The Storybook

An early scene in Disney's Beauty and The Beast shows an idyllic, romanticized version of French village life. As Belle strolls to the bookshop, the town awakens, the characters emerge and the portrait of a way of life is painted. The characters are detail oriented (for the most part, until Belle strolls by) and aware how each of them plays part in their community as a whole. This one scene shows the challenges faced by some, the desires of others and the power (or perceived power) relationships between them.

Our hero, like Belle, has a charming village he spends time in and loves, but reminded regularly of his differences from the locals. Several times a week we find our hero on a train, heading 12 miles southwest of Paris to Versailles, which for 107 years was the seat of the French Monarchy. Seeing as it was home to royalty, it is still a very wealthy area and maintains a level of sophistication fit for a king.

The Versailles market is one of the best and oldest in France; an explosive sensory orgasm of sights, sounds and smells. Rotisserie chicken and sausage, pates and serrano ham, potatoes sizzling in duck fat, fresh fruit and vegetables, tapenade, olives from all over the world, pickled garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, feta stuffed red peppers, shrimp salads, pastries cream filled and berry topped, burn your finger fresh baguettes, spices and seasonings, fish still flopping, feathered chickens, goat heads, pigs feet, cow tounge, all sorts of aromatic and stinky cheeses, melt in your mouth croissants, handmade pastas and sauces barely scratch the surface of the offerings available. Color and texture abound in the bustle as vendors sing of their produce in advertisement, competing with one another about who's gooseberries are fresher. After almost 2 years, surely our hero knows the market well, but there are still little secrets and mysteries to unlock, delicacies to try and tiny shops in back alleys to explore.

Perhaps more than the amazing spread and endless possibilities offered in the market, it's the characters in Versailles that he's gotten close to, watched grow and change during his time that will have the most lasting impact. Every time our hero enters the market, he's stepping into his own fantasy world, a personal storybook with unforgettable, larger than life personalities.

Kareem- Usually our hero's first encounter of the day, hardworking and spastic with a goofy fanny-pack apron thing that holds his money and tools. The hopes and dreams of his family rest on a orange juice cart. When he sees our hero pull into the market square he abandons his post, darting in and out of traffic, across the street to make sure our hero has a fresh glass of OJ. His juice, the perfect balance of sweet and tart trickles down your throat like liquid gold. His operation is truly a family affair, as he tells our hero of picking blackberries with his children to make fresh preserves for crepes, longing for the day he can move them into Versailles from Rambouillet and enroll in a better school.

Guillaume- Our hero's wine guy. Short and balding, he gave up selling copy machines years ago to pursue his true passion. Opening a charming wine shop with his mother, Marta, his space has beautiful exposed wooden beams and quiet coziness inside. He hand selects each wine he sells and will gladly bust out a map and talk at length about the various wine regions of France and the individual characteristics of certain grapes. After welcoming a daughter last year has moved further into the real estate market. Sadly, this means he will be spending less time in the shop but ensures our hero that he will inform him when the single malt scotch tastings are.

Sergio- The crazy as a loon butcher who keeps our hero up to date on market gossip. Aside from hooking our hero up with the finest cuts, the occasional bottle of bubbly and his homemade mayonnaise, he invites him to parties, looking forward to the time they finally drop ecstasy and listen to techno.

Kelly- Our hero's Mauritian cheese girl who doesn't even like cheese. Though she makes fun of our hero's food choices at times, she's kind and full of laughter, always offering the finest selection of fresh made apple, pear and cherry juices. Despite her tatted up husband, she wonders aloud when she and our hero will run away together. Although he invites her to the picnic everyday, she reminds him how she's stuck at work, lamenting her day to day domestic responsibilities.

Robert- Dressed in black, he is a slick, gold chain wearing businessman who owns our hero's favorite cafe, Juliet. Each time our hero steps through the door, he's greeted with an enthusiastic "Allo Boy!" Robert maintains a fleet of attractive young girls working the counter who smile gently and bat their doe eyes with seductive mystery. Usually at this juncture we find our hero fumbling around with coins, trying to pay for a coffee while maintaining his cool in their radiant presence. Robert is unfazed though and proudly boasts that the real treasures are his dancer wife and 3 year old daughter.

Bernard and Stephanie- The father/daughter combo who run our hero's favorite bar, where he sometimes spends his breaks. Often playing some funky/techno/hip-hop music, our hero is able to watch the bicycle races and in a few months, the World Cup. Bernard is warm and welcoming while Stephanie's inviting smile and subtle ink make our hero wonder what else she is hiding beneath the surface.

At the end of the scene from Beauty and the Beast, Belle claims she wants much more than this "convention life" she leads in the village. The day to day is slow and too familiar for her. By contrast, our hero sees something in the town atmosphere- a sense of community that he longs for and seems lost in modern times. Though at this point, he is happy to lounge around and nap in the King's garden pretending, if only for a moment, to be part of a great, unraveling adventure tale.

Retour a Paris

In his posthumous memoir about life as an expatriate in 1920s Paris , Ernest Hemingway asserts "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast". He recounts road trips and drinking binges with F. Scott Fitzgerald, encounters with James Joyce, Gertrude Stein and other literary titans. The book reads like a treasure map, naming specific cafes, streets, parts of the city and habits fundamental in his development as a young writer. One cannot help but feel the same magic Hemingway was in tune with; an ancient reservoir of ideas, thought and culture.

We join our hero on the descent of his transatlantic, earthbound in the golden dawn as the Eiffel Tower keeps watch over the stirring slumber. An awakening, familiar and mysterious at the same time, aware of the opportunity that abounds in every back alley and tree lined avenue. Our hero strikes up rapport with the adjacent passenger who offers him a ride into town. Longing for the grit of the RER C train but remembering the luggage in tow, he accepts. Door to door service can't be beat.

The old neighborhood is coming to life. Children skip to school, scooters bob and weave, elderly women cross the street with their early morning market purchases. He cracks a smile at the energy and humanity contained within these few city blocks. The Parisian women move with purpose and elegance, their seemingly thrown together look extremely calculated and intentional. Their grace and confidence renders any imperfection nearly invisible. 

From a secure facility deep underground, our hero retrieves his wheels. The legs seem a bit sluggish at first but it's to be expected. Immediately back into the rhythm, taking turns tight, drafting buses and navigating the urban jungle with jaw dropping efficiency and stylo. His set is still tight and the wit, perhaps, sharper than ever. The coffee is rich and robust with delicate flavors that elude the hot cardboard water of his homeland. American culture continues to take baby steps towards what makes the European lifestyle so attractive and has endured for years; cafe culture, vibrant public spaces, fresh local foods. 

Our hero continues to be fascinated by the dichotomy of life in Paris. Very much an outside city, the public space is the social place. Parks and restaurants, street corners and plazas. While everyone exists and lives within close proximity with one another it is very rarely acknowledged. Standing next to someone you don't know on the metro or being squished next to a strangers at dinner is normal; engaging them is not. Social yet completely individual.  Community oriented yet selfish. It's a fascinating duality that could only develop from hundreds of years of fucking and fighting in the streets. As a culture, they've seen it all and nothing surprises them. Our hero could don a court-jester hat, Armani tux and jingle bell curly toe boots and no one would bat an eye. Despite the seeming indifference, he plans on turning some heads.