Every month, in the Pigalle neighborhood in Paris, beyond the red-light district and Moulin Rouge, you’ll find a congregation of the literary sort.
“The Book Club” is a party that occurs on the last Wednesday of every month at newly refurbished Le Carmen cafe and bar. The event has one simple rule: bring a book, and make sure to swap it by the end of the night. Forget keys or clothes, this is a more modern way to meet people, the event founder Rosa Rankin-Gee believes. “Books don’t spill,” she said. “They are pocketable, holdable, durable, lovely and say so much about the person who brought them.”
The venue (22, rue de Douai; 33-1-45-26-50-00; www.Le-carmen.fr) is a 19th-century private mansion once inhabited by Georges Bizet, where he supposedly wrote the opera of the same name. The space, with its ornate moldings and plush velvet seats, recreates the ambience of “the literary salons of yesteryear, but brings them up to date,” said Ms. Rankin-Gee. “And democratizes them, in a sense, because just by turning up with a book, every single person contributes.” The atmosphere is rounded out by a selection of retro cocktails and live piano music.
The Book Club goes hand in hand with an upcoming arts journal called A Tale of Three Cities, to be released soon.
“Our aim is to join up the dots between London, Paris and Berlin by showcasing the cities’ new writing, photography and art in a printed magazine,” Ms. Rankin-Gee said. “The Book Club embodies that idea of sharing and exchanging stories, and our esteem for paper and print.”
[from New York Times In Transit blog]
2011-05-03
Paris by Bus
After a visit to the American Library, I stand on Avenue Joseph Bouvard and wait for the 69 bus. My heart leaps as the lights illume the Eiffel Tower just in front of me. I am still in love with Paris.
That thrill continues as we slip down rue St. Dominique (it’s often a tight squeeze here) toward Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb. We pass Place Bourgogne before I press the button to get off at St. Germain and change for a 68 or 94 or 83 which will get me home. Had I continued, I’d pass through the Louvre and by Chatelet, around the column at Bastille, out to the Pere LaChaise cemetery and Gambetta.
My favorite line is the 63, which runs from Gare de Lyon out to Port de la Muette, where the Bois de Boulogne is. We take this line, with Harika, to go for an off-leash run. On the bus she must remain in her sack. She kind of likes that, sitting in the seat with me. Blair is taking pictures out the window.
My newest project has been to create a guide to monuments and attractions on the city bus lines of Paris. The 63 passes some beauties, including Trocadero and the Tour Eiffel, the Musee Guimet, and the Statue of Liberty Flame. On the other end, the Garden of Plants and Flowers, the Arab Institute with its camera lens windows and St. Sulpice await.
But today we’re headed to Porte de la Muette, the very end, in front of the Musee Marmottan, full of wonderful Monet paintings. A statue of Fontaine, the fable-writer, graces the park, but not really visible from the bus. Day in and day out, the fox compliments the crow with the camembert in his beak.
We cross the road and Harika chases phantom rabbits as we walk across the plain to the woods. Patches of ice dot the lake we walk around; terns and gulls, coots and moor hens flit from the ice to the water. Just past the island, Harika spots a cottontail, dead, beside a crow, on the ice. Our dog jumps from the path, slipping and sliding as she hits the ice. I stop myself before going after her: this ice will never support me. Blair and I hold our breath, willing her not to fall in the frigid water; I shout, “get back here, right NOW!” She comes to her senses and arrives at our feet, dry.
We finish our walk before we head back to Avenue Henri Martin (historian and mayor) and rue Octave Feuillet (writer) to catch the 63 home. We hop out by the Deux Magots and take the 95 to our house.
My next trajet will be the route 95, which runs from Montparnasse to Montmartre, crossing the Seine and passing the Moulin Rouge. I assemble pictures and stories and will bring them to the Paris Office of Tourism.
The Impressionists were in love with Paris, too, and Van Gogh, Monet, Whistler and Grant Wood painted images of the city. In May, June, September and October, I will be leading a group of painters through Paris in a painting workshop: visiting historic views, painting them (or not) and enjoying Paris “a la impressionism” . Please join me, and suggest my tour to your friends. Even if you are not a painter, we’ll look at paintings and drink wine in cafes, which is a lot of fun.
Laurie (painting and text) and Blair Pessemier
Trees at the Bois de Boulogne LFP Acrylic on canvas 8 x 20 inches
Paris Painting Workshop
With Laurie Fox and Blair PESSEMIER
Paint the scenes that inspired the Impressionists
Dates from May to October 2011 (and beyond)
Paint, easels and canvas included
Soiree: dinner and a show with Patricia
The crowd who shows up at Patricia’s is as interesting as the entertainment – this week we met J, a dancer from Australia – her husband is dancing at the Moulin Rouge, and the two perform an acrobatic “bands” dance, circus style. She was beautiful and fit, and it made me think about painting the two in their act. She had that fresh “Aussie” attitude -- American without the Puritan. I visited with a Croatian tour operator who spoke all the European languages and perfect English. There were several Americans there – a student from Oklahoma, a computer programmer from the DC area, who still used a standard camera and developed his own pictures whenever he could; a couple of French; and three Canadian women – one who taught art to children, both “Canadian” and aboriginal. We had a hearty discussion about art and culture.
Patricia offers a 20 euro dinner with wine and entertainment every Sunday night -- everyone is welcome. Entertainment varies – it’s the thing that draws me. This last week it was an R+B Gospel singer. The deep tones of “the Upper Room” came from a place out of this world. It turned out Connie Fredericks-Malone grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts – not far from Winsted, Connecticut where I am from. She is married to an ex-Jesuit and the two were out and about promoting the teaching of French by singing – a legacy to Connie’s sister, Carol Fredericks, who lived her life singing in France.
The whole affair is as close to Cabaret as I can imagine without getting “corny”. There was a couple who danced to recorded music after the singing was over: the woman had a body not unlike a weasel -- no waist, but a long muscled torso. She wore fabulous, dramatic makeup and her partner, less of a dancer, seemed like Karen Carpenter’s brother. She was going to belly dance here on Easter.
B, the American guy who is always there, dozed in a chair. It’s the kind of place one can get away with that. Patricia seems to have no expectations for us. Blair meets a woman who refers him to an opthamolagist. “Is that the dip?” she inquires.
It’s amazing the thing ever gets off the ground – the atmosphere is beyond casual. We arrived, a little early, at 7:15, as instructed in the directions. W, the computer operator was there, but there was no sign a soiree is about to happen. The setting is an one-room apartment, with an open kitchen and toilet down the hall. Mirrors surround the big room, making it feel festive and full, regardless of how many people show up. I think there were about 20 this time.
Wine is opened, but dinner is yet to be prepared. Patricia greets everyone, and about 8 PM, gets the singer going while she cooks. The vegetarian dishes are always good; I smelled the beef starting to burn while Connie sang. An assistant serves up the dishes of food – as much as we want, always enough. Wine is poured, and there is water, bubbly and flat. We eat and visit and before we know it the evening is over – we wish our hostess goodnight. Patricia wears a poker face – someone who has introduces snake charmers and dancers, sex therapists and artists. Come to the cabaret.
Laurie (painting and text) and Blair PESSEMIER http://www.paintfox.com/
"The Party (Soiree)" Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 16 x 12 inches
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