Town Talk
I’ve lived a lot of places in my life—my favorite place being Paris, of course. The quality of life in Paris (the food, the wine, the shopping, the parks, the museums, the sites, the scenes, the metro… oh la la, perfection!) is second to none. I came to Baltimore half from Paris and half from South Carolina (where I split my time evenly). I came because my family lives here. There have been many surprises in getting to know the city. On one hand, Baltimore is a big city. On the other hand, Baltimore seems smaller than other cities that aren’t half its size in population. It often seems very small. As Baltimorean Jonathan Murry told me, when people around here ask what school they went to, they reply with what high school they attended—not what college.
Recently I was at a party where I met some new people. We talked about what it was like moving to Charm City. Both couples told me that it had taken them a long time to integrate and find people willing to open up to them. I began nodding my head in agreement, as this, too, had been my experience. What floored me was that when I asked them how long they’d been here, one replied, “15 years,” and the other, “7 years.” Neither couple (both with children, no less) had had very much luck getting their foot in the door until recently. All of which made me think about France and the French.
In fact, I’ve been lucky enough to meet wonderful people in both Baltimore and France—yet I do see why people can feel as if they are outsiders in both places. There’s a discerning quality about Baltimoreans and the French. Both cultures tend to be very respectful (forget what you hear about the rude French—you will only find them in huge touristy spots, where they’ve met way too many rude tourists!), but both cultures tend to keep things close to the vest. That is, until you’ve earned your way into their hearts. Why this is, I’m unsure. Perhaps it’s because people seem to read more in Baltimore—and the French read everything—both are cities filled with educated, well-read people. The more we read, the more we have to think before we make decisions… we begin to know too much, which makes us not jump so fast. Could that be it? I don’t know.
Also, both Paris and Baltimore are big on experimental theatre. It’s a wonderful, unique quality about each city—not found so much in other towns. Just look at the Creative Alliance and The Stoop Storytelling Series as two wonderful examples of this.
It took me about a half a year to really integrate with the French, and the same with Baltimoreans. Maybe because I write for popular publications and people want to open up more and talk about their cities more—but I’m not sure. I also have no clue where this particular blog post is going, other than the fact that it just struck me how very much Baltimoreans and the French are alike. And I simply wanted to share that bit of insight.
Oh, one other thing… for those Baltimoreans who love French food, Cindy Wolfe has her finger on the pulse of that particular quality of life. As someone who has written the Paris Guide for USAToday for years, and, hence, eaten at all the best restaurants in the City of Light, I can absolutely recommend Wolfe’s food as highly as I can recommend that of Alain Ducasse or that gastronomic wild showman, Pierre Gagnaire. Your money and time is well spent at one of Wolfe’s restaurants.
Petite Louis
4800 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland
Phone: 410.366.9393
petitlouis.com
And Patisserie Poupon has les pain au chocolats (chocolate croissants) and other pastries as good as you can get at Ladurée or Pierre Hermé in Paris.
Patisserie Poupon
820 E. Baltimore St.
Baltimore, Maryland
Phone: 410-332-0390
Oh, yes, we also have our Light Rail. It isn’t exactly the Paris Metro, but we’re getting there.
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