Cheerio dear friend and toodaloo
In the last days of 2005 I received an email from Cindy:
"Will you be my best friend between January 10 and 31st?"
I pondered the question and I wrote back:
"Sure, sounds great. Although I'm wondering if I shouldn't somehow be offended."
But her reasons were sound. She would not only be done culinary school but she would also be finally free of the innumerable houseguests she seemed to have for the whole of November and December which made her difficult to pin down. Now it was just her and Paris and I guess she thought the experience would be far more exciting if she added me to the mix before she finally left Paris for good on January 31st.
Well, it is now February 1st, and Cindy has packed her bags and returned to Chicago. And in her wake, I am left with these kind gifts: microwave popcorn, Campbell's soup, baking powder and other such interesting things that had taken residence in her kitchen cupboards these last few months.
This past weekend was her last so I stepped up to my role in my final days as her new best friend. Saturday night, she joined G and I at our place for a night of movie watching, which saw us go partway through 2 movies that bored us all before we finally settled on the thrilling action of a Vin Diesel flic. Cindy marvelled at the pretzels I had found and after eating one said:
"This is the first pretzel I have eaten in 6 months."
"Wow, that's a long time." I said.
"Sure is." She said.
On Sunday Cindy and I toured the Père Lachaise cemetery. We looked for Oscar Wilde but couldn't find him. But we did say hello to Jim Morrison and Balzac before we got too cold and had to high-tail it out of there.
At Père Lachaise cemetery
On Monday, Cindy and I met at Ladurée on the Champs Elysées for our final goodbye tea.
I ordered the Thé Royale aux Fruits and she ordered some sort of yummy tea whose name I can't remember.
Then she asked for a madeleine.
"We're out of madeleines." our server said.
"How about a financier?" I offered.
"We're out of those too."
"Cannelés?" I tried.
"Sorry. No cannelés either."
Nonetheless we enjoyed our tea and then Cindy showed the Ladurée crowd what it's all about:
In that posh tea room, with all the well-dressed French women, probably back from a shopping trip to the nearby Louis Vuitton, Cindy removed her sweater to reveal her green t-shirt with a picture of the state of Illinois on the front, and the caption "Come on Feel the IlliNOISE".
"I like your shirt." I said.
"Thanks." Cindy responded. "This tea is really good."
"Mine too."
And thus ends the story of Cindy and Michèle in Paris.
Aw Cindy, I'm going to miss you.
"Will you be my best friend between January 10 and 31st?"
I pondered the question and I wrote back:
"Sure, sounds great. Although I'm wondering if I shouldn't somehow be offended."
But her reasons were sound. She would not only be done culinary school but she would also be finally free of the innumerable houseguests she seemed to have for the whole of November and December which made her difficult to pin down. Now it was just her and Paris and I guess she thought the experience would be far more exciting if she added me to the mix before she finally left Paris for good on January 31st.
Well, it is now February 1st, and Cindy has packed her bags and returned to Chicago. And in her wake, I am left with these kind gifts: microwave popcorn, Campbell's soup, baking powder and other such interesting things that had taken residence in her kitchen cupboards these last few months.
This past weekend was her last so I stepped up to my role in my final days as her new best friend. Saturday night, she joined G and I at our place for a night of movie watching, which saw us go partway through 2 movies that bored us all before we finally settled on the thrilling action of a Vin Diesel flic. Cindy marvelled at the pretzels I had found and after eating one said:
"This is the first pretzel I have eaten in 6 months."
"Wow, that's a long time." I said.
"Sure is." She said.
On Sunday Cindy and I toured the Père Lachaise cemetery. We looked for Oscar Wilde but couldn't find him. But we did say hello to Jim Morrison and Balzac before we got too cold and had to high-tail it out of there.
At Père Lachaise cemetery
On Monday, Cindy and I met at Ladurée on the Champs Elysées for our final goodbye tea.
I ordered the Thé Royale aux Fruits and she ordered some sort of yummy tea whose name I can't remember.
Then she asked for a madeleine.
"We're out of madeleines." our server said.
"How about a financier?" I offered.
"We're out of those too."
"Cannelés?" I tried.
"Sorry. No cannelés either."
Nonetheless we enjoyed our tea and then Cindy showed the Ladurée crowd what it's all about:
In that posh tea room, with all the well-dressed French women, probably back from a shopping trip to the nearby Louis Vuitton, Cindy removed her sweater to reveal her green t-shirt with a picture of the state of Illinois on the front, and the caption "Come on Feel the IlliNOISE".
"I like your shirt." I said.
"Thanks." Cindy responded. "This tea is really good."
"Mine too."
And thus ends the story of Cindy and Michèle in Paris.
Aw Cindy, I'm going to miss you.
posted by Michèle at 6:00 AM
13 Comments:
Aww that is so sweet! :)
Very sweet! You will surely keep great memories of places and things you did together.
awwww! you made me get all teary, you silly goose!
such a nice time together! very sweet.
Hi Clare, aw shucks, thanks!
Hi Bea, we will definitely have the memories!
Hi Cindy, well serves you right for leaving!
Hi K&S, thanks ;)
haha, Cindy left me microwave popcorn also, plus peanut butter to boot!
Aw, this is a great little story. I like Cindy's shirt too!
Oscar is on Avenue Carette at Avenue Transversale just northeast of the Columbarium...hope you get to see his tomb one day. It is covered with kisses! kp gallant
What fun the two of you seemed to have. So cool to have a best friend, even for a little while. Of course, I know that friendship will extend dispite the distance. ;) Cool story!
Paz
What an adorable testimonial to friendship. How lucky you two have been to have such a sojourn in Paris!
Lovely, of course. I like the idea: all of us food bloggers travel to different cities and have insta-friends for the time we are there. Let me know when you're coming to Seattle!
Cindy was a lucky girl, in so many ways. I'd like to sit sipping tea with you in Paris.
Hi Christine, yes I heard that you got the full fat peanut butter and we got the low fat.. my boyfriend was a bit upset about that ;)
Hi Michelle, thanks!
Hi KP, we had a general idea where he was but when you find yourself in the cemetery its easy to lose your bearings, and we had forgotten to bring our maps! oh well, next time ;)
Hi Paz, yep I will definitely miss Cindy, she was alot of fun! (and still is!)
Hi Tara, thanks!
Hi Shauna, yes its been amazing for me since moving here how quickly I made friends here all because of this blog. And I will definitely let you know if and when I am in Seattle, and I will await our tea together in Paris as well ;)
We went to Paris for our honeymoon and I insisted on Père Lachaise being our very first stop. See, I'm a big fan of The Smiths whose lead singer is Morrissey who is a big fan of Oscar Wilde. So I'm probably the only bride in history who headed straight to Oscar's grave on her honeymoon! :)
Thanks for sharing your experience and bringing back some nice memories for me!
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