It's a damp and rainy Saturday here in the Wisconsin hinterlands. A good time for puttering around the kitchen!I've got a soy candle burning away on a side cupboard, infusing my kitchen with a deep spicy aroma. I'm ready to work.
I really planned to take a long walk today to immerse myself in the sights and smells of early fall. Although the older, less healthy trees are losing their leaves, most of our trees are still green. But that rich wine-y aroma of fall is in the air. And it could clear up. . .
We walked a lot in the rain in Paris, feeling a bit like the couple in that Gustave Caillebotte painting. Couples of all sorts are what you see on a walk in Paris, but I was especially intrigued with the older couples, those in their 60s or 70s who walked together in such practiced rhythym. I snapped a few discreet photos, but mostly I made up little stories in my head.See those two crossing the Seine from the Right Bank to the 13th Arrondissement? Academics, she a bit younger than he. The social sciences, I think, not the humanities.
We saw a couple in the Jardin des Halles. They were Germans, I decided. A retired merchant and his wife, she an expert housekeeper who - in the words of Grandma Annie - wants everything "just so."
The couple strolling in the Jardin de Plantes (above) were the most stately. Surely he was someone important! She, too, I think. They both walked with purpose and confidence. Botanists, perhaps?
On Avenue Rapp, an older man helped his blind wife into a car, a small dog nipping at his heels. They, too, had a story, a love story.
The older couples touched me more than the younger ones. It was their history - their imagined history, in this case - that piqued my interest.
I could only speculate, of course. But oh, the stories I wove!
16 comments:
I'm truly loving your posts of late, Mimi. Of course, I love them all, but these last, both travel and reminiscent ones, have been lovely to read.
And now you can imagine people walking along the street, looking at you and your husband, and speculating... are they Americans? what is their work? where do they live? Fun!
Thank you, Christine. I guess I wax nostalgic in fall. Now if I could just find time to cook.
Lydia, I am sure they do! I hope the stories are interesting.
I love people-watching! It is one of the reasons I am a regular at the Fulton Street Farmers Mkt. Such an interesting mix of folks. Hippies, young mamas carrying their new babies in pouches strapped to their shoulders, older folks with canes,....a veritable feast for my eyes! And yes, I make up little vignettes for them. it is part of the charm of feasting with my eyes, but never really knowing their stories. Somehow, it is better this way.
We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe today (Salade de Chevre Chaud) and guessed the nationalities of the people walking past... some you can tell by the set of their lips, some by dress. We'll never know if we were right, of course...
Welcome back home. Mimi~I was captivated by your photo and sense of speculation-I think many of us look at people and wonder many of the same things(well I do!) who they are,what they do or where they are going to. It is a wonderful way to pass the time...
I love your story-weaving about the people. My husband and I do this every time we travel (must be because we have more time for ordinary conversation) and we always do it when we go out to eat. Just the two of us. We've totally caught up on whatever daily things we have to discuss, then we speculate about the people around us. So fun. I wouldn't have ever thought to BLOG about it, though! Maybe I'll have to think about that on our upcoming trip. Enjoy your blog very much.
Cyn, I love the Dane County Farm Market down in Madison for the same reasons.
Katie, I do that, too and wish I had proof that my guesses were correct. One thing we found on our last trip is that other Americans seemed to suss us out, as they often approached us for directions. My husband, waiting for me on Motte Picquet, was approached by two French women. He loved that! I did not see them, but he says they did not look like pick pockets.
Jann, I am home for a bit now. Must get over to your place...and everyone else's.
Thanks, Carolyn. I love that my husband and I have more time to talk on trips, too. I like it so much that I am now planning a couple of long weekends to sate us until next fall...
People watching... and speculating about them... is a lot of fun.
I hope you find some great places to take your husband for some long weekends Mimi :)
How very true...I find I seldom do that here in the States. Weave stories about people in public.
Yet...In Paris, I can't NOT do it. Must be all that inspiration hovering in the air.
I do not recall a time when I did not people watch, Fiona. Maybe that's what led to the journalism major.
Terri, I think the stories woven in Paris have more layers. Such rich history there.
Mimi, I love the lady crossing the bridges hair! Oh if only my hair would grey like that and my curl would go flat so I could have that chic bob.
Love the stories of people that run through your head.
This is one of my very favorite pass times. The surprise part is once in a great while you get the chance to actually find out!
These photos really make me miss Paris. Those are just the places we walked so often.
Lady Jicky, she had very thick hair, too. I envied that.
Tanna, sometimes speculations are very close to the real story, too. I miss Paris everyday, even though I've spent less than a month of my life there, in the aggregate...
What a lovely post! I'm crazy about Paris.
Ah, Paris. I have lost my heart, too, Caty.
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