Hastaire's Monograph

A new, old café in the Rue Lepic.

Edith Piaf's Days

Paris:- Monday, 29. September 2003:- The coming weather is probably not going to be very interesting after tomorrow. Even tomorrow's weather isn't going to be much to write about, so I won't write much.

Officially it is supposed to be mostly sunny in the morning and gradually becoming only partly sunny in the afternoon, but with a predicted high of 22. This will ooze downwards towards Wednesday, with maybe some rain in the morning or after noon, or all day and night - who cares? - with a high of only 20 degrees.

Le Parisien puts it at 22, but they have it rising from 21 tomorrow to 22 on Thursday, while tonight's TV-weather news has it the other way around. For Thursday the paper shows no weather at all for Paris. TV was just as bad, showing everything 'partly' - partly this, partly that, party nothing, but nothing partly good.

Well. This leads me to believe I can finally say with conviction that the weather is 100 percent 'normal' for this time of year. We have had our share of abnormal weather and now we are going to get a taste of reality, that will probably last for months if not years.

Should I assume you know what it means? In case not, it means you should pack a sweater, bring a hat or umbrella or both, and if you have sensitive fingers, bring gloves too. You never know when there might be a cold snap.

Café Life

Last December I chanced to be with Dimitri and his friend Martin Vaughn James, on a drizzly Sunday visit to see some big-time artists in a ritzy atelier near the Gare du Nord. Besides Martin himself, and Alain Kleinmann, the third was Hastaire, who I think Dimitri has known for some time.

Not too long ago I was invited to a vernissage for monograph about Hastaire. Dimitri and I were unable to figure out the difference between a 'monograph' and an 'autobiography,' so last Tuesday I took myself to the Didier Parakian shop in the Place des Victoires. The first surprise was meeting Dimitri on the street at the exit of the Etienne-Marcel Métro station.

The second surprise was learning that he was lost. He had been at Palais-Royal and could have simply walked north, but occasionally places we know well aren't where we think they are.

The third surprise was finding out that the Didier Parakian shop was not a gallery, but a fancy threads boutique. The first coincidence was finding Martin Vaughn James there. We immediately left the shop and circled the block to find a regular sort of café, where Martin told us about his troubles with parking tickets.

Back at the vernissage, the ice still hadn't arrived for the absinthe fountain. Hastaire remembered me from last December and I told him the photo for this was 'now or never,' so we got it over with out on the sidewalk, amid passing scooters and schoolkids.

Inside I leafed through a copy of the 'monograph.' It is not an 'autobiography' because it has been written by everybody else, including a preface and interviews by the psychoanalyst, Edith Charlton. 'Hastaire' more or less includes his whole life, with many reproductions and photos, putting into one package what 30-odd other books have not.

It was a quick flip-through of 250 pages, representing 30 or 40 years of work and life. My 'monograph' would not be more than 43 pages, and many of them would be blank. What stood out was the sheer volume of everything - different ateliers, different styles, different places, many people. Hastaire wondered if it wasn't too soon to have this all bundled together.

When I saw a bleary-eyed Dimitri the following day, he said the vernissage got pretty 'interesting' after I left. Hastaire's people turned up 'live' to complement the book. If there are copies left - only 1100 have been printed - the softcover version costs 50€ and may be ordered from Editions Dukan, 31. Rue Sylvabelle, 13006 Marseille, or from FVW Editions, 91-bis, Rue Truffaut, 75017 Paris.

Metropole's .COM area is handily gathered on the relatively new 'Partner' page. Check out this page every week, if for no other reason than the 'Photo of the Week,' which it will only be on view for one week.

Metropole's long-time affiliates are on this page too. The Café Metropole sparkling wine is also on it, with a link to its own permanent About Wine page. Both pages can be accessed from the blurbs on the left, and sometimes right-hand columns, on many pages.

The formerly new email address for 'Ric,' 'Ed,' and the Café Metropole Club's secretary remains
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