Day: July 12, 2021

French cats, wine, postcards, movies, and, of course, books!

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I read my first manga! At 428 pages it was quite a fun trip. Reading the book backward was challenging at first, but it didn’t take long to get into the flow. It was confusing at times and yet, it all came together in the end.

There are cats living in the attic of the most famous (and my favorite) museum in the world, The Louvre. The only one who knows about them is the night guard. There are people and cats who can escape into the pairtings. Add a few characters, a long lost sister, and a cat who doesn’t fit in and you get an idea of what you’ll find.

It took a bit to grow on me, but by the end I was charmed by Cats of the Louvre by Taino Matsumoto.

Jason and I are both museum lovers and we spent the better part of a day at the Louvre on our visit. A magical place.
A Walk in Paris is a kids picture book with lovely illustrations. I loved seeing the neighborhoods of Paris, but thought there was too much information on each page for any kind of story flow. It’s okay to browse through for the illustrations and to pick up random information like ‘Steak-frites, or steak with French fries, is a popular bistro choice.”

Gage loves The Who Is book series, so I was excited to sign him up for an online book club on Outschool. They read a Where Is book and meet every two weeks. As they discuss the book the teacher also includes other activities, like drawing a Wanted poster. This is a great book group and if you’re interested in it for your kid DM me and I’ll send you the link. The next book is Where is the Serengeti? The week of July 18. We read Where is Alcatraz and he loved it.
We watched Gigi last night, the 1958 musical romantic comedy that won 9 out of the 9 Oscars for which it was nominated. Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan play the destined to fall in love couple, but it was the uncle Maurice Chevalier that stole the show for me.

In 1900 France famous playboy Gaston ends yet another romantic affair. Teen Gigi is being groomed as a courtesan, but still retains her youthful innocence. The end was inevitable and the songs were good. I’m glad I watched this for my Paris in July project, but can’t say I loved it.

Have you seen it? Do you like old movies?

I’ve been sending and receiving postcards through @postcrossing for years. These are five that I’ve received from France over the last several years and the fun stamps. Two of them were from Nantes, and the rest spread around the country. It was fun to read them again yesterday, even if sometimes the handwriting challenged me!
Let’s start with the French wine. This beautiful glass of white wine was more than I had our whole 10 days in France. After we’d made our plans to go and visit our friends in Lyon I found out I was pregnant. A few things about this were stressful, I’d miscarried a few years before, I was 38 not 20, and I was still puking my guts out daily. AND I was going to a wine lover’s paradise but not able to drink the wine!

Somehow I still managed to have a fantastic trip even if I was still sick every morning 😂.

Now about the book, The Little French Bistro. I loved this quirky little book about an older woman who decides to kill herself by jumping into the Seine on a trip to Paris with her husband. She’s fished out of the water, of course, but now she has to figure out what to do with the rest of a life she doesn’t want.

She makes her way to Brittany, also called the end by of the world, and lives each day as if it’s her last, until one day, she doesn’t. There are lots of characters with their own stories and they fit neatly into the story of this seaside village.

I love stories about women finding their way and reinventing themselves to match the life they want, especially if there’s a little magic. And to do it in France? Even better.

And head over to Thyme for Tea for more Paris in July fun!