I found my first job through the New York Times and Patricia and Walter found each other through the Times on Independence Day 1976.
Thirty-two years later, twenty-eight in France they continue to share the same mistresses: Paris and Provence. In their new book WE’VE ALWAYS HAD PARIS…and PROVENCE: A SCRAPBOOK OF OUR LIFE IN FRANCE they tell how they invented their very special life together.
Patricia’s first book THE FOOD LOVER’S GUIDE TO PARIS revolutionized culinary writing. She actually cares about the people she meets and their work. Her innovative style celebrated the chefs, growers, wine merchants, bistro owners and reflected her passion for France and its culture that is evident in all of her subsequent projects.
Walter worked at the International Herald Tribune from 1980-2005 as an editor, managing editor and executive editor and can be frequently seen on both French and American television discussing French and American politics
We met in Paris over a glass of Clos Chanteduc, the red wine made at their vineyard in Vaison-le Romaine.
TG: When did you first come to Paris?
P: I first came in 1971 for a one-week visit, when I was living in Washington and married to another man. I was working at The Washington Post at the time. I fell totally in love with the city.
W: I first came in 1976 or 77. I was living in NY and working at the NY Times. It was with a different woman. Though absurdly predisposed not to like the French, I too fell in love with Paris and in our book I write briefly about an emotional pledge to return. Patricia and I did that, together, in 1979, which led to our returning in 1980 to stay.
TG: When and why did you come back to stay?
P: Walter and I came on a three-week gastronomic tour in the fall of 1979. At the time we were both working at The New York Times, Walter as assistant national editor and I was a food writer. We used to ask one another “Would you give up your job to come to Paris with me?” As it turned out, on that trip, Walter was offered the job at the IHT and I did give up my job to move to Paris with him! We came for two years and now have stayed for almost 30.
TG: Where do you live ?
P: For the first 20 years we lived in the 8th, near Parc Monceau. But as time went on we found ourselves spending weekends on the Left Bank . In 1995 we purchased a studio apartment on Rue Jacob to use as my office and cooking school. In 2001 we left our 8th arrondissement apartment and now live on Rue du Bac in the 7th.
TG: Why?
P: We LOVE the Left Bank, all the activity, markets, ambience, history. I like to joke that I only cross the river for my dentist and my hairdresser.
W: and the guy who does our taxes and the other guy who does our mortgage. I love going out the door and being in the midst of Paris – the street activity, the beautiful people, the enticing shops.
TG: What’s your favorite café?
Le Croix Rouge in the 6th. I adore their beef tartines, Assiette Saint Germain. I have perfected it at home but it is not as obvious as it seems: The bread must be grilled, not toasted, and the beef must be really rare and sliced paper thin.
W. I agree, but my real favorite tends to be the closest when I need a coffee. It’s easy enough to say Le Flore or Les Deux Magots – I don’t discriminate – where people watching is the most rewarding.
TG: Where do you shop for wine in Paris?
P: Except for our wine, which we bring up from Provence, all of our wines come from Juan Sanchez’ Le Derniere Goutte. We especially love his whites from Provence and the Loire Valley and his reds from the Rhône and the Languedoc.
W. OK. Since Pizza Hut once had our door code (that was decades ago and it was activated only when Patricia was traveling) I confess that occasionally I’ll dash down the street to La Grande Epicerie for daily drinking red or white when I know that the cellar is bare.
TG: What are your favorite wines?
P: Whites from the Loire, such as Sancerre and Quincy , and reds from the Rhône, including Cotes du Rhône, Gigondas and Vacqueyras. For special occasions, both white and red Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
W. I’m a chardonnay kind of guy. I love the Loire Valley whites, but I really love great (real) Chablis, and all white burgundies that aren’t oak bombs. As for reds, I like all that are honest and well made. More of those that are affordable come from the southern Rhone Valley and the Languedoc.
TG: What do you drink when just kicking back at home?
P: The above!
W. When kicking back what’s important isn’t provenance but supply.
TG: What’s your favorite starred restaurant?
P: We love L’Atelier du Robuchon, Pre Catelan, Guy Savoy and Pierre Gagnaire.
W. All of the above, plus Taillevent. For me it’s the ultimate in French dining. I hope to have my last significant meal there. And a lot of others before that last one.
TG: What’s your favorite bistro du coin?
P: We love Bouquinistes, Kitchen Gallerie, and I guess you can’t call it a bistro, but 21 rue Mazarine for the fish!
W. How can she leave out the restaurant called Fish? It’s my canteen. And the Café Varenne, where I’ve been often enough to have my name on the wall.
TG: What’s your favorite market?
P: Almost every week I can be found at the President Wilson market on Wednesday or Saturday and the Raspail organic market on Sunday. I do miss the Poncelet market in the 17th, my home for 20 years, where I know all the merchants and one finds some of the best veggies, fish, coffee and cheese in France.
TG: What’s your favorite park or garden?
P: I am a marathoner and I run almost every day in the Luxembourg gardens. A gift!
W. Le Square des Missions Étrangères at the corner of Rue du Bac and Rue de Commaille. It’s a great place to finish off the ice cream cone you just bought at the glacier on the Rue du Bac, next door to Conrans.
TG: What’s your favorite time of the year?
P; Well, today is exceptional. I love late April when the trees of Paris are just waking up. I always love to notice that the trees on a square open before those along the quai or a street. And then seemingly out of nowhere Paris is totally green!
W: Least favorite is easier because it’s the dead of winter. Paris ’s gray rainy weather is its best-kept secret.
TG: How or do you stay connected to America?
P: Email, Skype, the IHT and New York Times, American friends who live here or visit.
W: Culturally I’m a lot more in touch with the US than you’d think. Besides the internet, which puts the lie to international borders, there’s my church, the American Cathedral; the American Library, and all our American friends.
TG: How has Paris most changed over the past thirty years?
P: It is so much more casual and American.
W. Agree. Much less uptight, much less obsessed with following convention.
TG: How has Paris affected your work?
P: Living in Paris has totally allowed me to make myself up, to employ my talents rather than live down to expectations. Nothing like this could have happened if we had stayed in New York.
W: As an editor, working outside the American mainstream has imposed restrictions at many points – career opportunities are obviously limited. But I realized fairly early that our life in Paris was more interesting than a lot of the jobs I might have had back in the US. Plus, again as a journalist, it has been interesting to observe the political process from the outside rather than get caught up in visceralness.
TG: How has Paris affected your life?
P: It totally changed our lives. It allowed us great careers, a wide variety of great friends, to be part of French life and history is a gift! We never want to give it up!
W: A point I make in our book is that you’re most rewarded by stimulation, and living outside our native culture and language has provided for endless stimulation. And then it’s Paris and Provence that have mostly provided that stimulation and enriched our lives.
