August 2022 Newsletter

Life in France

Every bistro in France has a dog named Hoover. The moment I walk in, they rush right over, eagerly awaiting the next errant meatball.

It’s stinking hot in Paris, which means it’s movie time! We go half an hour before the actual movie starts to watch the commercials. My favorite is the one where a man is walking home and steps in dog poop. He walks up to his apartment floor and angrily wipes his shoe on a doormat. He then turns around and enters his own apartment.

BHV, located across the street from Paris City Hall, is the best department store in the world. Where else can you buy a plastic pond to grow frogs and Coco Chanel?

A Paris Moment available on Amazon!

 “A book that bubbles like a fine champagne and satisfies like a perfect crème brûlée.”

John Gilchrist, CBC Radio

In North America, the day is spliced into predictable, pre-packaged doses, with everyone isolated in their car, their mall, or their suburban box. In Paris, when you walk out the door, you don’t know what you’re going to encounter – cherry blossoms, riot patrols, or Chinese lanterns hanging on the lampposts. The day springs to life as a full-blown performance, and if you are not part of the audience, you are part of the cast.

Even if you’ve never been to the City of Light, you’ll enjoy reading about the wonderful year we spent in the Marais. Order A Paris Moment today!

They have the weirdest poster ads here in Paris. I think this one is for golf balls.

Book Review

Vermeer’s Hat

By Timothy Brook

This is a charming book about the 17^th century, written by Canadian historian Tim Brook. It tells the story of how the Dutch, English, French and Spanish opened up the world to trade in the 1600s.

While the topic might sound a trifle dry, the author employs an innovative technique that both informs and entertains the reader. Using Officer and Laughing Girl, a painting by artist Johannes Vermeer, he uses details within the composition to illustrate how trading conglomerates like the Dutch East India Company moved silver from Peru, porcelain from China and beaver pelts from Upper Canada in the pursuit of commerce.

The latter commodity is the inspiration for the book’s title. Beaver fur proved far superior to lamb’s wool when it came to making felt. Not only was it water proof, but it held its shape.

Soldiers were soon demanding headgear with huge floppy brims, and adventurers like Samuel Champlain set up extensive trade routes with First Nation tribes throughout what is now Quebec, Ontario and New York State (where the Dutch, famously, purchased the island of Manhattan for beads).

The author goes on to detail how even something as mundane as tobacco moved goods from North America to Europe and as far away as Asia. The Chinese, we learn, were mad for pipe tobacco and would trade its weight in ceramics. When scavengers discovered the wreck of the San José in the Caribbean Sea, in addition to gold bullion, the site was littered with fine Ming dynasty porcelain, a cherished possession in Europe.

Well illustrated with maps and color plates, Brook’s historical treatise is a delightful and informative read. I highly recommend Vermeer’s Hat!

Picasso Museum

The Picasso Museum, located in a 17^th century mansion in the Marais, has always been one of our favorite destinations in Paris. The multitude of paintings, sculptures and drawings of the Spanish artist are the legacy of a tax deal between his heirs and the French government that preserved his immense personal collection for public viewing.

This summer, the museum mounted an exhibition dedicated to Maya Ruiz Picasso, the love child born in 1935 between Pablo and his teenage muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter. Because Pablo was already married, her existence was kept secret for many years, but her presence was evident in the many portraits and works in which she appears. Pablo doted on Maya his entire life, and she in turn influenced much of his work until his death in 1973.

In addition, the museum has mounted a virtual tour of Picasso’s home and studio in Cannes, where he lived and worked in the 1960s. It’s an intimate stroll through his life and family that places his late work in perspective.

Throughout his life, Picasso was a lightning rod for criticism from the art world establishment, and it is easy to lose sight of the immense impact his opus had on world culture. I have immense respect and admiration for his creations, (although I am relieved he never painted my portrait). I highly recommend the Picasso Museum!