Although they are not wandering the streets of France anymore, I've loved reading the tales of Ernest Hemingway and Julia Child as they spent time exploring the same country that I am currently living in.
Julia Child moved to Paris with her husband, Paul, in 1948 and immediately fell in love with the French and found her passion for cooking. With the end of the Second World War, women in America were all about the TV dinners and quick ways to make their meals. Julia Child revolutionized American cooking by introducing her deluxe step-by-step cookbook on French cooking for American cooks. This book was not only accessible to highly skilled chefs, but also the average Joe's (or Joetta's) who had an interest in vamping up their cooking abilities, French style.
Julia and Paul moved to Marseille a few years later when Paul's job in the U.S. government called them south. Julia recounted her days walking along the Vieux Port, hand picking fresh fish to make the famous Marseillais bouillabaisse and getting caught in the enormous gusts of wind, or the mistrals, coming from the Mediterranean Sea. After leaving Marseille, they moved around a bit, but still found their home in France after it was all said and done.
I loved reading Julia's memoir and I honestly felt like she has become a close friend after reading it! Or at least a great role model.
Now, Ernest and I had a bit of a rougher start. I wasn't sure if I could adapt to his short, frank writing style, but I really did become engaged in his adventures around France with other literary heroes such as Sylvia Beach and F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was fascinating to read about their lives and hear Hemingway's perspective on this brasserie and that friend, the milk man with his herd of goats, and his round about ways of walking home through the streets of Paris each day. Fitzgerald was writing The Great Gatsby during the time that Hemingway was writing A Moveable Feast so I felt like I was seeing behind the scenes into the process of writing two such classic novels.
While in Paris a few weekends ago, I of course had to make a trip (or several) to the famous Shakespeare & Company bookshop where Hemingway recounts borrowing endless books from Sylvia Beach and devouring his way through various literature. My dear friend, Shelbi, is a budding connoisseur on all things literature and all things Parisian, so I quite enjoyed my time wandering through the city with her.
Ernest and Julia, I'm so glad I had the pleasure of seeing a bit into your lives during the time when you lived and worked in la belle France. Thanks for inspiring me in a spirit of adventure, culinary delights and literary magic.
No comments:
Post a Comment