Entrez / French, 'come in'; what you say through a door
France / close enough for the train, different by lunchtime
VISITED
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I have been here.
ItalyCities
- Paris Haussmann boulevards, deep-blue doors, and a museum on every third corner.
- Lyon The one the cooks send you to; bouchons, two rivers, quiet confidence.
- Nice The Côte d'Azur pace, sea in the morning, nothing urgent after.
- Annecy Alpine lake town, canals and mountains, almost unfairly pretty.
The table
- A croissant, still warm The whole argument for getting up early in France.
- Steak-frites Ordered at a zinc bar, no notes, no substitutions.
- A cheese board Chosen by the waiter, who is right and knows it.
- Un café at the counter Standing up, quick, watching the street do its thing.
Saved pins
- Musée d'Orsay ↗ A railway station full of light and Impressionists; better than the Louvre for an afternoon.
- Shakespeare and Company ↗ The English bookshop by the Seine you can lose an hour in.
- A Left-Bank bistro, no reservation The plat du jour on a chalkboard, a carafe, the rest of the evening.
My note
France is an easy trip from London. A train under the Channel and lunch suddenly takes longer. I remember the ordinary things most clearly: bread, coffee and the blue doors along the Paris streets.
The door borrows from a Haussmann building, with iron over the glass. The chime uses two slightly detuned reeds to get close to the sound of a musette accordion.