Joanna Biggar's Blog

Seeing the great French film “Of Gods and Men,” recently, which documents the lives of a small group of Cistercian Brothers living their monastic lives among the rural people of mountainous Algeria in the early 1990’s, I was reminded of my friend Hugues. A French colleague had asked if I might be able to put [...]

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     For les demoiselles, arriving in Paris meant a daily exercise in educating the senses, and nothing was more transforming than the sense of taste, in the form of French food.

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Living with the retired Professor of Cuisine, Gracie ate exceptionally well. The price was the nightly quiz and lecture, often about the abominations of American cooking.

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But what Madame Gautier did not realize was that one year before, a bomb had been set off in the international world of French cuisine,

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Camille, Gracie’s roommate, took to trying to bail Gracie out before Madame could bear down on her. Camille began to tip Gracie off.

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Despite the dreaded cheap, starchy meals in the student dining rooms, les demoiselles quickly branched out to appreciate the wonders of French food, even that which was inexpensive and simple. Salads, cheeses, quiches ,all with a nice wine, and even eggs. 

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     At Madame Gautier’s table, les demoiselles were likely to encounter rich gateaux, cremes caramels, mousses, and in other venues they discovered delicious ice creams, pastries and glazed fruits. Once, when J.J. turned her hand at making a pumpkin pie, using the artistry acquired from her French grandmother,

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    Though a chameleon in her looks, as befitted an aspiring actress with many roles to play and eyes that changed color according to whim, Jocelyn was ever the cool, beautiful blond, adored by men and inspiring awe in women. “The boulanger hurrying to his bakery along Rue Racine [believed] the church bells merely an intrusion [...]

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     ”It was still early in those days along the Seine, when the trees yellowed, turned crimson, and dropped their leaves to dance into the streets, that Gracie took steps unlike any she’d taken…She had absorbed enough information from watching Camille and the rest of us, and especially those young French girls heading to high [...]

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  Melanie, whose early fashion imprinting came from her “society” mother, was given to the chic of Paris even before arriving. With her lithe figure, transparent blue eyes and yellow-blond hair, she was a knock-out without knowing it, a natural for “cafe society” even if she rarely went there.   Even in front of her inquisitors during [...]

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