the 1+ hours of discourse. Featured pieces included To Kill a Mockingbird, Life of Pi, Pride and Prejudice, 3 other novels, and poetry which Denis presented. As a published poet himself, Denis spoke about how these poems changed and inspired him. The evening was a wonderful success. Once completed, many of the bookstore friends trekked 3 blocks back to the country house in the city.
Half the guests spoke English, thankfully! A couple just returned to France after living in San Francisco for 20 years, on 24th and Castro. He’s French, she’s American, empty-nesters who decided Paris is where they want to be now. Then there was Michael, a known South African guitarist-singer of the 60’s and 70’s who came to Paris 40 years ago like Denis. A groovy French-South African hippie with a wonderfully smart wife, Vera. Two young college graduates, best friends of Denis & Adine’s daughter, came and talked about how they are adjusting to taking up residence in Paris to continue their studies in Greek and the craft of costume repair. We ate quiche and salad and cheese, drank delicious red wine, and finished the evening with Adine’s delicious almond cake and hot tea. Lovely company and lively conversation en francais et anglaise. All wonderful friends enjoying each other after many years of knowing each other.
A good day to be “at home.” Tomorrow’s another day.
The local librairie, or booksellers, in Saint-Mande.
Authors Denis Hirson and Nancy Huston (seated), with friend who reads excerpts.
Adine’s postcard flyer
Check out Adine’s website at: www.adinesagalyn.com.
The cultural season’s info of her exposition.