We Bid Adieu to Paris in July 2022: A Comprehensive Wrap-Up of All the Paris in July Posts

It's time to pack up the Paris photos, to return the French novels to the library, to clear the Kanopy queue of the French movies, and to strike the moutarde and the crème fraîche off the grocery list for another year. Sigh. It's always hard to gather up our things and head home. 

Still, we leave Paris this July having had some fabulous experiences:

Books

Mae at Mae's Food Blog shared books by Oulipo writers Georges Perec (here and here and here) and Hervé Le Tellier and Michèle Audin; a novel described by the author as about Algerian families in France called Kiffe Kiffe Demain by Faïza Guène; a collection of short stories centering on the Paris Metro, Paris Metro Tales, Marie, a novel written in 1940 by Madeleine Bourdouxhe; and Travels with Alice by Calvin Trillin. Mel at The Reading Life gave us a review of Yiddish Paris : Staging Nation and Community in Interwar France by Nicholas Underwood; After the Romanovs- Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque to Revolution and War by Helen Rappaport;  “Late Hour," a short story set in Paris by Ivan Bunin;  "The Paris Tattoo," an essay by Ann Patchett; and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Jeanie at The Marmelade Gypsy told us about The Bridal Chair by Gloria Golderich, a book about the life and work of artist Marc Chagall and his daughter, and Paris: A Curious Traveler's Guide by Eleanor Aldridge. Emma at Words and Peace gave us short reviews of all twenty-six books she has read this year in French here, here, here, and here and she also listed the last ten books she has read with a connection to France. She also told us about George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, offered a book giveaway. Emma of Words and Peace, Mae of Mae's Food Blog, and Bellezza of Dolce Bellezza reviewed The Martins by David Foenkinos (Emma and Mae and Bellezza). Deb at Readerbuzz shared her choices for the three best books to take with us to Paris. Karen at Books and Chocolate gave us her thoughts on the Martha book series by Margery Sharp. Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader shared a historical fiction book, The Lost Sister of Fifth Avenue by Ella Carey. Bellezza at Dolce Bellezza reviewed a short Jane Smiley book, Perestroika in Paris. Stacy at Stacy's Books told us about two books she's been reading set in France and offered a Paris puzzle giveaway. Fanda of Fanda's Classiclit gave us My Good Life in France and My Four Seasons in France, memoirs about a London couple who move to France. Arti of Ripple Effects told us about Mastering the Art of French Eating, a memoir by Ann Mah. Deb Nance gave us a collection of book covers that she found to best represent summer in France. Brona at This Reading Life: Brona's Books reviewed Georges Simenon's Maigret Goes to School and Maigret and the Minister; Bellezza at Dolce Bellezza reviewed Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses; and Mae at Mae's Food Blog reviewed two Maigret mysteries. Both Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and Deb at Readerbuzz shared books set in France that have not yet been read (Marg and Deb). NancyElin suggested both a Victor Hugo novella and Le Maniérisme: Une Avant Garde Au Xv Ie Siècle, both of which she found to be easy to read in French. Jeanie of The Marmelade Gypsy found The Paris Key to be "a good book to read while suffering with a moderate concussion and cut-up face," and Lisbeth of The Content Reader felt about the same way in her review of The Paris Apartment as did Karen of Books and Chocolate in her review of Enid Bagnold's The Loved and The Envied. Tamara at Thyme for Tea told us about a French fairy tale book she has been reading. Brona of This Reading Life: Brona's Books reviewed Simone Beauvoir's book about friendship, The Inseparables. Annabel at Annabookbel reviewed the first book in the Marseilles Trilogy by Jean-Claude Izzo.

Movies/Videos/TV

Stacy at Stacy's Books offered us James Corden's Crosswalk the Musical in Paris - Les Misérables. Emma at Words and Peace gave us a short video about Napoleon. Emma at Words and Peace told us about the world's only weekly literary program that airs in prime time and shared a series of videos about French history. Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader reviewed the French movie Romantics Anonymous. Arti of Ripple Effects suggested we take a look at the French movie Gabrielle from 2005 and reviewed the new movie Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.

Food and Drink

Deb at Readerbuzz gave us a photo gallery of the food and drink from her trip in April to Paris. Mae at Mae's Food Blog made Coq au Vin for us using Julia Child's recipe and offered some salad suggestions for a hot day in Paris. Emma from Words and Peace gave us some information about mustard from Bourgogne and Mae from Mae's Food Blog warned us about the French mustard shortage. Deb at Readerbuzz shared a recipe from Simple French Food by Richard Olney. Lisbeth at The Content Reader cooked us an entire French meal, complete with wine shared by her waiter, Arnaud.

Celebrations

Mae at Mae's Food Blog told us about the French help during the American Revolution. Arnaud at kwarkito celebrated Bastille Day with a photo from a parade, Emma at Words and Peace explained the way she and her husband celebrate the day, and Lisbeth at The Content Reader informed us about the Swedish ties to French history. Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader told us about her upcoming trip to Paris during the Christmas holiday season and shared a Christmas in Paris book, movie and song. Vagabonde at Recollections of a Vagabonde took us along on her Bastille Day celebration at the Eiffel Tower and this year's Tour de France.

People

Mae at Mae's Food Blog shared information about Simone Beauvoir and the issue of abortion. NancyElin gave us an introduction to Cezanne. Karen at Books and Chocolate told us about the life of Renoir in her post about Renoir, My Father by Jean Renoir. Brona at This Reading Life: Brona's Books enjoyed learning about Sylvia Beach when she read The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher.

French Language

Emma at Words and Peace shared an audio version of Le Petit Prince. Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader offered some French songs as well as some well-known English songs sung in French. NancyElin posted about a book she read in French and enjoyed very much about Caravaggio. Lori at Enter the Enchanted Castle shared her experience reading Le Grand Meaulnes, the classic novel by Alain-Fournier in French. 

Places in Paris

Emma at Words and Peace told us about Les passages couverts in Paris, Arnaud at kwarkito focused on Station Saint Michel. Mae at Mae's Food Blog shared photos of the homes of American ex-pats in Paris. Arnaud at kwarkito related his memories of the theater and Peter Brooks, shared a little about a shoe repair shop in Paris, made a stop by the Pont de Grenelle, posted a photo of a famous mural of the French avant-garde of the sixties, gave us a little history of the Bouillon Chartier restaurants, took us for walks down Rue Mouffetard and Rue Briquet and a deserted street at night. Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader told us about Marche aux Puces de Saint Ouen. Emma at Words and Peace took us for a walk through Paris with a series of YouTube videos. Deb at Readerbuzz told us about her experiences at a museum exhibit in Paris on The Little Prince and shared street art she found in Belleville. Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader walked us through a Paris apartment. Hena at The Story of Us led us through her recent six-day trip to Paris. Arnaud at kwarkito told us about what he considers to be one of his last remaining Parisian pleasures: the ability to see rare films screened in good condition.

French Perspectives on World Issues

Arnaud at kwarkito offered posts on the state of the world from a French perspective (here and here).

Miscellaneous

Deb at Readerbuzz made a list of her favorite Paris in July posts from the last ten years. vbb32 shared her Paris in July activities including reading Mrs. 'arris Goes to Paris and seeing the movie. Mae at Mae's Food Blog wrapped up her 2022 Paris in July experiences here. Jeanie from The Marmelade Gypsy walked us through her favorite photos from various trips to Paris in the past. Tamara from Thyme for Tea shared her favorite memories of Paris in July since 2010 here. Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader gave us a list of the books the readers of Paris are reading at the moment based on the bestseller list at Sens Critique. Lisbeth at The Content Reader and Marg of The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader wrapped up their months here (Lisbeth) and here (Marg). 

Whew! That should hold us for another year! Thank you, Tamara of Thyme for Tea for hosting this year's Paris in July, and a big thank you to all the contributors to the event!

 

Flirting with French and Goodbye to Paris in July

 

Nana by Émile Zola

Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me, and Nearly Broke My Heart by William Alexander

I rated both Nana and Flirting with French 4 out of 5 stars, so you might think I liked them the same, but that would be wrong. I thought both Nana and Flirting with French were equally good, but while Nana is a beautifully written novel, Flirting with French is just good fun for someone trying to learn a second language. Equally good, but in different ways.

Click on the link to take you to my review.

Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Anomaly: A Novel by Hervé Le Tellier

Sprinting Through No Man's Land: Enducrance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de Franceby Adin Dobkin

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: 3 More French-ish Books...New Floors...My Duck Doesn't Win...and Family is Everything

Books Set in France that I STILL Haven't Read

Simple French Food by Richard Olney

The Booker Prize Longlist is announced. 

The only book I have read from the list is Oh, William by Elizabeth Strout.

Have you read any of these? 

Op-Ed: Why Inappropriate Books Are the Best Kind (Los Angeles Times)

The last days of Paris in July are this weekend, and I'm sad to see it end, but what a wonderful adventure it has been. 

I achieved some of my goals:

READ BOOKS

Nana by Émile Zola

Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux

An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris by Georges Perec

The Martins by David Foenkinos, translated by Sam Taylor

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

Lost and Found in Paris by Lian Dolan

WATCH MOVIES

Romantics Anonymous

A Cat in Paris

Playtime

The Rules of the Game

Maigret Sets a Trap

LEARN THE LANGUAGE

Practice often on Rosetta Stone

Read in Short Stories in French

Read Le Petit Prince (in French)

FRENCH COOKING

Try a dish from Simple French Food by Richard Olney

Good Thing #1

After two and a half years of caution,

my son and his wife took off to visit friends and family.

This week they both came down with Covid.

Because they were vaccinated, both have had mild cases and are recovering quickly.

Good Thing #2

My husband and I helped with some 

naturalist group activities on seashells this week at the library.

Good Thing #3

Thank you, Tamara of Thyme for Tea, and all the many participants

who made the 2022 Paris in July so fantastic.

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place 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. 

Simple French Food by Richard Olney

We are inching toward the end of Paris in July, and I just don't think I can really celebrate Paris in July unless I do some French cooking. 

Fortunately, I've been reading a classic of French cooking this month, Richard Olney's Simple French Food. 

Who is Richard Olney? The great Mark Bittman writes, "If you want to learn your way around the French kitchen, Richard Olney is probably the best English-speaking guide there has ever been." 

Bittman goes on to say, "... you’ll learn (from Olney) what matters the most: that taking fresh, local, seasonal ingredients and treating them simply is the best way to prepare and enjoy food." 

“The important thing,” Olney says, “is that the food taste good.” 

I don't think we can ask for more than that.

What recipes did I bookmark? 

Gâteau de Crespèus (Cold Omelet Loaf)

Brouillade de Tomates au Basilic (Eggs Scrambled with Tomato and Basil)

Breton Chowder

Gratin Dauphinois (Scalloped Potatoes)

Gratin de Crepes Farcies aux Êpinards (Spinach-Stuffed Crêpes)

Pâte à l’Huile d’Olive (Provençal Pastry)

Tarte aux Pommes (Apple Tart)

Which recipe should I try? If I need to use "fresh, local, seasonal ingredients," the only recipe I can try right now in the heat of the summer along the Texas Gulf Coast is Brouillade de Tomates au Basilic, with fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden. But, win-win, it's one of the simplest in the book.

Before Olney shares the recipe, he offers up some wisdom about Scrambled Eggs in general. Pure poetry. 

"Correctly prepared, the softest of barely perceptible curds held in a thickly liquid, smooth, creamy suspension, scrambled eggs number among the very great delicacies of the table. They, like omelets, should be beaten but lightly with an addition of butter and, whether they be prepared over low, direct heat or in a bain-marie (their cooking utensil immersed in another containing nearly boiling water), they should be contained in a generously buttered heavy pan, preferably copper, which absorbs heat slowly and retains it for a long time. It is not only easier to precisely control the heat in a bain-marie, but also the cooking time is shortened, thanks to the heat’s being absorbed through the sides of the utensil as well as from the bottom. The eggs should be stirred constantly with a wooden spoon during their preparation, the sides and the bottom of the pan being repeatedly scraped, and they should be removed from the heat some moments before the desired consistency is achieved and stirred continuously for another minute or so, for they continue to cook from an absorption of heat contained in the pan. It is wise to remove them two or three times from the heat toward the end of the cooking to control more exactly the degree of creaminess and, once removed definitively from contact with heat, a small amount of heavy cream may be stirred in, arresting at once the cooking and underlining at the same time their caressing consistency. They may be served in butter-crisp containers carved out of crustless bread. Otherwise, if one is among friends, it is preferable to serve them directly from the cooking vessel onto warm, but not hot, plates and a wonderful additional garnish is the crisp, brown-butter note of croutons, either scattered over the surface or stirred into the eggs at the moment of serving. 

The complication of such rich garnishes as foie gras, game, crayfish, or lobster with their corresponding Périgueux, Salmis, Nantua, or Américaine sauces seems only to detract from the purity of the thing. But for truffles (the black ones incorporated, slivered, sliced, or chopped before the cooking; the fresh white ones sliced paper thin over the surface the moment the eggs are done) and morels (fresh or dried, stewed in butter before being incorporated into the eggs), scrambled eggs ally themselves the most beautifully with a single vegetable—be it tender asparagus tips, parboiled and sweated in butter (or, Oriental-wise, slivered, raw, on the bias, parboiled for but a few seconds, and tossed for no more than a minute in hot butter), artichoke hearts stewed in butter, finely sliced zucchini sautéed in butter or in olive oil, shredded sorrel stewed in butter, tender peas, rapidly parboiled . . . The same herbs that find a place in omelets are good, alone or in combination with vegetables, in scrambled eggs. 

It is said that eggs and wine do not marry. I, personally, take great pleasure in drinking a young, light-bodied, relatively dry white wine with scrambled eggs."

Let's get started, shall we?

Eggs Scrambled with Tomato and Basil 

Brouillade de Tomates au Basilic 

Servings: 4 

3 or 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped coarsely 

Salt

 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed 

Bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme, celery branch—or a pinch of crumbled mixed dried herbs) 

½ teaspoon sugar 

¼ cup olive oil 

¼ cup butter 

8 to 10 eggs 

Pepper 

Handful fresh basil leaves and flowers

Cook the tomatoes, salted, with the garlic, bouquet garni, and sugar in the olive oil over a low flame, tossing from time to time, until the free liquid is evaporated and the tomatoes seem only to be coated with oil. Discard the garlic and the bouquet garni. 

Add the butter, cut into small pieces, to the eggs, season to taste, beat them lightly with a fork and, with a wooden spoon, stir them into the tomato mixture, keeping it over a low flame and continuing to stir constantly, adding when the eggs begin to thicken the basil, chopped at the last minute to avoid its blackening. Remove from the flame just before the desired consistency is achieved and continue stirring.

I could make and eat this every day. Fantastic flavor.

Note: I had to make quite a few adjustments to this recipe...no medium tomatoes so had to use cherry tomatoes...no copper pan so used only pan I have...no wooden spoon so subbed with plastic spatula...no celery for bouquet garni so used alternate suggestion of a pinch of crumbled mixed dried herbs...no croutons for a garnish...

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post. 

Il est Juillet et il est temps pour le merveilleux Paris in July co-hosted by Thyme for Tea and Readerbuzz! 

Books Set in France that I STILL Haven't Read

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Germinal by Émile Zola

Bel Ami by Guy de Mauspassant

Bevis: The Story of a Boy (1001 Children's Books)

Père Goriot by Honoré De Balzac

Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

Gigi by Colette

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David

Paris Was Yesterday by Janet Flanner (memoir)

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Nana by Émile Zola (which I should finish this month)

Which of these should I read next?

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.   

Il est Juillet et il est temps pour le merveilleux Paris in July co-hosted by Thyme for Tea and Readerbuzz!