Au Revoir, Paris in July!

"Although Bertha Young was thirty she still had moments like this when she wanted to run instead of walk, to take dancing steps on and off the pavement, to bowl a hoop, to throw something up in the air and catch it again, or to stand still and laugh at–nothing–at nothing, simply.

What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly by a feeling of bliss–absolute bliss!–as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe? . . ."

---from "Bliss," in Bliss and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield

Paris in July wraps up this weekend, and what a lovely time I've had. I feel exactly like Bertha Young when I experience Paris in July (or, honestly, Paris at any other time). 

My friend Louise from A Strong Belief in Wicker loves Paris and children's books as much as I do, so we decided to do a buddy read of A Hundred Million Francs, one of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read set in Paris, for Paris in July. We're at the halfway point, so we plan to read on, even after Paris in July. We have tentative plans to read the picture books in French together after that. The Paris in July fun lingers into August. 

I read/am reading three books---My Place at the Table, French Dirt, and Four Seasons in France---where people actually move to France and start new lives or spend extended time there. Maybe...someday...

What I Read Last Week:

My Place at the Table: A Recipe for a Delicious Life in Paris 

by Alexander Lobrano ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Paris Project by Donna Gephart (Children's Fiction) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Secret Paris: Local Guides by Local People (Guidebook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Paris to Provence: Childhood Memories of Food and France by Ethel Brennan ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Crêpes by Suzette by Monica Wellington (Picture Book) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France by Richard Goodman ⭐⭐⭐

What I'm Reading Now:

Marlaguette by Marie Colmont (Picture Book, in French)

Bonsoir Lune by Margaret Wise Brown (Picture Book, in French)

La Vache Orange by Nathan Hale (Picture Book, in French)

A Hundred Million Francs by Paul Berna (1001 Children's Book)

My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life by Janine Marsh (Moving-and-Starting-Over Memoir)

Serve It Forth by M. F. K. Fisher (Food Writing)

Paris in July Last Week:

Iliana at Bookgirl's Nightstand shared a recipe for a common French favorite, French Yogurt Cake. My husband won't eat cake, but he does eat bread, so I made the cake and renamed it French Yogurt Bread. It was delicious.

We visited a French bistro a couple of times when we stayed in Paris last February, and my sister gave me a book she found after we got home for my birthday. I reviewed French Bistro.

I listed The Books I'd Read if I Were Stranded in Paris.

We watched Season 1 of Alice in Paris. I hope to find the other seasons.

 Paris in July from Previous Weeks:

We watched Un Dimanche à la Campagne (A Sunday in the Country); The Lavender Hill Mob; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Monsieur and Mademoiselle Adelman; and Jules and Jim. 

I shared French Books You Can Read in One Sitting That Might Change Your Life.

For Wordless Wednesday, I focused on the French phrase "Coup de Foudre," a lightning-bolt moment, here.

And I reflected on the French idea of books as an essential good here.

I reviewed Confessions of a French Breadmaker and tried one of the recipes from the book for Walnut and Red Wine Yeast Bread here.

I tweaked the Top Ten Tuesday post to note ??? Book Titles ??? That Are Classically French.

I shared my favorite modern art from Centre Pompidou: Modern Art at Centre Pompidou in Paris. Did you know "modern art" doesn't really mean modern art? I did not.

I listed my favorite French-ish books and tried to figure out why I love these books so much: Why I Love French-ish Books (And Why You Should Love Them, Too!)

I packed for Paris in July here.

Good Thing #1

Blowing bubbles with Annie and Wyatt.

Good Thing #2

A new Le Petit Prince coffee mug!

Good Thing #3

My sister, Cathy (left), had her birthday last week,

and I (right) had a lot of fun celebrating with her. 

I'm happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

French Bistro

 That's the place.

We ate there twice when we were in Paris last winter.

This is where we sat.

It's Paul Bert. 

It's a classic French bistro. It's the subject of French Bistro: Seasonal Recipes by Bertrand Auboyneau and François Simon. 

French Bistro highlights the ten bistro essentials:

1. The Owner

2. The Chef

3. The Chalkboard Menu

4. The Wine

5. The Servers

6. The Table

7. The Decor

8. The Clients

9. The Ambience

10. The Aromas

(I'd add: The Food, but perhaps that's assumed.) 

Which of these ten seems most important to you? Of the ten, I'd say the wine.

We spent two afternoons at Paul Bert last February. I speak from experience when I nod my head and say, "Check, check, check," Paul Bert has all of these. 

Books I'd Read If I Was Stranded in Paris

Stranded in Paris? (Let's set aside the question of whether one could actually be stranded in Paris.) If I were stranded in Paris, I'd surround myself with some great books. I know exactly what I'd choose...I'd want to read the great French books, of course.

Some books would be rereads...

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

The Three Musketeers 

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (I've read it in English, Spanish, French, and Italian so far.)

Others would be books I've wanted to read but haven't yet...

The Red and the Black by Stendhal

Dangerous Liaisons by Choderos de Laclos

The Misanthrope by Molière

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (7 volumes; I've only read one)

Honoré de Balzac's The Human Comedy (91 finished works; that would probably last me)

The Stranger by Albert Camus (I read a graphic novel of this book)

Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Have you read any of these? Are any of these on your bucket list? Do you have any to add? To strike?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

Livres Français, Films Français, Cuisine Française

  

It's the last week of Paris in July, and my houseguests have headed off to their new home, so I'm trying to read as fast as I can to squeeze in every drop of Paris I can. 

Last week I finished five books, including the Chocolat sequel, set in Paris; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Wind, Sand and Stars; my second Émile Zola novel, good, but not quite as good as my first Zola I read last year; Henry James' travel book from 1884, A Little Tour of France; and Muriel Barbery's novella, Gourmet Rhapsody. 

I hope to read this week three picture books in French; a travel guide, Secret Paris; a book of childhood memories of food and France, Paris to Provence; a memoir of a food critic in Paris; and rereads of two favorite picture books, Crêpes by Suzette and 750 Years in Paris.

What I Read Last Week:

The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris (Sequel to Chocolat) ⭐⭐⭐

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery ⭐⭐⭐

A Little Tour in France by Henry James ⭐⭐⭐

Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ⭐⭐⭐

The Belly of Paris by Émile Zola ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What I'm Reading Now:

Marlaguette by Marie Colmont (Picture Book, in French)

Bonsoir Lune by Margaret Wise Brown (Picture Book, in French)

La Vache Orange by Nathan Hale (Picture Book, in French)

Crêpes by Suzette by Monica Wellington (Picture Book)

A Hundred Million Francs by Paul Berna (1001 Children's Book)

My Place at the Table: A Recipe for a Delicious Life in Paris by Alexander Lobrano

Secret Paris: Local Guides by Local People (Guidebook)

Paris to Provence: Childhood Memories of Food and France by Ethel Brennan 

Paris in July Last Week:

We finally got around to taking in some French movies last week. We watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes set (partially) in Paris. It was my first movie with Marilyn Monroe, and I couldn't help feeling that she was both mesmerizingly beautiful and achingly comedic, though the movie is an awful picture of the aspirations of women of the 50s.

We also watched Un Dimanche à la Campagne (A Sunday in the Country); Monsieur and Mademoiselle Adelman; and Jules and Jim. Un Dimanche à la Campagne is the story of the visits of a son and a daughter with their elderly father on a Sunday afternoon in the French countryside. It's poignant and thoughtful, and it was my favorite movie we viewed this month. Monsieur and Mademoiselle Adelman is the story of a marriage of forty-five years, and it manages to be both a bit of a drama and a comedy. Jules and Jim is the story of two friends who both love the same woman, and it epitomizes the free love ideas of the 60s, though it should have been seen as a cautionary tale. 

I shared French Books You Can Read in One Sitting That Might Change Your Life.

For Wordless Wednesday, I focused on the French phrase "Coup de Foudre," a lightning-bolt moment, here.

And I reflected on the French idea of books as an essential good here.

 Paris in July from Previous Weeks:

I reviewed Confessions of a French Breadmaker and tried one of the recipes from the book for Walnut and Red Wine Yeast Bread here.

I tweaked the Top Ten Tuesday post to note ??? Book Titles ??? That Are Classically French.

I shared my favorite modern art from Centre Pompidou: Modern Art at Centre Pompidou in Paris. Did you know "modern art" doesn't really mean modern art? I did not.

I listed my favorite French-ish books and tried to figure out why I love these books so much: Why I Love French-ish Books (And Why You Should Love Them, Too!)

I packed for Paris in July here.

Good Thing #1

We enjoyed Beef Bourguinon last week.

I used the Barefoot Contessa's recipe. 

Good Thing #2

I baked Dorie Greenspan's Sablés au Citron last week.

Good Thing #3

I visited my favorite Paris museum, Musée d’Orsay, last week via Google Arts & Culture.

I'm happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.