Category: Paris

Well, I’m back in Paris, in my favorite Marais appartement.  And in just the first  week, I reunited with a number of my Paris American Academy friends and completed a fantastic workshop. Author Kathleen Spivack shared her golden nuggets of writing wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of fascinating experiences. She encouraged me to share my work at the Au Chat Noir Café where I received an enthusiastic response to my spoken word performance. The show takes place in the basement and 1960s beatnik icon, Maynard G. Krebs, would have fit right in. The experience inspired me to give a second reading at another club in the 11th arrondissement that also went well. **** I toured the D’Orsay Museum for a second time and Gauguin remains my favorite painter. **** The weather is conducive to writing in the Jardin du Luxembourg–so I do.

Lured back by friends assuring me Paris gets spring-like weather the first few weeks in February, I arrived just in time for what was being called the “heaviest snows in 25 years.” But a lovely apartment with lots of light, in Paris, makes snow and cold charming, even when you’re slipping and sliding through the streets. And it was lovely to spend time with my godson and his wife who are living in Paris for the year. I also attended a couple sessions of an erudite, multilingual, writing seminar at the beloved (by expats) Berkeley Books, with former classmate Sebastian.

Lunch with Holly****My favorite Boulangerie, Miss Manon, in Le Marais****Writing at the Bibliothéque****Markets****Sunday Salon at Le Select with old friends and early morning quiet streets. Still missing the spring-like weather I was promised but moving around too much to notice the cold.

A picnic and outdoor movie at Paris Cinema Plein Air where the original ‘Sabrina’ (1954) with Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden played under a full moon. I walked home on deserted streets. Moments of having Paris all to yourself is not too unusual in August, when the locals are away on vacances.

More photos from the Paris American Academy’s graduation bash on the Seine.

After 7 trips to Paris, and visits to lots of small museums, I finally decided to brave the Louvre. I signed up for a “2-hour” tour, with two friends. We ended up on a non-stop “3-hour” tour (think Gilligan’s Island.). Criss-crossing the palace with an enthusiastic guide, the three of us were dragging and dehydrated by the time we escaped–but I can now say I’ve “been there, done that.” ****I had lunch again with my “Shero” Holly who reinforces that laughter is always the best medicine.****Our month of classes culminated with a celebration on Quai Saint Bernard. Our illustrious cigar smoking leader, Rolf, handed out diplomas while wine flowed****I had cocktails at the recently opened Ritz Bar in the recently reopened Ritz Hotel, but only took a photo of the gold-plated bathroom fixtures so as not to appear touristy or gauche in the bar.****The man on the fantastical bike (zoom in and look at the details) was just one of many recent bizarre street sights–which included four monks dressed in colorful quilts that I dubbed the “Holy Order of Bedspreads.”

My beautiful Parisian landlady, Stéphanie, took me to lunch at a Montmartre restaurant with panoramic views of the city (where she explained why it is so hard for single Parisian women to find love and romance in Paris.) I went running (away from baguettes & butter) on the Viaduc des Arts – a lovely 2.8 mile trail with gardens that used to be railroad tracks. I sat on the same steps where Owen Wilson’s character in “Midnight in Paris” waited for Heminway and Fitzgerald to pick him up and take him to Gertrude Stein’s place.

Gotta love Paris graffiti! My family name is “Floyd”– not a name I associate with the French.

Bastille celebrations start the night before at local fire stations all over town where firemen and police host massive parties, serve alcohol to the public, DJ the music with a sound-system that can be heard for miles around, and dance and flirt with the locals. No one is worried about liability–something you’ll never see in the US.**** I started Bastille Day, July 14th,  at a brunch hosted by a French chef and her New Yorker husband, where the other guests were from Germany, Canada, Puerto Rico and England. Later, faculty and classmates from my writing program watched the Eiffel Tower fireworks from a boat on the Seine. ****The American Cathedral in Paris is a peaceful place to spend Sunday mornings.

I performed a reading of my work at Café Universal–a Paris jazz club. ****Love the constant show of lights at night outside my living room window. ****Went sales shopping at Galleries Lafayette.****Saw “Stage Fright,” a 1949 Hitchcock movie with Marlene Dietrich at one the cinemas I frequent–Christine 21, on the Left Bank.**** Found a bar dedicated to my father–“Cool Bob.”