A Novel Paris:The Paris Novel

H

A tasty novel!

I love French salads.

I am enjoying a sensory visit to Paris in the 1980’s. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl is a gustatory walk down Memory Lane. The first time that I visited Paris was in 1987. I travelled by myself and met up with a group led by Paul Deggan who taught Art at Capilano College. Like the heroine in The Paris Novel, I was quite inexperienced, unaccustomed to French food, with little knowledge of French Art but I had majored in French Literature so I also know a smattering of French history. For me, as for the heroine of our novel, this trip to Paris opened me up to many of life’s possibilities.

Olympia by Manet

Like our heroine, one of the first museums that I visited in Paris was La Musee d’Orsay where our guide explained about how Manet’s work was considered scandalous in his time. Our heroine, a copywriter from New York decides to solve the mystery of this model’s own paintings, lost to art history.

Since 1987, I have spent a lot of time in Paris. I have eaten and cooked many meals, visited many museums and gardens and gazed at many shop windows with longing but I will never forget my first Paris adventure. 

If you would enjoy a brief Paris escape, I would heartily recommend this book.