Paris has something for everyone. Last night I stumbled on the restaurant for people eating alone on a Sunday night. Check out the photo. The woman next to me is writing in a journal. Next to her is a woman reading. Behind the wine glass is a man writing in a journal. I’m the one taking pictures.
We’re in a nondescript Italian restaurant just off the Boulevard St. Germain, across the street from Les Deux Magots. Patricia Wells and David Lebovitz are not regulars here.
When I arrived around 7:30 – early for Parisian dinner but I was hungry – there was one other customer in the room, a man in his fifties, reading a magazine and eating a pizza. Since his magazine was in French and he seemed to know the waiter, I took him for a native. He was drinking only water. He was nearly finished when I sat down and left before my pizza arrived. Then came the reading woman. She ordered lasagna and a half bottle of wine and settled into her book. The woman next to me polished off a cheese pizza in about three minutes, pushed her plate aside, and began to write in her journal. The man behind the wine glass ordered a glass of red wine and wrote in his journal without taking a sip. His pizza arrived before I left but he continued writing as it cooled.
Some obvious questions arise:
Why are you eating pizza in Paris?
Well, as Abe Scherl once said: “You can’t eat gourmet every night.”
Why are you alone in Paris?
I don’t wish to discuss that. Other questions?
It’s just that it seems like a long way to go for a Sunday night pizza. You could have gone to Giorgio’s.
I didn’t come to Paris for the pizza. Anyone else?
Yes. Excuse me, sir, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the impression that all the patrons you describe are, how shall I put it, of a certain age?
Yes. Next question.
So, perhaps it’s not surprising that you find yourself there.
What are you implying?
Only that however unintentional it may have been, you may have found yourself in the right place.
The pizza wasn’t bad. Next question:
How much wine did you drink at dinner?
I don’t see that’s any of your business, but just for the record: a picher of 50cl.
How much is that in American?
About 2/3 of a bottle.
What else did you drink?
Just a cognac at the hotel honor bar when I returned.
Only one?
Yes, a large one.
I see and are you going to publish this tonight?
Well, I might wait and read it in the morning.
What else are you going to do tomorrow?
©2015 Ron Scherl