Terrance Gelenter, a Conversation with Himself
When did you first come to Paris?
Inspired by my paternal grandparents, Charles and Anne Ferstenberg, who upon returning from their first trip to Paris in 1973 said, “Paris - most civilized place on Earth, if I were you I’d move tomorrow. And I was the preferred grandchild; they weren’t trying to be rid of me. With those words in mind I made my first trip in the summer of 1974.
I performed all of the first visit to Paris rituals: climbed the Eiffel Tower, walked the Champs-Elysées, sipped pastis at Les Deux Magots and took a gander at Notre Dame. I also met my first French lover, who turned out to be British, as I along with many others said "bonjour" to La Jaconde at her special spot in the Louvre. She was an aspiring Playboy Bunny named Avril Avincourt, not that I remember such details. We exchanged smiles and since she was leading a group of British tourists we didn’t have much time for conversation, so I invited her to join me at a dinner party at the home where I was staying.
Claude and Evelyn were in the country for the weekend. I and another guest from Montreal were in charge of the house. He had organized a dinner party with several international friends. While the blanquette de veau cooked an older Parisian from Poland arrived with the biggest tin of beluga caviar that I had ever seen outside of a movie. It was surrounded by crackers, butter and iced Russian vodka sprinkled with pepper - this was before the proliferation of flavored Vodka brands. Conversation sizzled in French, English and Russian and later so did we as Avril curled up in my arms on the sofa.
Every time I walk by the Louvre I remember her and know that all of the treasures in the Louvre can never top that twenty-seven-year-old young man's experience.
Why did you continue to come back and ultimately move to Paris?
It wasn’t an immediate coup de foudre, but that first trip did awaken feelings that were new to me, and when I began to return regularly in 1995, I felt chez moi (at home.) Or as Johnny Mathis described it:
It’s not just for what you are your self
That I love you as I do
But for what I am
When I am with you
Finally in 2008 I decided that I didn’t want to be 70 or dead and kvetch, that I hadn’t lived in Paris. Tomorrow I’ll be 70 tomorrow (June 24, 2017) with no regrets!
What’s your favorite café?
It has varied depending on where I was living. My first cup is always at my apartment before 7AM. My 10AM quotidian café was at the Croix Rouge when I lived in the sixth, Maison Plisson when I moved near the Bastille, and now Café Leonard near ARTS & METIERS metro.
In Saint Germain, since Francis took over the reins, Les Deux Magots and, of course, every Sunday at Le Select.
What’s your favorite starred restaurant?
Hands down, Le Grand Vefour. The food is sublime, earning only two stars and not the three it merits, by virtue of Michelin politics. Chef Guy Martin and his staff nurture every customer as if they had been coming for generations. This was perfectly illustrated when M and I were prepared for dessertly delights and Yann poured a magical 2001 Vouvray moelleux, that he graciously served, without provocation, to our charming neighbor, Margaret O'Neill, a widow from Limerick, with whom we had been chatting amiably throughout our meal.
What’s your favorite bistro du coin?
Far too many to enumerate, but in my neighbourhood, The Chef Thai, when I want a break from French food and an assault on my budget, and for an exceptionally warm welcome and a perfect rapport-quality prix, Le Mesturet. Alain Fontaine reigns with joy.
What’s your favorite market?
Sunday at Richard-Lenoir.
What’s your favorite time of the year?
Fall for the colours of the leaves and the sweater-clad women bursting with colour that liven the streets. And spring. when the sun reappears and remains in the sky until the early evening, not to mention THOSE GIRLS IN THEIR SUMMER DRESSES as immortalized by Irwin Shaw.
How has Paris affected your life and work?
It allowed me to develop a new career that permits me to employ a lifetime of skills accumulated during a rich and varied life. And as for my life, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
