I Prefer Paris: Trip to Italy: Bologna

My good friends Laurie and Blair, who have lived in Paris on and off for the past twenty years, suddenly decided to leave Paris last May and move to a small town in the hills of the Emilia –Romagna region in northern Italy. Although they talked many times about leaving Paris in the past few years, it still came as a big surprise when they told me the news.

Laurie and Blair are en plein air/outdoor painters and they also ran a successful business of giving en plein air painting lessons around Paris and environs for many years. They traded a 50 metre apartment in Paris and big city life for a grand house with three floors and five bedrooms in the quiet countryside in a town with a population of less than 3,000.

Missing our weekly dinners and playing cards together, I went to visit them in mid-August. I flew to Bologna, which is the nearest large city with an airport, about 50 minutes from where they live.

They met me at the airport and when I hugged them hello, I could immediately see how happy and relaxed they were. Even though they were still settling in and having many issues to deal with and taking care of numerous details, they seemed content and that the move was the right decision at this point in their lives.

We drove into downtown Bologna and parked outside the old part of the city; I discovered that in most cities in the region you have to park outside the city as the historic center is mostly for pedestrians.

One of the first things I noticed were the many covered walkways on the streets and Blair told me Bologna had more loggias (covered walkways) than any other city. The day started off hot and sunny and the glare of the sunshine made the rich earthy colors of terracotta, marigold, pink, pistachio, and deep red standout.

We stopped for a long, lazy lunch under the shade of a loggia, having a typical Italian lunch, a vegetable starter and a plate of pasta. I had to have pasta Bolognese, as it is where the famed sauce originated and while I was eating it, I remembered how good the pasta can be in Italy. Laurie had an odd type of pasta, one we had never had before, tagliatelle with chopped ham, melon, and mint. It was quite refreshing for the summer day and Laurie recreated the dish for lunch a few days later.

After lunch we roamed the historic streets of Bologna, discovering squares, churches, more churches, forts, piazzas, and towers. Bologna is a major university city but we didn’t see many students, as it was the summer holiday.

Feeling weary walking in the heat, we went to an old fashioned coffee bar and cooled off with a combo drink of ice cream and espresso.

I spent a delightful week with Laurie and Blair and will write more about our adventures in subsequent posts tomorrow and in the next few weeks.

Laurie & Blair

Pasta with ham, melon, and mint

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Click here to watch a video of our famous Marais tour

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
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: 195 euros per person (about $210)
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,Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.