Happy Fourth of July my American friends! We went to our local fireworks show on Friday night and are going to grill and spend the night in our tent tonight in our backyard! I imagine we’ll be up until very late hearing fireworks go off 🙂 I read one non-Paris book Homeschool Hacks by Linsey Knerl and thought it was well done for the beginning homeschool family.
I’ve been enjoying my memories of Paris and reading books set there this week. Here’s a recap (follow me on IG for everyday thoughts).
Still taking recommendations for anything French this month and make sure you visit Thyme For Tea to see what other bloggers are choosing to write about this month!
When we visited France in 2010 we went to visit friends who had moved to Lyon two years earlier. We stayed with them for 5 days and then went to Paris for 5 days. We had our days for Paris roughly planned (our friends met us up there for a few days too), but asked for recommendations because our train was going to get us there earlier than we thought. Our friends knew us well and we ended up in one of the coolest places, Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
It’s a 110 acre garden cemetery that opened in 1804. We didn’t have nearly enough time to spend there but appreciated our time, even managing to find a few famous people by just following the crowds. You can see our photos of the burial sites of Jim Morrison and Collette. Now I always recommend it for Paris traveling friends.
This ties into Anna in the French Kiss because these students who were attending the American School in Paris went there. Anna from Atlanta was sent to the boarding school for her senior year because her famous novelist dad (who very much brought Nicholas Sparks to mind) wanted her to have the best.
Anna finds friends, French cinema, and love for the city while also falling in love herself. I listened to this one and loved the narration by Kim Mai Guest. This was a fun, light teen novel., even if I did get frustrated with the girl!
Sitting outside with my coffee thinking of Paris. The photo is from our trip 11 years ago.
I don’t know about you, but I get too many magazines. They get thrown in a box and I read them when I have time. Yesterday we had a pool date at a friend’s house and I grabbed 4 magazines to take. This was the one on the bottom. It’s from June 2020 😂. It was fated that I just now find it.
I read Paris Nocturne by Patrick Modiano and translated by Phoebe Weston-Evans. This was a confusing and strange little book, only 148 pages. A teenage boy is hit by a car in the streets of Paris and is injured badly enough to be in the hospital for a bit. When he’s sent home, a man from the accident makes him sign a paper and hands him a wad of money.
The narrator, some 40 years later, tells what happens next, but he also throws in scenes, thoughts, and dreams from his childhood and just before the accident. I’m ambivalent about this one, but was happy to read a book by a Nobel laureate.
Started a 1500 piece puzzle with the most important part!
That’s me with the Seine and the Eiffel Tower (you may need glasses to see it) behind me.
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Jim Morrison’s death was just in the news again, as they dig up old stories about what exactly happened. It’s pointless, I think. Our friends in Paris had a son who was kind of obsessed with Morrison, so I thought about him at the time, but I’ve never gone to the famous cemetery. Your memories are very precious.
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It was such an amazing place and I’m so glad that our friends added it to our trip. They do dig up graves at this cemetery, as you can rent the plot for a certain number of years and if someone doesn’t pay to extend then the body is moved to make room for a paying ‘guest’.
Love the pics from your Paris trip 11 years ago. My only time in France (Paris) and Switzerland was 50 years ago skiing with classmates LOL – We thought Paris was pretty dirty back then and we missed our American food terribly at that time (immature teens).
Well, I was there when I was pregnant and skipped most of the food and almost all of the wine. lol. When I go back I’m eating all of the cheese and drinking all of the wine!
The cemetery seems like a wonderful location to stroll around!
Wishing you a great reading week
Thanks! One of the coolest places in Paris. Or creepiest. Either one works 🙂
I’ve always been fascinated with the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. If there is any place ghosts might really gather, I expect it should be in Paris. But it’s a place I haven’t visited.
How serendipitous that you ran across that magazine!
I read Patrick Modiano’s In the Cafe of Lost Youth. Like the Modiano you read, it’s short, with just 150 pages. It’s the story of a lost soul, wandering around for something she cannot find. Paris is like another character in that one.
I’m reading books similar to Anna and the French Kiss, light, fluffy, this trip. Though I do hope to read one Zola book…
I started reading Perfume, definitely not light and fluffy, but I’m enjoying the writing. Pere Lachaise is a must, especially if you’ve been to Paris before and have done most of the obvious things 🙂 Ghosts all around I’m sure.
That Modiano looks interesting and I definitely like the length 🙂
I love your Paris photos! Someday I would love to explore Pere Lachaise Cemetery. I’d have to find Jim Morrison’s grave first. An article I just read reminded me that he’s been gone 50 years now.
It was such a cool place. It was within walking distance of our first hotel so we were lucky to have it recommended to us.
I’ve not read Modiano, but have been thinking about it for years. That does sound like a strange book. Still tempted because it’s so short… maybe for the next Paris in July.
Deb read Cafe of Lost Youth by him and that sounds a little more interesting to me 🙂
I love that Paris puzzle. I’m also loving your photos. Such beautiful memories. Have a great day full of hope, joy and love.
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Thanks! It is fun to pull out the photos and revisit memories 🙂
Oh, I really love seeing these photos and hearing about the books. Don’t you miss being there? I do. And I know what you mean about the mags stacking up and then you find one that just hits right! Perfect!
Great pics. I am a Modiano fan. His trilogy set in Paris during The Nazi occupation is a Master work
Lovely photo story of Paris. I have some good memories of visiting Cemeteries in Paris, but I dont think I’ve been to this one. Another thing to add to my list. I love the puzzle… might go look for one to do too.