September 17, 2015 -- Whenever I’m bored, which is almost
never, all I need to do is look at Paris street signs. They stimulte my curiosity. Never ones to miss an opportunity to promote
their culture, the French name their streets after artists, philosophers,
politicians, poets, composers, musicians, novelists, historians, teachers,
architects, engineers, and more. Look
around, and you’ll find one that will intrigue you. Many of these signs tell you not only the
name of the person for whom the thoroughfare is named, but also that person’s
birth and death dates as well as occupation.
Swan near an archipelago of the Berges de la Seine. |
Paris isn’t finished with naming thoroughfares. The section of the Berge de Seine that we
love the most is now named Promenade des Berges de la Seine André Gorz. André was a philosopher, engineer, and
journalist, born in the same year as my father (1923). He passed away in 2007, a few years before my
father died.
After seeing the sign, I wanted to know more about
André. Here’s what I learned.
Well, first of all, André Gorz isn’t his real name. It is a nom
de plume, as is Michel Bosquet, for a man who was really named Gerard Horst,
who was actually born as Gerhart Hirsch.
Four names for one man!
For the sake of simplicity, I’ll call him André.
He was an existentialist, but he was more the Sartre/Marxist
type of existentialist, as compared to an existentialist like my husband Tom, who
is more of Camus guy.
Philosophically, André was a part of the New Left movement
which took on seriously leftist labor issues like a guaranteed income and
distribution of work, even “liberation from work.” I confess that I really don’t understand how
an economy with “liberation from work” could possibly succeed. But if we had dinner with André, maybe he
could explain it.
André was born in Vienna, Austria. His mother sent him to school in Switzerland
to keep him out of Hitler’s army at the beginning of World War II. He graduated with a degree in chemical
engineering in 1945.
He must have been good with languages because he translated
American short stories early in his career, around the same time that he became good
friends with Jean Paul Sartre. He began
writing articles on philosophical topics and moved to Paris. He got a real job working as a private
secretary in the embassy for India.
I suppose it was to protect his real job that he started
using pseudonyms like Michel Bosquet. He
began to write books, using his pseudonyms, and built his reputation as a
theorist in the New Left movement which was inspired by Marx. He thought of himself as a “revolutionary
reformist.”
In 1964, André and others founded Le Nouvel Observateur, a
weekly that is now a prominent French news magazine.
Table where Tom and I sat on August 22 at Le Pario. These chairs are comfortable! |
He saw the riots of May 1968 as an affirmation of his
leftist views. He even wrote an article
titled “Destroy the University,” which upset some of his colleagues.
But André continued publishing articles into the 2000s. He and his wife Dorine did not die natural
deaths; after learning that she had a terminal illness, they both committed
suicide by injection in 2007. How sad.
André’s second-to-last book, Lettre a D. Histoire d’un Amour (2006) was about his love for his
wife.
I don’t see any obvious connection between André and the
Berges de la Seine, but I like to imagine that he and Dorine loved to stroll
along the quieter sections of the riverbank, hand-in-hand.
[Source: Wikipedia.com.]
[Source: Wikipedia.com.]
Yesterday it rained, so the only stroll hand-in-hand that we
were able to do was in the evening, when the rain stopped. It was time to dine at Le Pario, Tom’s
favorite Paris restaurant this year. Le
Pario is one of my top favorites, too.
Bread served at Le Pario is especially good. And it comes with a pat of butter! |
After our stroll down the avenue Emile Zola, we were seated
at a table by the window, and the server pointed out that it was next to the
table where we dined last time we were at Le Pario. That was August 22, too long ago for him to
remember. So these restaurants are
keeping notes on loyal customers like us.
Hmmmmm.
We noticed that the British man at the table behind ours was
the same man who sat near us at Axuria on Sunday. He has good taste in restaurants.
The server brought us a lovely mis en bouche -- a little glass of warm, creamy-yet-frothy, garlicy
soup – as we perused the menu. Tom selected a shrimp ravioli starter that came
in a shrimp or lobster bisque, and I selected a pumpkin soup. Both were gorgeous and delicious.
My main course was a ducking filet, which had been cut into
chunks. Le Pario’s Chef Eduardo seems to
like cutting meat into chunks before serving.
The delicious duck was accompanied by a side dish of warm, rustic
homemade applesauce.
Tom’s main course was a tourte
of “viande de soleil,” which was
really beef and pork, he said. It was
like a superb pot pie. Tom loved the
pastry crust of the tourte.
For dessert, we shared a brownie made with coconut. The brownie was cut into three medallion-shaped
chunks, and served with a few peach slices.
It was an elegant and enjoyable dinner. When the bill arrived, we noticed that the
glass of white wine that I ordered, a Saint Véran, had been given for
free. Tom thanked the server. The service and ambiance at Le Pario are top-notch. And this particular dinner was good value. Mostly, it was beautiful, and delicious.
A delightful beef and pork tourte at Le Pario. |
The wind was picking up as we strolled home, and more rain
fell during the night after we were safely tucked inside, listening to jazz piano music.
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