in conversation group, larissa was talking about another interview she had to try to get citizenship. she seemed to be saying that she actually was interviewed by the french minister of foreign affairs. wow. doesn’t he have bigger things to do than interview people for citizenship? i must have misheard.
then went to meet a mom for lunch at "cafe constant". this is the cafe owned by the famous chef, christian constant. we were scheduled for lunch on thursday, but she wanted to do it today instead. i knew exactly what to order. he is famous for the "filet du bar", a grilled sea bass (i think) with a wonderful crispy skins erved on a puree of sweet potato. p had ordered it the last time we were here. it was delicious.
didn’t get much work done today because, then in the evening, i went to a pot luck dinner with the smith college club. it was in a nice apartment in a fabulous building. it was a renovated hotel particulier (private mansion). i video’d it for jj, since she likes seeing fancy apartments. it had an impressive entry courtyard. once you entered through the enormous doors, you had to go to one hall to ring the apartment, then go to another door across the courtyard to enter, then pass an incredibly grand stone staircase (featured on the cover of a new book on fabulous french staircases), then go down a little hallway to an elevator, which was sent down for you. i felt like i was in “get smart”. the apartment was a very livable size, with spiral staircase going up to bedrooms. plus there was a nice private terrace big enough for a table and 4 chairs and a lounger, which looked down on the manicured center formal garden. i enjoy hanging out with the smithies. it’s funny to feel a connection with a bunch of women of the full range of ages from just graduated to 80+ year olds. it’s also fascinating to hear their stories, especially the older women who came over for junior year abroad after “the war” and met a french guy and stayed. they are all pretty sharp and fairly accomplished. one woman, who seems so american, having grown up and been educated there, says she considers herself french, since she has lived her whole adult life in france.
anyway, the food was very good, fairly healthy with lots of salads.
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