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Your taste of life in Paris and France
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011 • Paris, France
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The House Hunters filming that took place this past weekend in Normandy ended at the foot of the Eiffel Tower early this morning with the scene that will be edited into the beginning of the program -- the moment we all first meet and discuss the couple's wish list for the perfect home in Normandy to house their brood of six children. The weather was gloriously fresh with a bright sun and blue skies. The trees along the Champs de Mars seemed about to burst with baby green leaves as we could feel Spring take hold after this long, gray and rather dismal winter.
The home we filmed on Monday in Normandy was the third of those from which they will have to choose -- all designed to keep you guessing throughout the program as to which of them all they will settle on and settle into. This last one was a sprawling old stone farmhouse close to the town of Argentan that had been completely renovated to perfection by an artist and his wife, leaving not one single detail to question. With five bedrooms, a large yard and a ton of special features, it was easy to how they might want move right in -- except that it was an extra hour's drive from Paris and miles from the nearest school.
Each home they visited had its 'pluses and minuses' -- things one must trade off for others. This is an age-old dilemma, particularly here in France, where it's near to impossible to achieve perfection and where one must always expect to NOT "have your cake and eat it, too." (In French, the equivalent expression is "vouloir le beurre et l'argent du beurre," meaning literally "wanting the butter and the money for the butter.")
All throughout the show, you will see there will be much conversation about just this and like an Agatha Christie mystery, the focus will be on the one who is NOT the murderer, to guarantee the ending will be a big surprise. You will not coax the outcome of the show from me -- so you will just have to have patience until it airs in a few months time.
Last night Kathleen Spivack read her luscious thought-provoking poetry to a devoted group of afficionados at the Village Voice Bookshop. Bookshop owner, Odile Hellier, made a beautiful introduction and then Kathleen devoted much of her opening to memorializing recently passed author, Hazel Rowley. She then proceeded to read from "A History of Yearning," a poem titled "Monet's Path." I couldn't help but think of my recent time in Normandy, having passed by train through Vernon, the town nearest Giverny, Claude Monet's famous and well-visited home and garden:
"You walk into the painting,
you walk down the path
through the bleached grass toward the village:
the cicadas are singing;
you are going someplaceordinary."
Before leaving the Village Voice, I purchased a copy of each author's latest work and today, began taking in their beautiful words as I did the breath of Spring in Paris. Yes, it has arrived.
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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P.S.Experience a taste of Provence in Paris! Take advantage of a last minute special price offer for a luxurious stay at "Le Provençal" in Le Marais!...up to six nights for 109€ per night or seven nights or more for 99€ per night between March 25th and April 14th! Never before has it ever been such a bargain during the glorious spring season (and will likely never be again)! No hotel room can compare. Visit Le Provençal and reserve now!
P.P.S. For those who'd like to have a look at the photos from Saturday's Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group 13th Anniversary Party, click here:parlerparlor.com/events.html
