Fleurissez-vous !
“I drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it — unless I’m thirsty.”
My FB friend Trond Valldal quoted Madame Lily Bollinger recently, about her beverage of choice, and I couldn’t say it better.
Not a pleasant sky up there, and the chill this morning made one think only of staying indoors, under the covers. Dark little thoughts of subtle aches and pains crept in, my Microsoft Word system was blocked, and despite the momentary glory of a favorite piece of Schubert which a friend shared via YouTube,* life in confinement was getting grim.
It’s clearly unusual and out of character for me to feel lousy, so I decided it was necessary to get outdoors, despite the lightly sprinkling mist. The streets of Paris today were a picture of desolation itself. Sunday afternoon, everything gray, the shops closed, excepting those considered of “première nécessité.” Fortunately, that term includes some of the most delightful shops in the world.
I stumbled upon Fleurus, the flower shop around the corner. Their window and awning displayed the novel invitation “Fleurissez-vous” (which I can’t translate into English unless possibly “Enflower yourself!” which I interpreted as an injunction to me to LIVE and remember the things of beauty that never fail to console. I didn’t order flowers, for we’ll be here only for one more night, but it did jumpstart me into action. My life needed some kind of enflowering, and I now knew where to head.
The specialties shown here are ‘Baba au rhum’ made by the unequalled traiteur ‘Pain de sucre.’ It’s their original take on the famous French dessert. The cake part is lusciously soaked in rhum and sweeteners (see the little tube for the supplemental alcohol injection) and they are formed over a base of cream custard à la vanilla, served ice cold. It’s an anytime favorite of mine, and I hadn’t had one since last summer. A trip to pick up some champagne (demi-sec) was necessary, and luckily here, that store is also considered of vital necessity!
As Bill Christie said to me years ago as we were enjoying little squares of fabulous dark chocolate, seated and munching out of the box like two bums just outside a fabulous maître chocolatier’s shop in the 16th arrondissement, “Let’s face it, dear, this is why we live here!”
Incidentally, and I swear it’s not the champagne, as Jacques and I sat down to enjoy the feast, the radiance of the sun suddenly filled the room again with light and healing warmth.