May's Breakfast Scrolls: Got any plans today?
Hoping to make up for last month's lack of Breakfast Scrolls with a scrumptious gif(t), some Paris stories, a mingle with a Jamaican-American writer who cooks, a weekend in Giverny and more!
Welcome to Breakfast Scrolls, the mid-month morning edit of my What’s Up, Paris? newsletter. Thank you for being here!
Who’s with me on the gif, then? 🙃 Last month was a bit too hectic to send a Breakfast Scrolls, but this May, it’s back on the menu. We’re hearing from Sutanya Dacres, the author of ‘Dinner for One,’ a manifesto to eating one’s way to self care. I’ve jotted down some links to stories by great Paris-based writers, and I’m sharing a countryside getaway I love inside the home of Giverny’s old milkman near Monet’s home and gardens that inspired many of his works. Pull on your trainers and explore a nook of Paris that has some good, crowd-free shopping, is where the Statue of Liberty was assembled and the Impressionist movement began - guessed where that is yet? Bon weekend! Roxy x
Breakfast reads 🥞
Here’s what been happening in Paris lately…
Everything you need to know about travelling to Paris this summer | CNT
How Paris’ dining, hotel and art scene’s got their groove back - just in time for the Olympics | Robb Report
Cannes: Greta Gerwig, Lily Gladstone and the weight of politics at the fest | NYT
Paris 2024 Olympics: What was promised and what will actually be ready | Le Monde (English)
What I’ve learnt from two decades eating in Paris | Financial Times
Morning mingle ☕
It’s not often you get to hear about the American expats who move to Paris for love - and get divorced. That’s the narrative writer Sutanya Dacres wanted to share through her book ‘Dinner for One’. So, go make yourself a cuppa and climb back into bed to read about how food helped the author get back on her feet.
“A Jamaican-American writer who cooks and lives in the best arrondissement: the 18ème,” Sutanya Dacres describes herself, with a chuckle. After several failed attempts to meet in person, (we now thankfully have a date on the horizon to delve into our mutual appreciation of apéro - pre-dinner drinks - and reggae music) she left me a voice note answering some of my questions. She has a radio voice. It’s strong, it’s bold, it’s clear and bubbly, just like she must be in person.
I first came across her on TV channel France 24 where she was being interviewed about her book, Dinner for One released in 2022. The Jamaican-born and Bronx-raised woman is an advocate for talking about the expat love stories gone wrong, the ones we rarely get to read about. In her memoir, she shares how the fairy tale of leaving the US to marry a Frenchman and live in Paris came crashing down. Divorce ensued, but instead of packing up and heading home, she stayed put in Paris, and found her way back to joy and her sense of self through cooking in her Montmartre apartment. Her story, which strikes a chord for many who have loved and lost, and had to rebuild a life, is full of vital encouragement. In this month’s Breakfast Scrolls, Sutanya tells us a little bit about herself and why this book was so important to her.
When did you move to Paris?
I’ve lived here for 11 years now.
What’s kept you here?
A lot of things, but the most important thing, with the strongest pull, is the freedom I feel to be myself in Paris. People argue that a lot of different parts of French culture are very traditional, patriarchal and sexist. But that’s French culture; as an American, I feel that I have some distance from that because it’s not my culture.
A neighbourhood you never get bored of?
The 18ème, where I live! I love the diversity - both racial and socio-economic; and it’s like a little village. Friends make fun of me all the time because I hate to leave my area. I even have to mentally prepare myself when they want to meet in the Marais or something.
Your happy place in Paris?
Of course the 18ème, but I also love going to the River Seine, going over the bridges - it always reminds me how wild it is that I live in Paris.
Can you tell us about your book? What’s the story there?
It’s about how I used cooking as a way of getting over divorce. I wanted to add another ‘American in Paris’ angle. When you hear the stories, they’re always about love, and how the people are still together and have these kids and a country house, etc. And it does happen for a lot of people and I am happy for them of course. But there’s another twist. What happens when you move to Paris and it doesn’t work out?
What did you hope to achieve through the book?
I’d never been divorced before and got through it. Of course, when the heart is broken, it’s traumatic. I wanted to share two main things: first, that on the other side of the despair and confusion, is joy. Second, that it’s so important, especially for women, to take care of ourselves. For me, I do that through cooking but for other people it could be through dancing or knitting. Whatever it is, there needs to be something you have for yourself.
Why should we should read it?
Because it’s good! Because it brings joy and hope.
Do you have a hidden talent?
Well, if it’s hidden I can’t tell ya! We’ve gotta meet in person, so you can see for yourself!
Are you a breakfast fan? Or is brunch more your bag?
Neither. I’m more into apéro that runs into dinner.
What’s your breakfast/brunch go-to in Paris?
My apartment! I’m not paying for avocado toast, when I can just make it myself.
What gets your weekend started?
If I don’t have anything planned on a Friday night, I like to stay at home and make myself a beautiful, labour intensive dinner for one, like homemade pasta or canard (duck), with a nice cocktail. It’s my moment and I absolutely adore it.
What do people love the most about you?
I guess you’d have to ask them..! I think my optimism, my positivity.
A cliché about Paris that’s totally true?
That people here drink a lot of wine, smoke cigarettes, and that everyone’s pretty chic.
Your weekend sound?
Jazz and reggae - my two loves.
What’s next for you?
I don’t know but I’m really excited to see where this writing and cooking journey takes me!
The weekender: Ô Plum’Art in Giverny
An hour’s drive from Paris close to Claude Monet’s home and gardens, is a quiet spot where you can catch your breath, created by a local Michelin star chef whose restaurant is only a few minutes’ walk away.
On the drive out northwest out of Paris, one of the first villages you reach in Normandy is flower-lined Giverny. A bustling village of cafés in old stone boarding houses and quaint B&Bs inside converted farms, it can get pretty packed with visitors (over half a million a year) from all over the world who come to visit Claude Monet’s spectacular flower gardens (book ahead if you can and prepare to queue).
Northwards on the same street (12 rue Claude Monet), Michelin star chef David Gallienne who’s based at his Jardin des Plumes restaurant and hotel also in the village, opened Ô Plum’Art two years ago. A restful retreat of six guest rooms inside the village milkman’s old home, it has all-white walls throughout, a nod to its former resident’s occupation, including a living area usually lit with a roaring fire in winter, that’s sparingly dotted with flea market finds.
In the morning, guests sit on crushed linen couches or at a communal table for a thoughtfully put-together spread of locally baked apple brioche, hand-picked teas, and yoghurt and eggs from nearby farms. For lunch or dinner, do book a table at Gallienne’s Michelin star Jardin des Plumes a few minutes’ walk away, where he whips up creative cuisine that’s 100% local, honouring his Norman roots.
Micro-itinerary: Batignolles🚶🏽♀️
Get up and lace up! It’s time to explore this laid-back area of the 17th arrondissement.
I’m always surprised when people put house hunting call-outs on social media and never include the 17th arrondissement. Having lived in and around the Batignolles area for over a decade, I feel quite defensive about it being cast aside. While it is fairly residential and packed with families donning pushchairs and children in frilly collars, it has many facets. It’s packed with pretty cafés and stylish boutiques on streets fanning out from the all-cream St Mary’s church on a leafy square. Tacked on the back is the small but picturesque Square des Batignolles, with its waterfall and families of ducks, weeping willows and has an old merry go-round. It’s also right here during the 1800s, that the Statue of Liberty was assembled and where artist Edouart Manet started the Impressionist movement. And if you’re after a bit of high-end French high-street shopping without the crowds, it’s the place to come (rue Legendre and rue des Moines). As a bonus, you get to lounge on café and bar terraces, and tuck into good food at places like Le Truffaut or Hotel Eldorado and peep into ateliers like Marie La Varande’s whimsical sculpture workshop.
I’ve added my favourite independent spots on a handy map, hopefully making it easier to explore! 👉 👉
Thank you for reading along today! As a token of my appreciation, I’m leaving you with Christine & The Queens’ 2015 hit Christine 🎶.
