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After a whirlwind one-nighter in London it was a one-way ticket to Paris (slightly déjà vu, the last time I bought a one-way ticket I was moving there, all those years ago). I was taking my memoir back to its birthplace. I had to hit the tarmac running, or the platform rather, with a tight turnaround: drop the luggage, the quickest shower, then back across town to Messy Nessy Chic's Cabinet of Curiosities for the book club.
Between book events, I tried my best to keep my cool, but it was near impossible. I did not, however, jump into the canal, despite the mayor opening it specially for the canicule. I don’t think anything could have persuaded me to dip even a tootsie into that green murk, especially now I’ve become accustomed to the Swedish archipelago and clear lakes.
When the mercury hits 40 in the City of Light, things understandably get difficult. I saw a lot of rage on the bus this trip, the driver shouting at a passenger, everyone fraying at the edges. My advice: avoid the noon to 5pm slot entirely, or slide into somewhere air conditioned. I remember my first summer living in Paris, sweating it out at culinary school, when the government ran ads on local radio telling people to go and hang out in the freezer section of their supermarket.
First, the obvious one, though maybe not so obvious: cut the intense schedule. Nothing is enjoyable if you’re trying to cram in five different locations. Ideally, build in an afternoon cold shower and a siesta. I’d be up early and hit a market, a café or a monument before 11am, have a leisurely lunch on a terrasse or in an air-conditioned restaurant, then head back for a siesta. Out again late afternoon, early evening.
Or, if you really want to be out in the afternoon, stay inside: an exhibition, a film, even the leafy shade of a park is still pretty brutal at the height of it.
Nothing is more beautiful than an evening meander in Paris when it’s balmy. I did exactly that after my book club event at Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, wandering up and across the Seine, over the Île Saint-Louis where people were queuing at Berthillon (a favourite of mine when I lived here). I skipped it this time and went a little further over the pont, where I tried a garlic, cucumber and mint ice cream. Yes, garlic. I’ll tell you where, and whether it worked, below.
I carried on walking for a while, watching people sit out on terraces, ice clinking in glasses, the chatter flowing. I even picked up a Vietnamese bò bún from a place I used to go to all the time when I lived here. The owner, Madame Chi, exclaimed: where have I been all these years. Her hole-in-the-wall place, a mish-mash of chairs, was a heat trap, too hot to keep open, and she was shutting for the night, but she whipped me up a bò bún to take home anyway.
The next morning I woke earlier and walked down to the Marché d’Aligre. Quiet at 8.30am, the heat still bearable. My haul was everything that delights me. A tip: buy a bag of cherries and either give them an ice bath, which firms up the flesh, or keep them chilled in the fridge.
If you want to make the most of your time, the cold marble floors and air conditioning of museums make excellent refuge. I went to see the Leonora Carrington exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg, which was exquisite. Her paintings are bewitching and I adored her childhood sketchbook. The white sand of the Jardin du Luxembourg is blinding, so I avoided it and headed for the shade, where a French choir was singing under the bandstand.
L’Avant Comptoir is a ten-minute walk from the Jardin. It was popular when I lived here: there’s de la Terre, de la Mer and du Marché, but the concept stays the same, small plates and a glass of wine. I went for seafood, sat at the zinc bar with a chilled glass of sparkling water (a glass of wine on a hot day at lunch would have knocked me out). The frogs’ legs in a thick, rich, creamy parsley and garlic sauce had me smacking my lips. The grilled fat white asparagus with fresh peas was meaty and juicy, a good match for that sauce. I love a place where you can order a few plates and leave still feeling light but satisfied. The best meals are the ones you walk away from feeling good, not the ones where you need wheeling out on a stretcher.
L’Avant Comptoir, clustered around the Carrefour de l’Odéon, 75006. The seafood spot is de la Mer.
During the trip plenty of ice cream was eaten, iced drinks drunk, and I found the perfect cute terrace. If you want all of that, the spots that actually got me through the dizzyingly hot days, they’re below.
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