Hot Wine, Dark Alley

Snow Job

Paris:– Monday, 24. January 2005:– On Sunday evening's TV–weather news the forecasters gave an 'orange alert' for a lot of easter France and most of Normandy. Fairly strong winds were predicted along with serious falls of snow. According to tonight's news it turned out to be true.

This area wasn't affected today but our turn is coming, although without an 'orange alert.' There is cold air pouring down from the north and this will cause snow in Normandy to the west, while the whole eastern flank of France will be in an even deeper freeze.

The gap between west and east will close, perhaps giving us some snow on Tuesday. The temperature will also dump to minus 2 degrees overnight and the high tomorrow is not likely to exceed one degree. There may be fleeting bright periods here, but with snow predicted for the Riviera we can't be expected not to have any.

On Wednesday the wind will continue to pour down from the North Pole and Normandy will be socked in. The temperature will dip a bit more during the day. But there might be some brighter periods, like Tuesday, even if all seems united to dump a bit more snow here.

For Thursday more of the same is in view, but with a temperature pop–up to one degree again. Overnight the thermometre may well be dropping down to minus four, making sure that any snow that falls is not likely to melt.

According to correspondents reporting from the depths of New Jersey and Queens, a blizzard of snow has fallen there, ending months of false alarms. "Here is the official snow report from La Grosse Pomme gelée using the unofficial non–Metropole–approved measuring stick. Boston is still being snowed upon, with up to 2 feet – 60 euro middle metres – expected."

"Saturday morning it was 6 F outside. Not like Paris at all. In Brooklyn snow soft, powdery so not bad underfoot and in the air. Big winds hadn't started. Also temperature felt a tad warmer. Trains crowded with NYers who just don't know better to stay home. Alighting in Queens noticed that weather seemed colder, windier and snow falling more intensely. Still as a policeman on 74th Street in Little India said yesterday afternoon, "it's beautiful for now." Wonderful how the white soft blanket gives Queens a nice glow. Kind of like cheesecloth on a camera lens. Home is warm and I have provisions but alas no whiskey or fireplace. Weather will warm up a little tomorrow by 10 degrees or so but forecasters say it will be cold enough for the snow to become icy. Still we do what we do."

Café Life

Last Wednesday Heather Stimmler–Hall combined her fondness for secrets and adventure by co–hosting the Paris launch of her new book at the Abbey Bookshop, located in an alley jokingly called a street, which had its named changed from 'des Ecrivains' to 'Parcheminerie' in 1387.

At the appointed hour there was a small gathering of the curious lurking in the dark outside the somewhat more modern townhouse built for Claude Dubuisson in 1752. On nearing them I saw that they were gathered around a pot of hot wine and varieties of cookies. Inside, the bookshop lived up to its reputation of having more books than room for customers to browse them.

Luckily those used to Parisian notions of space ignored the lack and pressed inside to meet Heather and buy her book. When the crowd surged to number five we retired to the exterior where we totalled a score in the obscurity. Heather mounted on a stool and gave a short talk about how many times she got food poisoning due to research.

The smells of hot wine, cigarette smoke and cookie odors floated in the alley as stray civilians pushed through the small crowd while travel book fans peppered Heather with questions about the book's discount price on Amazon. Drizzle began to lay a damp mantle on the gathering, so I left before the gala couscous dinner.

The Abbey Bookshop has a huge lot of books, including several concerning Canadian philosophy, possibly located in its cellar. Find it at 29. Rue de la Parcheminerie, just off the Rue de la Harpe, Paris 5. Nearest Métro stations are Saint–Michel and Cluny–La Sorbonne.

SuperBowl 18 in 1984 was sponsored by Apple and two days later the little Macintosh box with a smiley went on sale for the first time. Other than it being a Tuesday, it was 26 years ago. The Mac ushered in the now familiar graphical user interface, the mouse, the 'click,' WYSIWYG – 'what you see is what you get' – 3.5–inch floppies, standard audio built–in, all wrapped up in a neat box with a handle.