Emily in France 🇫🇷 One Small Step
Just one.
This summer, I paid a visit to one of those friends. You know the ones. You can go weeks or months (or, in one case, seven years) without talking to one another, only to reconnect and find that everything is exactly where you left it: same jokes, same silly voices, same songs on your most-played lists, same videos in your YouTube queues. This woman has been a kindred spirit since we were both three years old, and a few years ago, she married the perfect man who gets her and sees her and adores her, and if that weren't enough for me to be 100% in approval, who also happens to be a very funny, talented, kind, and interesting guy.
He works in animal rescue, but he's always had a creative spark in him. A longtime musical theater aficionado, he recently reconnected with an earlier passion: drawing. And instead of taking a class or setting himself some mammoth challenge, he decided to do simply this: draw every day.
Every single day.
During my visit, I saw him come home from work exhausted, plagued by staffing issues at work, or shelter placements gone awry, or seasonal allergies... (or his valiant commitment to fetch me at the Philadelphia train station...), and no matter what had happened over the course of the day, he still opened his sketch book, and he drew. (If you want to see his whimsical and often surreal creations, look no further.)
Seeing his diligence, his passion, his commitment... well, it made me think about writing.
I write every day; for many, that's enough. But I know that, in some small way, measuring writing in this metric kind of feels like... cheating. Seeing as I write for a living, seeing as I get the chance, every day, to tell the stories of the people feeding France and the world, it's often easy for me to forego the more "difficult" writing (aka... the fiction stuff. Sorry Heather.)
I was chatting with my friend Faraway Places the other day about just this, whining (I'll admit it) about how much easier, it would be, to just tell stories about cheese all day. (I do love cheese – in case you didn't already know via my Instagram).
But the fact of the matter is... I love fiction too. And I need to make space for it, even if only for a few minutes. Every single day. Without it... well, I'm a little less me.
So I'm taking a page from John's book. Every day, for the past few weeks, I've sat with my book, even if only for a few moments. And you know what? It's not exhausting. Frustrating? Yes. Soul-crushing? Sometimes.
But also... It's invigorating.
What I'm Eating
I adored tapas when I lived in San Sebastian, but when a few friends suggested checking out Amagat, I wasn't too sure what to expect! Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised by this relatively new spot hidden away in the 20th. More on the blog.
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france.
What I'm Writing
1. In March of this year, France officially submitted the baguette as a candidate for UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage – seemingly a no-brainer in a country where, for centuries, people ate up to 900 grams of bread every day. But the timing here is a bit of an oddity: The French are eating less bread, and far fewer baguettes, than ever before. For Life & Thyme.
 2. Invigorating? Yes. Unpleasant? Also, yes. Cold showers are far from the most fun of health habits, so I dove into whether they're actually worth the discomfort. For Organic Authority.
3. French restaurants may seem old hat, but Chef Rob Shaner is putting a new spin on the classic at his Robert et Fils in Chicago. For Inside Hook.
What I'm Saying
That's right... a new section! From now on, you'll be able to find my new podcast episodes (and guest appearances) here!
In French class, you probably learned that bonjour means "hello," but as I learn with Julie Barlow, author of The Bonjour Effect, that's far from the case. Find out why on this week's episode of Navigating the French on Paris Underground Radio.
What I'm Reading
1. As always with Kurt Vonnegut, what gives Breakfast of Champions its lasting impactfulness is its essential pathos and humanity. More on the blog.
2. While I am a morning person, I try not to be a dick about it. This short-and-sweet piece in the Atlantic shows how the other half lives. (Which one are you, dear reader?)
3. A long but essential examination of who actually gets to create pop culture in Current Affairs. (Spoiler: it has lots to do with two five-letter words: money and class.)
A bientôt !