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Bonjour June 2005
Bonjour July 2005
Bonjour Sept. 2005
Bonjour Jan. 2006
April 2006

Bonjour from deep in the heart of Paris
January 2006 - Bon Annee!

Galette des Rois reign supreme across Paris in January. Typically served on January 6,Epiphany or the Feast of Kings, but now an all-month feature, the butter, puff pastry and sugar cakes are everywhere. I enjoyed five events where Galette was served. Galettes celebrate the Three Kings who brought gifts to Jesus. Each cake contains le feve, in ancient days a fava bean, now a little wise man or some other favor. The person who gets the le feve piece of cake becomes king or queen for the day or night.

New Year’s Eve (called La Nuit de la Saint Sylvestre in France) found us at a dinner party near the Eiffel Tower with great Indian food. Then our entourage of American, French and Swiss friends counted down 2005 and welcomed 2006 at the Eiffel Tower, sparkling with gold and blue lights-a magnificent site. Jim and I found a running metro and crawled into bed around 4 a.m. Pinch me, pinch us! We still marvel everyday that we live in France.

HOLIDAY LIGHTS
December found us partying at the Musee d’Orsay for the American Women’s Group Paris (AWG). Fete de Noel, a four-course dinner in the Grand Salon and a scavenger hunt in the museum—our team won!! We also attended, along with Joan Panabaker of Dunedin, the Merry Widow Operetta, a show all in French. Jim and I started our holiday season in early November with “A Night at the Bal du Moulin Rouge,” feathers, rhinestones, sequins, beautiful women, can can-dancing, all in a setting immortalized by painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. We went with an AWG group and it was fabulous.

Our friend Catrin Unkel, a Paris resident hailing from Germany, joined us at the American Embassy residence-pinch us, we were there-for a tour, high tea, and a concert, again sponsored by AWG. A magical snowy day found Jim and me enjoying lunch with French tablemates in a café at the foot of Montmartre. Later that same day we had coffee looking out at the snowy Arc de Triomphe. Lights were up everywhere in Paris for the holidays—gold Eiffel Tower lights over streets, department store windows with displays rivaling the Big Apple, and English-style footmen at department store Printemps. Catrin and I had tea there at the elegant Laduree tearoom, reminded me of afternoon teas at the long-gone Levy’s Department Store in my hometown of Savannah, Georgia.

GRATITUDE
The American Church in Paris held its annual Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday after Turkey Day and Jim and I were there—not as diners but as head CHEFS for 150 attendees!! Thanksgiving Day started the adventure as I went to the American Church for the service then Jim and I rode with church staff to a huge grocery warehouse in the suburbs. The store goes beyond a Sam’s warehouse, open only to restaurants, commercial agencies and non-profit groups. Thanksgiving night Jim and I met friends at Breakfast in America for a wonderful traditional dinner, then Friday night and all day Saturday we coached hard-working volunteers, lots of “Junior Year Abroad” college students, as they prepared the meal using my Aunt Helen’s Sweet Potato Crunch recipe and my own cornbread dressing. All went like clockwork, and a separate decorating committee created a beautiful dining room. This was our third Thanksgiving dinner as we helped at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Paris covered dish affair the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

BIG TIME GRATITUDE
The St. Petersburg Times published three pieces of my work in November - December. History Lessons in Paris on Nov. 20; A letter from Paris "Traditional U.S. holiday meal?" on Dec. 14 and Unwinding in ‘La France Authentique’ on Dec. 18.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
September through December found us blessed with ten weeks of guests, staring with Marian Coe and Paul Zipperlin, residents of Pinellas County, Florida, and North Carolina. Marian read from her last novel Rachel’s Story at Shakespeare & Company books. Then came friends Darlene Kalada and Kathleen Pszenny from Pinellas. Darlene volunteered with me at the American Church’s fabulous “Bloom Where You are Planted-How to Live in France” newcomers program.
We all went on a weekend trip to Normandy where we stayed at the Chateau de I’ Isle-Marie, named by Travel and Leisure magazine as one of the most romantic hideaways in the world, visited Utah and Omaha beach, the American Cemetery (incredibly moving) and witnessed the tapestries in Bayeux. We also took an American Women’s Group day trip for an over-the-top private lunch at Chateau de la Bourdaisiere in the Loire Valley, built in the 14th century and one time home to Gabrielle D’Estress, mistress of King Henry IV. Next in line were Patty Callaghan and Joan Schell from St. Petersburg, former owners of Brigit Books for Women. Patty was also part of Crazy Ladies in Cincinnati. Then came Deb and John Mitrovka from Apopka, Fla. for their wedding anniversary. It was wonderful celebrating with them. Next came Janice Metzger formerly of Pinellas and now Texas, and then our son Michael Leavy of Santa Cruz, Calif, straight from an Adobe client conference in Munich. Last but certainly not least came Joan Panabaker of Pinellas. All in all, we took six trips down the Seine (wonderful lights!) and three trips to Chartres for the cathedral, labyrinth and the village.

HELLO, FAREWELL
I am off to the U.S. for two weeks on January 19 to visit my mother in Ocala, friends in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Orlando, Apopka, then to Savannah and North Carolina - a whirlwind trip. Some of you I will see, but unfortunately not all. When I return to Paris, the following travel plans are on tap. In May, Jim and I are off to Amsterdam to make the Anne Frank house pilgrimage, visit the city’s museums, and view the giant tulips. We plan to see my brother Chris in Germany soon, explore every nook and cranny of France, and on March 26 we head back to Italy for a creative writing workshop. I participated in the Paris Poetry Writers Workshop in September.

Paris continues to offer neighborhoods and museums we still haven’t seen so we continue to enjoy life here so much--places to go, things to see, people to meet, a city to love.

Till February when I Bonjour again,
Pamela

Copyright (c) 2005-7 Pamela Griner Leavy, unless otherwise noted. Pgl_paris@yahoo.com
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