Friday 10 February 2012

Here's to Julia and Paul - The Long, Cool Aphrodisiac - Romantic Friday Writers Challenge No. 31



Welcome to the Romantic Friday Writers' fortnightly writing challenge, started and hosted by , where participants share their own 300-400-word text - story or poem - on a given theme. This week's theme for Friday,10th of February, Challenge No. 31, is 'The Long, Cool Aphrodisiac'. My text is written directly for this REW-challenge.




Here is my text :

-------

Here's to Julia and Paul

They were all wearing
red paper hearts,
Drinking French wine, he raised his glass and said:
'You are the butter to my bread,
and the breath to my life. I love you, dear girl.'
She let her paper heart flutter in thanks.
For them, February 14th was an important day.
Theirs was a marriage between two best friends,
Equals, who also loved each other intensely.

It was Paul's work that had brought them to Paris.
He was an artist, photographer and poet,
But also a practical man, who made interiors for the Embassy's needs.

It was in Paris that Julia found her calling,
To learn to cook, and to write a book in English about French cooking
One day, she would go on television and teach cooking to millions.
But she knew nothing of this when they first arrived in France,
One cold foggy day in November 1948.

Julia was six foot two and and was looking for something to do.
She spoke no French, she could not cook.

Her much shorter husband, Paul, had lived in Paris in the twenties,
and he spoke French beautifully.
Paul wanted to show Julia his Paris, his France.
And she fell in love with it all, just as she loved him.

Paul was blind in one eye,
But still learned to paint and draw,
And took all the photos for her cookbook,
The one that was going to be world famous.

Paul loved Julia.
Julia loved Paul,
And she gladly learned both French and cooking.
And grew to love France and everything French.
And wanted never to leave.
But one day they had to go.

And after many years, and much hard work,
The cookbook was written.

And after many more years even their story,
About their time in France, was also told,
But not so long before Julia breathed her last,
And Paul had already been dead for ten years.
They both lived until they were ninety-two.

Happy Valentine's Day to Paul and Julia Child!

[Text copyright 2012 Christina Wigren]

Hooray! I won an unexpected prize for this text!






Om du bor i Norden/Sverige, har Adlibris dessa böcker.
If you live in Skandinavia/Sweden, you can order these books from Adlibris.


Yippee!
This post is refered to by
Adlibris' description page about Julia Child's autobiography!

Thank you, Julia!



Word count according to WordCalc: 329; 'NCCO'; No Critique Comments Only.




------
Best wishes,
Anna



P.S.
This is a sort of fictionalised book review/prose/poem. I am inspired by Julia Child's zest for life. Her story gives me hope that even I can find my special calling before it's too late.

My apologises to the relatives of Paul and Julia Child if I have misrepresented these two amazing people in any way. I am inspired by Nora Ephron's film Julia & Julie as well as Julia Child's autobiography with Paul Child's grandnephew, Alec Prud'homme, My Life in France.

Valentine's Day seems to have been a very special day for the Childs, so I would like to honour their memory on Valentine's Day. I am always looking for examples of happy marriages that bring out the best in people. Theirs seems to have been the kind of love that made them thrive, blossom and prosper.




First Commenter:

Linda Katmarian



of
Scheherazade's Journal









Or to read other texts for Romantic Friday Writers Challenge No. 30, with the theme 'The Long, Cool Aphrodisiac', please visit this site or click on the image below:





20 comments:

Scheherazade said...

I loved the movie. Thanks for your tribute to their love affair. I think their aphrodisiac was France, wine, haute cuisine, and their many friends.

Unknown said...

Saturday February 11th, 2012

Dear Linda,

I agree with you there. Even though they first met in Sri Lanka and found each other in China, it wasn't until they came to France that their love could blossom.

You are first and get an extra link!

oxox
Anna

Celeste Neumann said...

Jag gillade det här gripande hyllning till Julia Childs. Detta är en mycket poetisk hyllning till filmen "Julia & Julia". Det var en härlig film.

Anonymous said...

Bravo! What a great choice for the theme and a great tribute to Julia and Paul's long romance,happy marriage and love of good food.

Laura said...

Loved the movie... what an inspiring couple!
Lx

Denise Covey said...

Hi Anna! I'm really annoyed at myself for missing the movie on the big screen last year, but the book is great. So is your tribute. Now I'll have to go hire the DVD.

What a clever minx you are to think of a way to use a great real-life love affair (with each other, France, food, life...) to respond to the prompt. Happy Valentine's Day to them both!

Denise

dolorah said...

And inspirational tribute Anna. And I loved the prosetry, had such a lyrical, smooth flow to it.

A unique writing. Thanks for sharing Paul and Julia's story. It was sweet, just the thing for Valentines Day :)

And thank you for all your glowing remarks on my excerpt. It was quite unexpected.

........dhole

Kiru Taye said...

This is such a sweet tribute and an enjoyable read. Well done, Anna. Thanks for sharing it. :)

Adura Ojo said...

An inspiring tribute to the couple. and you got the romance in too. I love looking at the Childs through your eyes. Well penned, Anna.

The Poet said...

Hello Anna.
What a lovely tribute to the Childs. I recently celebrated my 10th Wedding Anniversary and hope to celebrate many more.

I'm really enjoying your prosetry (love that word & have to give thanks to Adura). There's nothing more romantic than France, food and love...perfect combination.
Wonderful & fitting entry for this week Anna.
Thanks for sharing.

Hope you feel better soon.

Love Has Seeped Into My Heart

N. R. Williams said...

Nice tribute. their love proves that there is someone for everyone. I loved the movie, Julia and Julie.
Nancy

Denise Covey said...

Hey Anna, I'm back for my second reading. You really got me with this one.

Denise

JANU said...

Very nice and heartfelt tribute. Enjoyed reading this.

Unknown said...

Dear Readers,

I've changed the text slightly. I wanted to correct a typo in the 'P.S.-text', but ended up rewriting the first paragraph.
Just for clarity.

This is probably not the thing to do after everyone already has read my post, but I did not want to leave it the way it was.

Best wishes,
Anna

dolorah said...

I reread the excerpt Anna. The first paragraph flows nicely; I did not notice a change. Which must mean you kept the intended essence of the paragraph during the revision.

The whole excerpt was nicely written.

Happy Valentines Day.

......dhole

Unknown said...

15th February 2012

Dear Donna,

Thank you so much for coming back to read this post - one more time.

You may be the only one who does; but it means a lot to me that just you, who are an excellent writer, have taken the time to do this.

Best wishes & hugs,
Anna

Denise Covey said...

Some good news Anna. Come over to RFWer site. D.

Adura Ojo said...

Congrats Anna, on your RFW award. Hope you have a great weekend.

Adura Ojo said...

Really glad your piece got the feedback and recognition it deserved:) Enjoy!

The Poet said...

Hello Anna.
Just stopping by again to congratulate you on the Runner Up Award with me this week. I'm in fine company (smile).
BTW, I like your revision. Keep up the good work, my dear. You're doing an awesome job
Have a wonderful weekend & see you next week either at Miss Jenny's or for RFW!

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