Café Life, Photo by Erica Simone
Your taste of life in Paris and France
ParlerParis.com
Monday, June 13, 2011 • Paris, France
Dear Parler Paris Reader,
Saturday was a café kind of day.
Café #1.
Early in the morning, renters checked into the sweet little studio apartment, Le Provençal, so there was time for a café crème and a “tartine” (baguette and butter) before starting the Parler Parlor Conversation Group at 11 a.m. “Au Petit Boulevard” at 23, boulevard de Sébastopol, made a perfect spot for this typically French breakfast – where I fired up the MacBook Air to try to answer some of the 800 emails that had accumulated during the week's PC to Apple transition. Little did I know then that the day would be a series of café encounters until well after midnight.
Parler Parlor, which for those of you who regularly attend or are thinking of attending, will for the first time in 13 years, close for the Summer, from just before Bastille Day (July 14th) through September 2nd (reopening September 3rd)...but don't worry – it will reopen with a bang!...and we'll keep you posted. Until then, we are still practicing English and French and making friends along the way.
Café #2.
After the Group, I met with interior architect, Martine di Mattéo, and clients from Luxembourg who have just purchased an apartment at the corner of rue du Roi de Sicile and rue Pavée, two of the oldest streets in the city, with a view on the carousel at Place Saint-Paul. (This is an unofficial name for the place where the Saint-Paul Métro sits.) Rue Pavée was the first paved street in Paris and we were told that this building, along with many others along rue du Roi de Sicile were “love hotels” in its hayday!
After discussing the future renovations, we chose a café across the street for lunch – “Le Bucheron” at 14, rue de Rivoli, that has a second entrance on rue du Roi de Sicile. The floors were originally an intricate pattern in tiny tiles, much of which has now been replaced by a kind of poured concrete and stone. It was a particularly interesting way of preserving the old and marrying it with the new. We took particular notice because the concept for our clients' apartment is “Paris Café,” so Martine is gathering ideas for what elements will turn the now 'box of an apartment' into a replica of 'café life.'
Martine had not yet seen the 23-page four-color spread just out on the newsstands in the July issue of “Maison Chic” magazine about “Le Palace des Vosges,” the fractional ownership property we developed that she designed and renovated. Kudos to Martine! (To read more about it, visit frenchproperty/insider/ and to download a pdf of the article, visitpalacedesvosges.com/Maison_Chic_July_2011)
Café #3.
Murder mystery author, Cara Black, was speaking at the Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore just a few blocks away, so it was not to be missed. After lunch, I met up with digital format publisher, Karen Henrich, and barely squeezed into the packed store thanks to the slew of American fans of Cara's. Cara signed copies of her newest Aimée Leduc mystery, “Murder in Passy” and a group of friends agreed to meet after at the corner café – “Au Bouquet Saint-Paul.”
The waiter there was in particularly good spirits and gave us all a laugh when he placed an entire bottle of almond syrup on the table to add to our drinks. This is one of my regular café stops thanks to the friendly atmosphere and good food. Six women made for a jovial group on a Saturday afternoon discussing how much fun an app would be for Cara's murder mysteries – a special tour of Paris through the eyes of Aimée Leduc – like where would there be a good place to hide a body?! Wouldn't you like to know?
Café #4.
The group split up going their separate ways, but Karen was hungry and wanted to chat about tomorrow's talk at Parler Paris Après Midi. Within a few steps, we settled at a table deep in the bowels of “Le Dome Saint-Paul” at 4, rue de Rivoli. By this time, I had drunk an assortment of coffees, wines, and colas forcing a 'pit stop' at every café's rest room. Café rest rooms are not normally a pleasant experience and tell volumes about the establishment's proprietors. Almost all the old Turkish toilets have been replaced with newer models (thankfully), but they still have not done away with urinals that often have no doors and one must walk past them (or a man using one) to access the ladies' room (thankfully) with a door.
Can someone explain this to me? Why wouldn't a man want privacy like a woman does? Don't answer that. I think I know. (Let's move on...)
Café #5.
I had an appointment at 8 p.m. with an “acousticien” (sound engineer) to monitor and record the sound levels from a bar nearby a client's apartment to determine if it were within the legal requirements or not. Instead of heading home for an hour, I left Karen and wandered down to the “Pick Clops” at 16, rue Vieille du Temple, settled into a chair and ordered yet another coffee. Upon logging onto the Internet (free WiFi is available just about everywhere and many cafés offer their own networks), a Skype message popped up. The Skype voice said in its sweet, but stilted way, “You have a Skype message from Erica Simone.”
Darling daughter was anxious to show mom her new Web site – along with a few new photos she'd done to add to her Nue York Portraits collection for a book in production. Within a few more moments, the engineer called to say he preferred to meet at 11:30 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. – a peak hour for what might be the highest levels of noise coming from the bar.
Café #6.
Without further ado, I headed home, worked a bit on those 800 emails and felt like heading back out the door just about as much as I felt like attacking 800 emails...until a friend phoned from the “Café du Marché” at 37, rue de Bretagne to say he 'was in the hood' and did I want to get together for a drink (at yet another café)?
“No thanks, I'm caféed out, but come here for boiled shrimp and wine, then if you like, you can come with me to meet up with the sound engineer,” I said, hoping this would provide just the boost I needed to complete the evening's tasks.
“Sure. Sounds like a plan.”
Bar #1.
At 11:30 p.m. we checked on the equipment in the apartment and entered the bar while the sound engineer adjusted the equipment and took notes (or whatever it is that sound engineers do). Yep, it was plenty loud, and in addition, a woman dancing on the bar added to the overall energy, excitement and noise. This time I ordered a “Perroquet” – a drink made of Pernod® (licorice liqueur), mint syrup and water.
An hour later I was home and in bed floating from the day's worth of liquid nourishment and café life. We are so fortunate to have café life in France. How does the rest of the world conduct their business and their social life without a café every few steps to host their meetings and social gatherings? What would we have done if we had not had all those cafés in which to rest our feet, refresh our palettes and relax our minds and souls?
Quite frankly, I wouldn't know. That's one reason I'm here and not there.
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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P.S. Our House Hunters International Historic Country Homes in Normandy episode aired yesterday in the U.S. -- and of course I missed it! If any of you have recorded it, I'd be very happy to have a copy if you are willing. For those who missed it, too, it will air again on July 8th. See http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/historic-country-homes-in-normandy/index.html for details.
