June 24
The United Airlines flight was late by two hours or more; I lost track. We boarded on time but then the technicians discovered a faulty communications device that had to be replaced. It was located in the main cabin and all passengers had to disembark. It must have been 2am when we departed and 2pm when I landed in Paris.
Natalia had rented an Airbnb in Montparnasse, just off the metro station. As per her instructions, I called the landlord once I got in a taxi at the airport so that he would be waiting for me at the apartment. But no, like the plane, he was almost two hours late. I waited at a nearby café sipping white wine. When he finally arrived, he apologized and I was very understanding, I just wanted to get to the apartment, take a shower and change. A nice apartment, one bedroom, a studio, a living room and dinning area with antique furniture, and a fully equipped kitchen.
It was a busy but very pleasant week. Monday and Tuesday I didn’t have in-person meetings and we just walked around the city stopping at the random café for a coffee or drink. Monday late afternoon we went to see the expo Basquiat X Warhool at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. Their joint paintings were on display. I am not a fan of Warhool but do like Basquiat and some of their collaborative works were worth the visit. As Warhool had said, the best paintings from that collaboration are those where no one can tell who did what. For me, though, the best of the expo were three or four portraits of Warhool painted by Basquiat (see pics).
After the expo we joined my sister Carla and husband Alaric for dinner at a restaurant in rue de la Butte-aux Cailles – LES TANNEURS DE LA BUTTE. Lovely. Carla and Alaric live in a little village, Saint Rémy les Chevreuses, 45 minutes from Paris by RER, but they were staying in the city at a friend’s apartment for a few days. Carla is eight months pregnant, her first time, and I hadn’t seen her since June last year. Quite a shock it was. They are expecting a boy and they have chosen a beautiful name: David. I feel honored.
Tuesday morning, we went to the Musé d’Orsey to see a retrospective about Monet and Manet, friends and competitors. I rushed through it because the museum was very crowded – the problem of visiting Paris during the summer months – and waited for Natalia at a café nearby sipping champagne. Afterwards we had a decadent lunch at LE PROCOPE in Saint Germain, one of my preferred restaurants in the city. I’m sure we took a nap that afternoon. At night, Carla and Alaric joined us for dinner at the apartment. I roasted a chicken with some potatoes that was served with a bottle of red wine Natalia had purchased (I don’t remember what it was).
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I was on a training and cultural activities were over for me. Along with a few other colleagues we are trying to set up what these days are called impact investment funds. They are investment funds that generate profits for the investors but not as high as “market returns;” say 3-5% instead of 10-15%. The reason is that beyond financial returns the investments seeks social returns, like lowering carbon emissions or expanding access to health care. For us the focus is on jobs, particularly in rural areas and lagging regions in developing countries. Will see how that goes. One thing I can tell though is that we would all be better off if more people put money on these impact funds instead of speculative trades that bring zero value to society.
To close our week in Paris, Friday night we went to see the ballet l’Histoire de Manon at the Opéra Garnier, and then had dinner at the CAFÉ DE LA PAIX. The ballet is based on the book by l’Abbé Prévost, which I read many years ago. It’s the story of a beautiful courtesan, Manon, who works in a high-end cabaret, sometime in the 1700s. She falls in love with a faithful friend (Des Grieux) and pays de consequences at the hand of her lover, a wealthy man from the nobility. The choreographer was the late Kenneth MacMillan and the music composer Jules Massenet. That Friday Manon was played by Léonore Baulac and Des Grieux by Mathias Heymann. Both formidable dancers in their solo movements, and breathtaking when dancing together. It is difficult to comprehend how the monotonous, sometimes grotesque, movements of a human body operating under normal conditions can be transformed into so much beauty and grace. I found this video of a rehearsal by two other dancers in London, with the original Manon and Des Grieux (from 1974) providing guidance.
Saturday morning, we left the apartment and went Carla and Alaric’s house in the countryside. An apéro in late morning was followed by lunch of pasta with small tomatoes and white wine and then a siesta. In the afternoon we went hiking and in the evening had dinner at an Indian restaurant in town. By 10pm we were all sleeping. Early this morning, after two cups of coffee, we rode the RER to CDG. Natalia and I are flying back to Bangkok in a few hours; we are in different flights. I’m happy to go back and see Woland. And then Sofia is arriving next Saturday….
Sailing to the Pacific 