Overheard

I don't usually eavesdrop on other people's conversations.

Wait, did I just actually say that? What a lie. Rewind, start again.

In Paris, I love to eavesdrop on other people's conversations while I'm reading or writing at a café. It's my version of auditing Parisian Life 101.

Midweek, lunchtime on the terrace of a bistro in the 6e arrondissement. An artsy-intellectual older woman chain-smoking unfiltered Gauloises, with a picher of red wine in front of her. (It was almost too perfect a cliché.) Presently her colleague, about 30 years her junior, arrived at the table. Younger woman wearing a jaunty hat, looking intelligent and hip, but not over the top. Here are slices of their conversation I captured, in between bites of my poulet fermier.

OW, smiling and giving bisous: Oh, ma chère, how sublime you look! Here, have a seat. Would you like some wine?
YW: Just a glass, to warm me up.
. . . . .

OW: You know, when it's cold, I like to wear thick socks. They keep my feet warm. It's true, les chaussettes are not très sexy, mais... after all, long nude legs emerging from fuzzy socks: ça a de l'allure!
YW: Or maybe wearing woolen stockings with a garter.

. . . . .

Lunchtime conversation about books. Then,

Waiter clearing their plates asks if lunch was all right: "Ça y était?"

OW (not at all unpleasantly, just matter-of-fact): Non, pas du tout.
Waiter: What was wrong?
OW: Oh, I don't know... It wasn't warm enough; the potatoes were too greasy.
Waiter: You should have told me; I could have heated it up or changed it.
OW: Don't worry, monsieur, I'll come back here anyway, I assure you.

Waiter leaves and returns showing her a plate of tarte tatin:

Waiter: When it's time for dessert, we'll offer both of you this. It's home-made.

Waiter leaves.

OW, pleased: You see? It's important to express yourself in the right way. Honesty is clarity, when presented well.

Conversation shifts to expressing oneself in the editorial world. I didn't record full bios, but OW is a retired editor, YW is a current editor.

YW: Sometimes it's important to have a giant eraser. And hard to know how to deal with a difficult author.
OW: Of course, there is a time in the publishing process when the author has to hate the editor and the editor has to hate the author.
YW: I was working on a manuscript that I abhorred. It was completely awful, a flop. But in the process of editing it and re-working it, I ended up loving the text.
OW: When you have to fix a work that is really lamentable, that's when an editor shows her stripes.
YW: Yes, this one had to be almost completely overhauled. But the directrice de l'éditorial felt that deep down there was something there. And the author had a connection somewhere.

Shared laughter.