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| Box construction - 19 x 12 x 5 - 1988 |
Found postcard of restaurant 'Laperouse' in Paris. Postcard is dated: August 14th, 1927
It reads:
Dear Four: - You really must treat yourselves to the above place. I went there to lunch on Friday - select, elegant, and solitary! Knowing it was the sort of place where, if you ordered anything like lamb chops, the waiters were apt to weep, I studied the menu and chose (thanks to Thackeray) a bouillabaisse: but this was "bouillabaisse du quai", so I know I was all right! Try it! I had a delicious melon before and cheese after. Have been having a wonderful time; I was caught in six showers today and changed my programme somewhat. The Beaux Arts is closed on Sunday; but I went instead to the Luxembourg Musee, the Pantheon, and St. Etienne du Mont, and was so glad not to have missed any of these places. Such a lot of wandering in old streets, peering into courtyards, sitting in the "squares", and watching the people, and poking into little shops! Heaps of love to you all. Helen
I wondered: "What did she mean by "thanks to Thackeray"? And why was it "all right" that it was 'bouillabaisse du quai'?
I found a book of literary criticism on Thackeray by John Carey. In a chapter titled - 'Food and Drink' - I found this:
Food and drink intermingled in the formation of his most delicate human relationships. "I am in the middle of a great bowl of raspberries and cream," he wrote to his wife just before they were married,
"and wishing for my little gourmande to share it with me."
Looking back on their happy days together in 1849, after she had become insane, he composed what many consider his best poem, 'The Ballad of Bouillabaisse', recounting a visit to Terre's Tavern in the Rue Neuve des Petits Champs where they used to dine. The red-cheeked ecalliere is still, he finds, opening oysters at the door; the Chambertin with yellow seal is still recommended; and they still serve the medley of: "Green herbs, red peppers, mussels, saffron, soles, onions, garlic, roach, and dace" with which his memories of his lost wife are fused.*
And why was 'bouillabaisse du quai' alright? Perhaps Helen thought that Thackeray was referring to the insect 'roach' instead of the fish 'roach', which is a sort of edible carp.
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| Hidden drawer holds 4 antique cocktail forks with repousse designs of seaweed, a starfish, and on the back, a crab. |
The print of Poussin's 'The Kingdom of Flora' is reflected in the aged mirrors on the sides.
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| Back of box - Click to Enlarge to read poem. |
The poem was in my copy of 'The Oxford Book of English Verse'.
To: Miss Lilian A. Walter
Pension Les Hortensias
St. Gervais-les-Bains
Hte. Savoie
Box has a faux tortoise-shell finish. Drape and drawer fabric are from a sample piece of my grandmother's drapes from the 30's. Along the front of the box are three stanzas from the poem.
*reference - Thackeray by John Carey, Faber & Faber 1977
Art and Photos (c) C. Andrako All Rights Reserved
