“The Paris Tattoo” - An Essay by Ann Patchett - from her essay collection These Precious Days- 2022 - A Paris in July Post

Paris In July 2022

 

“The Paris Tattoo” - An Essay by Ann Patchett - from her essay collection These Precious Days- 2022 - A Paris in July Post

This is my eighth year participating in a wonderful event, Paris in July.  The event hosts are Reader Buzz and Thyme for Tea.  Posts on any and all things Paris are welcome.  You can share your memories of a trip to Paris, your favorite French recipes or restaurants, art in the  Louvre, your favorite set in Paris Movies (mine are Ninotchka and Midnight in Paris).  Of course the French literary masters as well as contemporary writers are great subjects.

My Official Paris in July Video. The Summer I Read Colette

My Prior Paris in July 2022 Posts

1. Yiddish Paris by Nicholas Underwood - 2022
2. After the Romanovs- Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque to Revolution and War by Helen Rappaport - 2022
3. Late Hour” -A Set in Paris Short Story by Ivan Bunin - 1938- translated by David Humphries -included in The Gentleman from San Francisco and other Stories-- 

“The Paris Tattoo” fits in very well with my other three posts.  It is about people from outside France, speaking little French, experiencing Paris. In this case it is Ann Patchett, at 19, spending a few weeks in Paris on a small students budget along with her best friend. It is 1983. They stay in a small fourth floor apartment.  They have decided to eat in a different restaurant for each meal.  They know French food is a world class marvel.  Instead they end up frequently eating in the same cafe. They become fascinated by two waitresses who seem to them very sophisticated and ever so French. Ann notices one has a small tattoo upon one of the waitresses. Of course the girls begin to ponder the idea of getting one.  Ann ponders a small tattoo of a cow, on her hip.

This essay captured for me perfectly the feel in my official Paris in July Video, The Summer I read Colette.

I look forward to reading all the essays in These Precious Days.

ANN PATCHETT is the author of eight novels, four works of nonfiction, and two children’s books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women’s Prize in the U.K., and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her most recent novel, The Dutch House, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. TIME magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the co-owner of Parnassus Books.

Mel Ulm