More Visitors!
I have said before that our friends/colleagues Esther and Abhijit were instrumental in persuading us to spend a sabbatical in Paris six years ago. And they also had a hand in our decision to come back this year. What I may not have mentioned yet is that we have other close friends, Chris and Liz, who also played a big role in our decisions. Glenn has known Chris longer than he has known me (40 years would be my guess), and I have known Chris almost as long. And, of course, we have known Liz since she and Chris have been together.
They are both Americans (Chris is an economist at Harvard and his wife Liz is a physician in Boston) but have spent extended periods in Paris on several occasions. Their children have both attended school in Paris (and are fluent in French) and Chris has collaborated with various French academics. We heard many stories from them about the pleasures and challenges of living in Paris and received many useful pieces of advice. (When considering whether to spend a year in Paris, advice from native Parisians is most welcome, but, arguably, advice from Americans who have done what one is contemplating is, perhaps, even more useful.)
We were pleased to hear that they would be in town last week and were able to arrange lunch at PSE with Chris and one of his collaborators, Julian. We were looking forward to the lunch but realized that it would not give us the opportunity to see Liz. Also, to be honest, we wanted to show off the spectacular view from our apartment to these particular friends, without whom we might not even be here this year.
We settled on Chris and Liz stopping by for brunch on Saturday. I was thinking about making a frittata, but decided to let the market dictate the particulars. So, Saturday morning, I gave Glenn instructions to pick up a baguette and a chocolate tarte, and Sandy and I headed to the Marche Port Royal. We found fresh apricots that looked perfectly ripe and, somewhat to my surprise, fresh figs. As usual, I let the fromage guy bully me into getting the cheese he thought I should buy, but I did not fall for the Livarot this time. And I got a blue cheese that I thought would pair nicely with the figs and apricots. I got butter and eggs and green onions and fresh herbs for the frittata. And some late-season asparagus to roast. Finally, I stopped by the Italian stand and picked up some marinaded artichoke hearts with stems.
Brunch came together easily, and we were so pleased to see them both when they arrived.
We talked a lot about life in Paris---what had changed in six years, what new places we had discovered, what we missed about our previous neighborhood---and also covered a lot of ground on careers, elderly parents, children---all of the things that 55+-year-olds who have known each other for decades talk about when they're together. The time passed quickly and easily, and by 3pm, it was time for them to get on with their day.
They did enjoy the view, not surprisingly.
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