Paris in the village

September 28, 8:17 PMGreenwich Village ExaminerLaura Rohrman

Previous

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Greenwich Village Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Three Lives Bookstore in NYC. Photo by Laura Rohrman

Absence must make the heart grow fonder. A month ago I moved from my charming West Village abode, where I had been living for eight years, to a larger space in Battery Park City or West Tribeca.  The reason is simple: We are having a baby any day now and we needed the extra space. Plus the new area is a little more family friendly -- we have a washer/dryer in the apartment and a dishwasher!  I’m sure it will be great.  Indeed, I’ve already met a slew of new mommies who want to be my friend. A huge baby bump is a conversation starter!  One woman is a writer and she introduced me to “The Poets House” which just opened next door.  I have a feeling as soon as I’m officially a mom, this place will be amazing. But for now, I am still in transition, longing for the rainy days when I’d come home to my charming West Village apartment, play some Edith Piaf, light candles and run to my favorite coffee house on a whim. Everything was so convenient and cozy. Sigh.

So I go back. It’s not like I moved to California. I’m only a 10 minute subway ride from a place where I feel more at home. Granted, these days, in the village at least, I am without a bed or a bathroom to call my own.  This afternoon, a friend and I went to Jack’s Coffee, where I snacked on a bagel and sipped hot apple cider and kept looking around the hood that used to be mine. Until a month ago, my apartment was around the corner.  Yes, this is hard, especially since it’s fall, my favorite time of year.  I walked by Three Lives and Company bookstore, on the corner of Waverly and 10th, thinking of the many times I lost my keys and went inside for refuge when it rained. I realize that the West Village, particularly this spot, reminds me of Paris, France, the first big city that I ever lived in.  Before New York, before San Francisco – and even before Chicago (yes, I lived there too – long story), for me, there was Paris.

I moved to Paris right out of high school when I was 18 and would end up going back and living and working there three more times before I turned 23.

My favorite time in Paris was the fall of 1994 when I worked in an American bar and lived on the Ile St. Louis (basically the coolest place in Paris) in a tiny hole-in-the-wall apartment that belonged to a kooky Dutch photographer named Kees.  I stayed there with my American boyfriend who played music on the street for extra cash. I can keenly remember everything about that fall, like a beautiful scent embroidered into my skin.

No, I didn’t run off to Paris 9 months pregnant to beg for my old job, but I have enjoyed the essence of New York like never before. This past weekend, I hit the Lower East Side and took a friend to one of my favorite cheap restaurants that I hadn’t been to in years – Rice.  And today I made it to the IFC and caught an afternoon showing of a new movie starring Juliette Binoche called “Paris.”  For all my years of living near the IFC, sadly, I've only been there a handful of times. Boy did I miss out! And on this particular occasion Susan Sarandon was sitting in the lobby when I arrived. 

For all of you New Yorkers out there who once lived in Paris, who still speak a little French (comme moi), do yourself a favor and go see this movie. It’s wonderfully subtle, just like a good Bordeaux; and Binoche and all the others sparkle.  Plus you’ll get to see a lot of Paris – what’s not to love?