Saturday, March 17, 2018

An American Writer's American Dream: Paris

This Brooklyn Writer Lived in Paris: Beyond My Wildest Dreams

By Norma Jaeger Hopcraft


American writers really ought to go to Paris to live and write, even if just for a short time. 

I had a remarkable opportunity to live there one year, from July 2014 to July 2015. I treated it as an opportunity to write a novel, and you see the result, after three years of improvement, to the right. I also explored the the streets, alleys, parks. Often I saw a plaque on a wall: "Here Jewish children were deported to Poland in 1943." Or a plaque commemorating fallen heroes of the Resistance, like this one:


"Here, the 21st of August 1944, were killed, assassinated by the Nazis, our patriotic comrades..."
The cruel irony is that they lost their lives just days before the Nazis fled or surrendered and the Allies secured the city on the 25th of August.

On a lighter note, here is Tour St. Jacques, which makes an appearance in my novel, The Paris Writers Circle. I met with one writers group in a cafe across the street from the tower. I'm getting 5-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Read the reviews by clicking here.

Notre Dame at night.

Ain't it beautiful? And so very French?

A Medieval church. I've forgotten which one and can't check now. Doesn't affect its beauty and mystery.

A spiral staircase in a medieval castle. I believe it's in the Bibliotheque Fornay in Le Marais, near the Seine. How about you? Do you like to walk down stairs that other humans have trod for centuries? Comment below!


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