Return to Paris

Arriving in Paris, with a decent Internet connection, I discovered that there was a lovely tribute by Friends of African Village Libraries to their Ouagadougou donors on their website, including me!  What a nice surprise!  I have ordered copies of the remaining titles that the Malian author, Moussa Konaté, completed for ScoLibris before his untimely death at 62 last November. I plan to bring them with me next spring, and mailed my check off to ScoLibris on Monday, so hope to receive them at my Paris address before I leave for the US on April 3.  I had previously emailed ScoLibris about how well received their éditions du Figuier titles were by the FAVL staff, and they were delighted to hear that.

http://www.favl.org/blog/archives/2014/03/a-big-thank-you-to-favl-friends-and-donors-in-ouagadougou.html

sharing Konaté's books with Donkoui at the SIL Library (FAVL photo)

The other good news is that the guy who I had asked to help try to get the SIL Library's catalog on the website contacted me again and had time to work on it a little more.  He lives in Germany, travels considerably, and is very busy, so I was quite pleased to hear from him.  I've contacted Fina and Damien in Ouagadougou so they can get him the information he needs from the library software utilities.

Information desk computer at the SIL Library

On the other hand, I am now in France.  Although I am just here a few days, Paris, the city of restaurants, is always a pleasure.  Using the La Fourchette online reservation service, I happened upon a 30% off coupon for a nearby restaurant, l' Aubergine, which made eating in this expensive city a little more affordable.  I was pleased that it turned out to be a good choice, as well.

Exterior

 

Interior

Returning from the restaurant, I passed by a bookshop featuring the works of Jean-Christophe Rufin.  I had read his Immortelle Randonée : Compostelle malgré moi, recounting his experiences in Spain along the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, before I embarked on my own journey there last September. (http://pamscaminodesantiago.blogspot.com/) His latest book, Le collier rouge [The Red Necklace], takes place in France in 1919 and features a dog, who apparently is key to the story. Apparently Rufin will be there doing a book signing for it, and I am going to miss the opportunity of attending because I will be traveling.  Too bad--he sounds like quite the character.  Wikipedia describes him as a French doctor, diplomat, historian, globetrotter and novelist.  He is the president of Action Against Hunger, one of the founders of Médecins Sans Frontières [Doctors Without Borders] and a member of the Académie Française.  He was also the Ambassador from France to Senegal from 2007 - 2010.    The Paris Salon du Livre will coming up March 22 - 24 so he's probably doing book signings there as well.  And I'll miss that too!

Book display of Jean-Christophe Rufin's works

Monday I caught a forgettable film, Fiston, a comedy about a young man determined to conquer his fear and meet the young woman he has been fantasizing about since his childhood. I was in the mood for a comedy and the theatre was close by.   Fortunately for me it was the Printemps du Cinema and all films were EUR3,50 for three consecutive days. . .

On Wednesday evening I had dinner again with French friends I have mentioned before--Jean-Jacques, Geneviève, Jean-Marc, Anne-Marie, and a some of their friends from academia that I didn't know.  Not wanting to show up at Jean-Jacques' and Geneviève's place too early, I stopped for tea at a nearby cafe before arriving--on time, but probably still too early.  They had recently their living room re-painted because of some water damage and were scurrying to get the place in order before the others arrived!

Nearby cafe--their building is in the background

Thursday, the first day of spring, was a gorgeous day, and I walked to the Parc Monceau to do some people watching.

Thursday evening I will be taking the overnight train to Venice, and will be spending a few days in Italy before returning to Paris.  Since I won't have my computer with me, my Internet access and email communication will be greatly reduced until I return.