Beth Arnold

Letter From Paris: On Rue Pastourelle

Image via Wikipedia

If you are conscious--heart and mind willing--Paris is a feast for the senses.  One of the many pleasures to take in are the impeccably dressed, irresistibly designed, and alluring shop windows.  It is an art the French take seriously.

We are all drawn to these windows, as bees and bears to honey--to the eye candy that pulls us into them and to imagine the other wonderful mysteries behind them.  To the beautiful things we want to buy, to wear, to eat, to listen and dance across our living room naked to, to use to carry our groceries or mop our floors.  In Paris and in the whole of France, we are wowed by shop windows of tiny boutiques or big department stores.

This is what I saw on the rue Pastourelle:

Big Red Lips with Crystals

Letter From Paris: Books with French Twists

Image via Wikipedia

Crossposted at HuffPost.com.  Comments not included here.

There are genres of literature I call "Life in Paris or France" and "Adventures in France."  These books are usually fun reads that allow Francophiles to dream their dreams of living in the land of luscious patisseries and Winged Victory--or give readers the space to imagine fulfilling their own private wishes, whatever they are and wherever they may be.

I happen to be a reader of fiction and nonfiction.  (Don't understand people who only do one or the other, but hey.)  In some ways, truth fascinates me more, but I much prefer living in my own little bubble of unreality day-to-day than subsisting on the barrage of news we're hit with on an average day.  The majority of "news" we now get is not news at all--it's spin--focused on some angle that creates a sense of scandal or rage.  The Internet has increased a thousand fold the "scandalicious" nature of stories and pounds that tabloid-esque attraction into our brains.  As we know, this Internet power lies in its access and speed.  "Scandalicious for all" is the call that sites that act like they're delivering the news are actually transporting to our consciousness.

Luckily, the books below, that the authors were kind enough to send me, do not fit the above scandalacious category.  Author/Illustrator Lucy Knisley's mother sent me Lucy's book French Milk.  Ms. Kinsley, what a lucky young woman you are for a mom to help with the grind that is marketing.  And author Laurel Zuckerman sent me her book Sorbonne Confidential after our trying to meet up didn't pan out. 

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

French Milk is a fun romp through Paris with Ms. Knisley and her mom, and it's filled with Ms. Knisley's illustrations and photos.  The story is told--musings are made about her life and adventure in Paris--through the words and images she created.  It's an adult picture book, cooly current with Ms. Knisley's artistic multi-media. 

Letter From Paris: What I Miss in Paris

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I lovelovelove living in Paris, but there are some things that I miss from my own country.

What Beth Arnold misses from the USA: 1. Great authentic Mexican food / Tex-Mex / a kick-ass taco and burrito, cheese dip and real homemade tortilla chips to dip it in and fresh Pico de Gallo to put on just about anything. Oh, man! Not to mention a real Margarita that is made with lime juice and Tequila.  Ole!

I couldn't resist this:

                                                                                    ---Beth Arnold

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