An Interview with Thirza Vallois

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An Interview with Thirza Vallois
  Romantic Paris is one of the most beautiful, information-packed books we’ve ever seen about Paris. You know so much about Paris from so many angles. What made you decide to concentrate on the romantic aspect? As explained in the introduction to the book, it actually wasn’t my idea but my son’s and his then girlfriend’s, now his wife. They thought I should not only enlighten people to Paris, intellectually, which is what I did in Around and About Paris, but also offer them the sheer dream-come-true fun of the city. Since I know Paris from every angle, it was very easy for me to focus on one aspect rather than another. The book was actually meant to be titled Paris for Lovers, but many Americans felt fidgety about such a ‘daring/naughty’ word as ‘lover’, apparently, so the publisher chose to use the more ‘benign’ adjective, ‘romantic’. In French, the word ‘amoureux’ conveys accurately the meaning of the word. I guess the closest equivalent in English would be ‘sweethearts’. Just to clarify matters, a French lady who works in one of the English-speaking bookshops in Paris thought my book was about 19th-century Paris, because ‘romantique’ in French usually relates to the literary/artistic movement. Hence, le Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 9th arr., which is dedicated to a couple of members of that movement, and not to love, although they also happened to be famous lovers (eg George Sand). In other words, if you are into the French language beware of faux amis. As for your comment about Romantic Paris being ‘information-packed’, true, but only in terms of dream-come-true Paris. The real, meaty stuff is to be found in Around and About Paris, which is literally all-embracing. People often think, mistakenly, that it’s only a historical walking guide. No. It is also a historical walking guide, but it’s much more than that: it also deals with Le Pen, for instance, with present-day homelessness, with ethnic issues, with scandals evolving around building projects in modern Paris. I have literally researched all the different aspects of Paris, past and present, and brought them together to the readers, to help them explore beyond the blinkered surface of the tourist track, so as to gain a fuller understanding of the city. I consider Romantic Paris a happy interlude. It’s so wonderful to just let go in Paris and enjoy its most exquisite beauty spots, shops, restaurants, hotels, little museums, what have you. And let me reassure you: even those who are single can enjoy these addresses tremendously. Some people think Paris can be a frustrating, dirty, cold city–especially in February! What do you think makes it so romantic regardless? Oh, no! Paris today is not a dirty city at all! The Mayor of Paris and his team pamper it and polish it on a daily basis, the way a cat licks itself clean permanently. I am amazed how clean it is (relatively, of course; I am not claiming it is Singapore). Especially when I come back from London, which has become, to my mind, alas, the capital of junk and rubbish. As for February, it all depends on the weather, and since all weather patterns have gone haywire in recent years, this applies to Paris too. You can hit upon fabulous weather in February, as you may likewise get a mix. But then, you may have an entire spring or summer of perennial downpour. You simply can’t rely on it from one year to another, despite statistics. You have to count on your lucky star and be philosophical if the weather isn’t with you. Yesterday, for instance, we had Californian heavens; today it’s disgustingly wet (it was supposed to snow, which it did for a while, but the white blanket trumpeted by the media never happened…). Perhaps another day… That being said, when it’s nice in February, it’s fabulous, because the early spring blossoms are out with their promise of renewal: crocuses for sure, but also daffodils (which bloom a bit later in London), not to mention the various yellow, pink, and white blossoms on the various bushes. And of course, the unmistakable air of early spring. And just as importantly, Paris is, by far, more romantic on winter nights than in other seasons. The stark, leafless trees look awesomely dramatic against the city’s subtly lit architecture, which their leaves hide in summer. And the amber light shimmering in the damp air is exquisitely atmospheric, not to mention that the town is all yours because most people don’t have enough imagination to walk along the Seine, or the Canal Saint Martin for that matter, on a winter night. And why not climb up the steep flights of steps in Montmartre after dark? Romantic Paris is packed with snippets from love letters, love songs and the like; what made you decide to do that? Oh, because that’s Paris!!!! I didn’t ‘decide’ it. It couldn’t have been otherwise! I spent months weeding and deleting. I had hundreds and thousands and thousands to choose among. Just one astounding example: Victor Hugo and his mistress Juliette Drouet had exchanged 17,000 love letters. When one is aware of Hugo’s encyclopaedic output, not to mention his painting and drawing, designing of furniture, political activities and stupendous love/sex life, one wonders when he found the time for that. When it comes to songs and poems, no city in the world has been celebrated like Paris. I literally agonised over my choices. And those I chose were not always the most beautiful ones, but those that corresponded to the content of the book. As for love letters, what’s more beautiful and life-sustaining than love, and what’s more moving than expressing and reading it through a love letter? Not everyone is an inspired poet who can write a song, but everyone is inspired when writing a love letter to his/her sweetheart. I found it particularly heartwarming to read a love letter written by public figures, because they get toppled off their pedestal and become regular human beings, like all of us. Even kings and emperors. There is no high and low when it comes to love, the great social leveller of our emotions. Incidentally, did you know that Sacha Guitry was a collector of celebrities’ love letters? Was there one couple you felt a special fascination or affinity with while…
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