Late Onset Affection
Last Days in Paris, Episode 1
In our final weeks in Paris in the summer and fall of 2020, I spent many hours wandering the city on foot. During those weeks, I wrote a number of vignettes in my notebooks so as not to forget the details of daily life in Paris. I’ll be sharing some of these on The Wandering Writer, along with audio.*
We were scheduled to leave Paris on Thursday. On Monday afternoon, K left work early and we walked to Batignolles, to the secret square. Should you find yourself in Paris and want to find this square, the name of it is Place du Docteur Felix Lobligeois, which is a mouthful, so you can perhaps understand why we referred to is as the secret square instead.
We chose a table at the cafe on the left of the circle, diagonal from L’Eglise St. Marie des Batignolles, a modest old church whose columns were adorned with festive, colorful banners. I ordered a Kir Blanc, he ordered a coke and fries. We sat and talked. It was pleasant. I was still thirsty so I ordered a Royal Batignolles, comprised of fruits rouge and prosecco. It was bright and sweet and tangy. I decided I would try to recreate it when we got home. More than a hundred times we had passed through this square. I wondered why we had never stopped for a drink here before.
