Portland Public Library

A Year in Paris, Season by Season in the City of Light, John Baxter

eng

contains biographical information

illustrations

index present

non fiction

A Year in Paris

1084533834

John Baxter

Season by Season in the City of Light

A sumptuous and definitive portrait of Paris through the seasons, highlighting the unique tastes, sights, and changing personality of the city in spring, summer, fall, and winter. When the common people of France revolted in 1789, one of the first ways they chose to correct the excesses of the monarchy and the church was to rename the months of the year. Selected by poet and playwright Philippe-Francois-Nazaire Fabre, these new names reflected what took place at that season in the natural world; Fructidor was the month of fruit, Floréal that of flowers, while the winter wind (vent) dominated Ventôse. Though the names didn't stick, these seasonal rhythms of the year continue to define Parisians, as well as travelers to the city. Devoting a section of the book to each of Fabre's months, Baxter draws upon Paris's literary, cultural and artistic past to paint an affecting, unforgettable portrait of the city. Touching upon the various ghosts of Paris past, from Hemingway and Zelda Fitzgerald, to Claude Debussy to MFK Fisher to Francois Mitterrand, Baxter evokes the rhythms of the seasons in the City of Light, and the sense of wonder they can arouse for all who visit and live there

A winter's tale -- What is it about France? -- Dog days -- On an island in the Seine -- Christmas with kangaroos -- The Seine in flood -- I spy strangers -- Getting to know the French -- As if it were yesterday -- Stormy Monday -- Tock...tock...tock... -- Baby time -- Something to kill -- Starting over -- The new era -- On the beach -- Enter Fabre, pursued by a bear -- Saying less, meaning more -- Tall poppies -- If winter comes... -- Bloody days -- April in Paris -- A boy named Wheelbarrow -- Hot hot hot -- Re-enter Fabre -- Singin' in the rain -- Pinups -- Drunk in charge -- Exit Fabre -- Taking the waters -- Enter Napoléon -- Watch it come down -- Who was that masked man? -- Night of the scythe -- One perfect rose -- The darling buds of May -- Gleaners -- Something fishy -- Vive le mistral! -- One-man show -- Eating in -- A man made of flowers -- Poets -- Night creatures -- The weather at war -- The pendulum passes -- Postscript