A String of Diamonds, Pearls on Sunday
I keep dreaming about Paris—St. Germain, really. The Left Bank and Café de Flore… a nicoise and a pernod in the shadow of the eglise…A cliché—yes. But, I’m all right with that. The fantasy is of me and an older man…
“You have a princess neck,” he says, trying to roll his tongue around the “r’s,” soften them up to suit my American ear.
“I do?” I demur, trying for a moment to be the good Southern girl of years past. At present, I’m very busy being maudlin and analyzing my big city life across the pond.
“One meant for a string of diamonds. Pearls on Sundays.” A slow sip of the Calvados and he continues staring.
It is some weeknight in October and I am stroking the blonde hairs on my neck and the old, tanned Frenchman next to me is thankful for the breeze off the Seine and his Cubano cigar and the forgiving light cast by Flore’s awning. The golden hue takes ten years off and he knows it. Without a pause, he asks me to write my phone number on his crisp, linen kerchief.
“Ahh, but you won’t answer your phone,” he says, suddenly coy.
“Of course I will.”
The Frenchman and I continue exchanging lies.
Why not? Joan Didion told me that, “I could stay up all night and make mistakes and none of it would count.”
Paris begs for mistakes… and then for all to be forgotten over a café au lait and croissant in the morning.
October 4th, 2005 at 10:23 am
Paris. What is it about Paris that makes it so special, anyways?
The last time I was on the left bank I was alone in a smoky basement jazz club til 4 am listening to a tribute to Louis Armstrong. I miss Paris. . . buying Bottles of Bordeaux for $5, waking up in the morning to a cup of espresso with a smart-ass garcon and a baguette, browsing the Musee d’Orsay or le jardin du Luxembourg.
I, too, hope to fulfill my fantasy and return soon. But no, my fantasy doesn’t include any old men
October 4th, 2005 at 10:59 am
Belle,
Great stuff! How about an RSS feed?
D
October 4th, 2005 at 12:13 pm
The last time I was in Paris, I was with my best friend from high school. It was fall, crisp and romantic and I remember one afternoon we looked at each other and agreed it was such a romantic city. Then she sighed to me, “No offense, but I wish I was here with a guy.” My thoughts exactly.
October 4th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
Paris is a very romantic city….and I hope to live there one day…or at least go back with a man. The last time I was there was this April with a friend (girl). We were lucky because it only rained one day in the week that we were there (the city’s known for it’s rainy spring). Everything about it is so enchanting, even if people are rude to you. Sigh. I’m going to go daydream now….
October 4th, 2005 at 12:35 pm
mmmmm… a crisp fall day, a bowl of french onion soup, a glass of bordeaux…
October 4th, 2005 at 12:48 pm
Sounds kind of creepy. Either that or romantic. Girls are always suckers for older foreign men. I’m guessing that if I tried that, I’d end up with my name in the paper.
I’m not one to plug my own blog. But I just made a “choose your own adventure”. And that’s always fun. See how you do.
October 4th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
Ahhh…Paris…intoxicating to say the least. Mistakes only happen if we can’t live with the consequences…
October 5th, 2005 at 1:48 am
Ok, has everyone in the entire world been to Paris, but me?! Thank God, I’ve already made plans to go there next summer…sheesh…
October 5th, 2005 at 2:51 am
We have not all been to Paris, at least i havent. Been to Roma, Italy! Just as romantic but instead of spending time with an older foreign man i spent time with a younger loser dj who still lived with his parents… WOW… what a great kisser!
October 5th, 2005 at 3:25 am
The Frenchman and I continue exchanging lies.
Its so strange how some relationships always end up like this.
Still…at least you were in Paris lying rather than some other mundane location.
I’ve never been to Paris, which is a tragedy given I could just jump on a train. Perhaps this has inspired me to go…
October 5th, 2005 at 5:19 am
ah, paris~ last time i went there, i came back broke ;p yup, paris is a mistake but you can’t just say no. *sigh*
October 5th, 2005 at 12:50 pm
Secondo me, “la citta eterna” e meglio… Sotto cieli di Roma con una bottiglia di Brunello e certamente una ragazza bella. Ma, chi sono io?
October 5th, 2005 at 3:36 pm
Paris…..I was there last with my (now ex) husband just two weeks before we split up. I refused to give up my ticket on the Concorde just becuase we were having a small marital crisis.
However, I would have given my right arm for an older alcoholic french geezer to stroke my neck and slur his French words even more than normal. It was not very romantic to spend my evening hoping my husband would conveniently fall off the Eiffel tower and leave me the life insurance. :}
October 5th, 2005 at 3:37 pm
Wait who is this Jake Hottie? Italian is OK, really!
October 5th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
I’m I the only person who thinks Paris is overrated?
Still a good story, Belle. Damn good.
October 5th, 2005 at 7:12 pm
I haven’t been there neither!!
I wish I can go soon… I have a lot of friends there that I’d love to see again…
October 5th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
aaahhhh, Paris,
pass the Calvados please…
October 6th, 2005 at 1:10 am
Nice writing..Cute and witty ending! Don’t you just love fantasizing and day dreaming sometimes? What a world away it take u to.
alannajoy
October 6th, 2005 at 2:51 am
The golden hue…..café au lait and croissant. That sums it up perfectly.
October 6th, 2005 at 11:04 am
Ah, my nights in St. Germain. You bring back such memories. I return whenever I have the opportunity.
October 7th, 2005 at 10:16 am
Damn!
October 12th, 2005 at 5:09 pm
funny, i’ve been thinking joan didion throughout my read of ur musings. joan didion, whose writing urs remind me of.