Philippe's birthday

No, not my son Philippe, my friend Philippe Lefebvre. His birthday is very close to the Epiphany and his traditional birthday cake has always been the seasonal galette des rois. We sang Happy Birthday (in English) and Philippe blew out the candles


I mentioned in a previous post that each galette contains a "fève". Paolo and Melissa were the lucky winners this time. Here's a regal looking Melissa


And brother Paolo


I've known Philippe and his twin brother Bruno since they were ten years old and too young to join us for English-speaking dinners hosted by parents Odette and Pierre. Following our return to the U.S. we hosted visits from various members of the Lefebvre extended family. A couple of these visits included a trip to the Grand Canyon. Our French visitors have always been surprised to learn that 1. the Grand Canyon in NOT located in Colorado and 2. It takes a long time to drive there, but it is definitely worth the trip!

Now that I've returned to Paris, I've enjoyed becoming a part of the Lefebvre family again - watching the grandchildren grow up, enjoying family dinners and visits to the French countryside. It's through these touchstones of family tradition that I think of my own family and I feel less alone.

Another week, another trip to the Cabane

This week I invited Odette, her daughter Dominique, and her daughter-in-law, Nathalie to join me for oysters at the Cabane a Huitres.

We went for lunch on Saturday. Fewer people at lunch, more time to visit. It was the second visit for Odette, the first for Dominique and Nathalie.

Here is Francis explaining to Dominique and Odette.


Nathalie and Dominique


And me? I was behind the camera :-)

80th Birthday

Today is Pierre Lefebvre's 80th birthday. Odette invited me to join her and Pierre for lunch at her apartment. I have written previously about our history with the Lefebvre family. I mentioned that I don't see Pierre very often since he and Odette have been separated for over 25 years. They stay in touch, however, which is normal if you have 4 children and 9 grandchildren in common.

Pierre certainly doesn't look or feel his 80 years! He travels extensively and always has lots of interesting stories to tell.


We enjoyed a delicious lunch and a good bottle of champagne. Pierre and Odette will meet again this evening for a special dinner cruise with two of their four children aboard the Bateaux Mouches.

Lefebvre family

Yesterday I mentioned my dinner guests Odette, Philippe and Nathalie. I realize I've never properly introduced them. So let me try.

When Charlie and I lived in Paris in the 1970s we both taught English to adults. Charlie had a student, Pierre Lefebvre, who invited him to come to his home to give English lessons to his family. These lessons took the form of English speaking dinners. Pierre and his wife Odette hosted these dinners once a week and invited friends and extended family to come and speak English. There were typically at least eight dinner guests each time, and oh! the food!!

Charlie would come back recounting tales of the most incredible dinners - typically 5 courses, and what a revelation for someone growing up in a working class Denver family and now scraping by on the meagre wages of an English teacher.

Eventually, I was invited to join Charlie at the Lefebvre family English-speaking dinners and was gradually introduced to their large extended family.

Pierre was one of eight children, and we eventually became acquainted with his mother and all of his brothers, sisters, their spouses and children.

Odette was one of 12 children and while we never met all of her siblings, we were close to one sister and brother-in-law who later offered Charlie a much better job in a French company.

Pierre and Odette have 4 children: Jean Marc is the oldest. I wrote about him when we visited in Grenoble and St. Nizier. Here is a picture of his family:


Dominique is next. Here is a recent picture of her with her 3 children.


Philippe and Bruno are identical twins. They were only 10 years old when we first met. Philippe now lives in an apartment in Passage d'Enfer and Philippe and Nathalie are my neighbors during my frequent stays there. Bruno and his family live in Toulouse, so I haven't seen him yet. Here is a recent picture of Philippe and his companion Nathalie.


Our friendship has been a lasting one. We have known each other since before my children were born. We watched each others' families grow up and we hosted visits from several members of the Lefebvre family once we returned to the U.S. They have hosted Charlie, me, and our son Philippe during various trips back to France over the years and my son has remained friends with their children. We have been witness to various family trials, including Odette and Pierre's separation 25 years ago. Now I see Odette much more often than I see Pierre, and because of our 35 years of history, we are still close.

They have been patient teachers of French language and French culture and even though our correspondence has been sometimes infrequent, they have welcomed me back into the circle of friendship and family. They are my support system here in Paris.

p.s. I have started labeling these posts, so now you can go back and find other stories and pictures related to the Lefebvre family.

Dinner party

Risotto con funghi with fresh chanterelles? Or a simple farm-raised roast chicken from my local butcher? A nice selection of cheeses, and baguettes still warm from the oven of my favorite bakery. I love shopping for dinner parties almost as much as cooking.

Odette, Philippe and Nathalie came over for dinner this weekend. My apartment got lots of oohs and ahhs - not because it's that special; the furnishings are pretty basic (IKEA), but because it's light, bright, quiet, and in a good neighborhood. They were impressed. But it's not about "impressing" them, it's about finding a space where I am comfortable and feel at home.

I was too busy talking, eating, and enjoying myself to take pictures of the people or the food - but I did take a picture of the flowers I brought home for myself.

Birthday celebration

My 60th birthday was last month and I celebrated it in England with my friend Ruth. I wrote about it here

I celebrated my birthday again yesterday in Paris surrounded by friends old and new. We went to La Cabane à Huitres to eat more oysters, foie gras, cheese, dessert, and some very very special wine.

Here we are starting out with our oysters:

That's Eleanor Beardsley, NPR correspondent on the left, Odette Lefevbre, my Parisian friend of 35 years, and me.

After the oysters, we moved on to foie gras accompanied by a 1971 Sainte Croix du Mont (a sweet white Bordeaux wine that goes particularly well with foie gras).

After the foie gras, we had cheese - a brebis (sheep) cheese from the Pyrenees. And to go with the cheese, Francis opened a very very special bottle of wine - a bottle of Medoc from the year I was born!


Francis actually opened the bottle of wine ahead of time: the rule of thumb is one hour for every year . . .



The wine was DELICIOUS! Everyone in the small place joined us for a toast!


That's Monsieur Ponce in the background - he is the 96 year old regular that I've mentioned before.

A wonderful time was had by all!


Special thanks to Francis for the gracious gift of a very special wine. And thanks to Lauren and Odette and Emma and Julie and Eleanor (who had to leave early to work) for helping make this a very special occasion for me!

St. Nizier

I just spent a wonderful weekend with friends that I've known for over thirty years. Odette and I took the train to Grenoble to spend the weekend with her son Jean Marc and his family. Jean Marc and Florence (Flo) have four children between the ages of 12 and 17. They have a house in Grenoble and another house in the mountains above Grenoble in a town called St. Nizier. Here is a picture of their house in St. Nizier:


It is quite a large house and can easily sleep 20 people. It has a bathroom with mosaic tiles that date from the 1930s.


To get to St. Nizier you pass by a rock formation called the 3 Pucelles. Just below this rock formation is the site of the ski jump for the 1968 winter Olympic games which were held in Grenoble:


Here are Jean Marc, Odette, Flo, the twins Yvan and Simon, Sarah, and Merlin at dinner on Sunday night. Simon is practicing his driving so that he can get his driver's license when he turns 18 later this year. I held my breath a few times when Simon took the wheel of the 9 passenger van with stick shift to take us up and down the steep curvy road to St. Nizier. He did a good job though, and the eight of us returned safely to Grenoble on Sunday night.


On Monday afternoon I'll leave Grenoble and head south towards the Côte d'Azur (French Rivera). I'll check in as soon as I arrive somewhere with an internet connection.

Normandy

I spent the long Easter weekend in Normandy with my friend Odette and her cousin Simone. Both women are well read, well traveled, and well informed. Discussions were lively and wide ranging - especially since they are quite far apart politically; Odette votes with the Socialists and Simone votes with the conservatives. Their political debates were very insightful and they gently agree to disagree. It was also good practice for my French - both language and way of life. Every meal except breakfast started with an aperitif, then first course, then main course, then salad, cheese, and fresh fruit for dessert. We used linen tablecloths with linen napkins - and it was just a casual weekend in the country for the three of us!

Here is Odette's house in the country:


Simone travels a lot to visit her four children who live in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Paris. Oh, did I mention that Simone is 80 years old and Odette is 78? That is not necessarily important although interesting to learn that Simone will be traveling alone to Taiwan to meet up with three of her children next week. It may also partially explain why I was so nervous with Odette at the wheel of a tiny French car driving 70 miles an hour on narrow roads without her glasses - despite rain, traffic conditions, or large trucks 20 times larger than us. Anyway, I made it back to Paris in one piece, and my white knuckles are gradually returning to normal.

Here is a picture of Simone (in grey jacket and skirt) and Odette (in white jacket) shopping for lunch in the nearby small town.


We visited a couple of minor castles nearby. This is a small one with a couple of different styles stuck together:


This is the chateau Beaumesnil. They call it the "Versailles of Normandy"

Passage d'Enfer

On Wednesday morning I moved out of the apartment in the Latin Quarter. It was large and comfortable and located near the rue Mouffetard. I was sorry to leave it, but it was time to move on.

Wednesday afternoon I moved into a new place in the Passage d'Enfer near Montparnasse. Those of you who speak French will understand that "Enfer" means "Hell". No, I have not descended into some dark passage along with Dante, I am merely staying in a smaller apartment; a "pied-à-terre" owned by the Lefebvre family, friends of mine since the 1970s. The apartment is in a "cité ouvrière" which is housing built in the mid 19th century to house the workers of a local factory. When my friends first bought two apartments here in the 1970s, each had only a sink. Toilets were located in the stairwell. Now, of course, there is a proper bathroom with indoor toilet and shower. Here is what the Passage d'Enfer looks like:



By the way, you'll find yourself climbing lots of stairs when you come to Paris, so be sure and pack light!


Not too much greenery here, but I thought this was an interesting approach to grow a vegetable garden on the cobblestone street:


I went exploring in my new neighborhood. Right around the corner are artist studios occupied in the 1920s and 1930s by artists such as Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp who were part of the surrealist movement: