We'll Always Have Paris

A Date Night in Paris - Oui! Oui!

So I’ve always wanted to be a travel writer. I didn’t imagine doing it from my couch, but when a girlfriend suggested a virtual date night abroad, I certainly wasn’t going to say no.

I’ve traveled a fair amount, but I’ve yet to make it to Paris in spite of my longings. I think so much of my style is inspired by charming, elegant, classically simple, romantic France.

I bought my current century home because the outside reminded me of the yellow cottage in Beauty and the Beast (I apparently make major life decisions based on Disney Movies). I fell in love with the lines of the house, the climbing ivy, and the numerous French doors and windows that allow lots of light to seep in.

I’m still working on overflowing window boxes (the better to sing Bonjour from), but after painting everything off-white, adding some chandeliers, and redoing the dining room in Farrow and Ball Ranelagh wallpaper in blue (one woman said in her customer review that the wallpaper made her feel as if she was in one of the rooms at the Palace of Versailles - Sold!) I'm feeling pretty Parisian chic.

Anyways, back to the date. Like my house, it was also inspired by an “image” of France we found on Insta (and then another and another).

Before we knew it we had so much to do on our virtual date, we had to extend our trip by a day!

We started with dinner.

Actually, we started with getting dressed for dinner.

I made cognac shrimp with beurre blanc sauce (and a cheese quesadilla which we pretended was a crepe for Olivia).

I paired my shrimp with French Emmental Cheese and of course a crusty baguette.

I tried to pick something that seemed fairly easy to make (don’t worry I still managed to almost cook the butter wrapper in the sauce, forgot that if I cut one ingredient in half that I needed to follow suit with the others, and ate a slab of the butter when I accidentally mistook it for the cheese). I left out the cognac and wine, but did splurge on the $10 white pepper (for the whole 1 tbsp. the recipe called for).

I was just happy the food turned out edible and was still somewhat warm considering the time it took me to dust the table, shove my mail out of the way, and move the Swiffer from the dining room to the kitchen so I could snap this shot and pretend I have my life in some sort of order over here. I have a whole new appreciation for how hard it is to stage something! (Abby - while I was flattered that you noticed the wallpaper noted above in your comments on my last live, all I noticed after the rewatch was my trash can with the broken lid in the hallway!).

My girlfriend Christy clearly wins the food staging award.

Our Facetime dinner was accompanied by music from French Cafe Lounge on Spotify. I discovered a song titled Poisson Rouge by Saint Privat which I particularly liked (see YouTube video below).

Dinner conversation was supposed to include fun things we've learned about Paris such as how it got its nickname as the City of Light. I wanted to share what I learned about the love lock bridge , take a virtual tour of the Louvre, and see how the restoration of Notre Dame was coming along. Ummm instead we talked a lot about boys and, well, boys (oops).

After breaking for a 20 min. clean the kitchen intermission, I got a bowl of Pierre's French Vanilla ice cream and a cup of tea and settled in for our movie portion of the evening. We considered Amelie, Midnight in Paris, and Moulin Rouge, but ultimately settled on La Vie en Rose which was pretty much the most depressing film ever shot. Now I'm thinking we should have watched Casablanca per the title of this post!

La Vie chronicles the tragic life of "the sparrow" Edith Piaf whose song, which shares the film's title, is "often herd being played on accordions throughout the streets of Paris (13 Films to Watch to Inspire Your Next Trip to Paris). Piaf's childhood was harsh - raised in a brothel when her artist mom and circus performer dad weren't able to care for her. She faces one hardship after another before dying at age 47. My favorite dialogue in the show is when Edith is being interviewed toward the end of her life:

Interviewer: "Who are your most faithful friends?"

Edith: "My true friends are faithful." Interviewer: "If you could no longer sing..."

Edith: "I could no longer live."

Interviewer: "Are you afraid of death?" Edith: "Less than solitude."

Interviewer: "Do you pray?"

Edith: "Yes, because I believe in love."

It was an enchanting evening to be sure. I sent this final sexy night shot to my date.

Bonne nuit mi amor.