I fantasized about whiling away the summer sipping ice coffee and eating French pastries on the terrace of one of the beachfront chateaux below. Anybody want to join me?(and foot the bill and take over doing my tours ?).
Here is the last piece of juicy Trouville gossip from Lynn about some of the famous inhabitants of these villas:
Trouville didn't just attract artists; writers like Proust and Flaubert and Marguerite Duras loved the place, as I do.
In the 1850s Trouville became known as the “Queen of beaches” when sun bathing suddenly emerged as a fad and a train track was built connecting Paris to Trouville. Proust came in 1891, at 21, and then in the summers of 1893 and 1894 with his mother. They stayed at the Roches Noires, apartment 110.
Roches Noires
In 1963, Margeurite Duras bought the apartment you see here on the first floor, corner left. It looked directly out on the Channel, beyond the boardwalk, a view which Duras called “the greatest tracking shot in France.”
A half block north of Les Roches Noires is the Villa Persane, another place where Proust stayed one summer and which he loved. It was here, watching the beach and the grand parade of sun worshippers, he conceived much of Les Jeunes Filles en Fleurs.
The villa was just behind the exotic Tour Malakoff, a tower that Proust wanted to rent in 1906.
And Eros played on the beach. The young Gustave Flaubert fell in love in 1836, walking behind a beautiful married woman, Elisa Schlesinger, gallantly picking up her cape which had fallen on to the sand.
All these gossipy facts are surely reason enough, I think, to visit Trouville. But, really, I come just because I love it and have from the very instant I saw it. Maybe because it is so much like the Oregon coast where I grew up (without the elegant French villas or a formal boardwalk or a casino, of course). I don't know for sure, but I think you'll find Trouville as fascinating and relaxing as I do. Anyway, give it a try. And have a Dame Blanche in the casino restaurant. It will make your day, even if you don't win.
Lynn Jeffress is the author of the recent book of short stories The Dali Code & Other Paris Stories to order) and this summer will release a book of poems, Announcements, through Wild Ocean Press.
The next 3 photos are of a medieval castle in the center of the city that is a departure from the mostly Norman architecture.
Coming soon: Eye Prefer New York Tours
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.
Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Hi Richard! I'm not sure why we've never met, it looks like we may be kindred spirits! I love your blog and will look into all you're doing. I'm in Paris twice a year and stay in the Marais. It would be great to meet and have a coffee someday!
Posted by: the paris apartment | June 09, 2010 at 04:00 PM
beautiful !! beautiful !! thank's for the "gossip" !!! but this is history too !! and we never forget places which such ..histories..
Posted by: alina | June 10, 2010 at 04:14 AM
Beautiful…thank you!
Posted by: Maggie | June 10, 2010 at 04:17 AM