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Pleasure Seeking in Amsterdam

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History of a Pleasure Seeker (Knopf 2012)

Amsterdam. That is where I discovered an immensely pleasurable novel by Richard Mason.

Based on the exploits of a handsome young tutor in a grand Amsterdam canal house at the height of the Belle Époque, History of a Pleasure Seeker is like a fun, sexed-up Downton Abbey.

Canal houses in Amsterdam are a real pleasure to visit. On a recent trip, I toured the Willet-Holthuysen Museum at 605 Herengracht. I just love a good display of decadent Belle Époque excess.

Days later, I spotted a striking paperback novel in an Amsterdam bookstore. It had an eye-catching design in turquoise and black, with a row of gold-colored canal houses across the top. (Knopf released the U.S. edition pictured above in February 2012, but I came across the Orion UK paperback edition pictured here.)  I bought the book and dove right in at a nearby café. Only then did I learn that it was set in the very canal house I had recently visited. And just like the characters in the book, I quickly succumbed to its protagonist’s charms.

Entertaining and roguish, Piet Barol is the only child of a disappointing marriage between an uninspired Dutchman and a Parisian singing teacher. He grows up at the piano with his mother, where he learns the language of love and desire. Piet is attracted to the scent of power and is closely attuned to the distinctions of class. Piet nurses his ambition in private until he arrives at the front door of 605 Herengracht for a job interview.

Fortunately, Jacobina Vermeulen-Sickerts, the middle-aged lady of the grand canal house, is desperate to find a tutor for her emotionally disturbed but musically gifted young boy. She asks Piet to audition on the piano. Piet quickly intuits what Jacobina’s true needs might be, and chooses to play the second nocturne of Chopin in E flat major (“the only key for love,” said his mother long ago). It is cunning musical success. Jacobina is left breathless – as are most readers, I would predict – and Piet is hired on the spot. Flirtatious, ambitious and irresistibly handsome, Piet seizes the opportunity and seduces his way up the gilded curve. His exploits are fueled by the adrenalin of risk, but he is not completely foolish or unkind. He is generously sexy with both men and women, but he is not completely promiscuous. He is wise enough to resist the temptations of flirtatious daughters, desperate fellow employees and the paid-for pleasures of the demi-monde. Piet might be an amoral opportunist, but he is never unlikable. His dangerous liaisons are like a tight-rope display that we watch with horror and suspense. He is naughty and ambitious and we love it.

Go, if you can, to the Willet-Holthuysen Museum the next time you’re in Amsterdam. Until then, I hope you’ll enjoy the photos I was able to take on my own recent visit. Mason has done a great job of capturing the magic and power of the canal house at the height of its glory. It is a beautiful setting – almost a character in its own right – as it clearly deserves to be.

Willet-Holthuysen Museum, Herengracht 605, Amsterdam ("The house was five windows wide and five storeys high, with hundreds of panes of glass that glittered with reflections of canal and sky.")


The Kitchen

The Entrance Hall ("Piet did not wish to appear provincial, and his face gave no sign of the impression the entrance hall made.")

The Dining Room ("The table was Georgian, bought at an auction in London; the chairs were Louis XVI, resprung and upholsted in olive-green and white. The gilt salt cellars came from Hamburg, the clock on the mantelpiece from Geneva, the figures beside it from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg. None of this detail was lost of Piet, who had a fine and instinctive appreciation of beauty.")

The Men's Parlor

The Collector's Room ("...the room with the French windows, which was nothing but a tiny octagon, constructed of glass and stone and furnished with two sofas of extreme rigidity. It told him plainly that the splendours of the drawing room were reserved for men better and grander than he ...")

The Bedroom, the scene of an important climax in the book: ("Maarten took charge. 'My dear, let us go to bed.' He offered his wife his arm.")

Have you seen Richard Mason’s wonderful website? If you’re enticed to learn more, you can go there to listen to the music which is such a key part of the book. It is exactly what I wish for when I read a book with a strong musical element. Well done.

In case you noticed the strangely alphabetized paragraphs throughout this post, allow me to introduce you to two more wickedly fun characters in the book, Constance and Louisa, the two spoiled Vermeulen-Sickert daughters. As a co-employee explains to Piet: “Don’t let their politeness fool you. They’re vicious when they choose. . . . They like to humiliate people – but subtly, so their target never knows. Lately they’ve taken to leading their victim through a conversation in alphabetical order. Very funny when the poor fool doesn’t catch on.”

Just let me know if you caught on – perhaps by starting with K in the comments?

The Last Nude: More Paris Sights

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Welcome back to my Last Nude Literary Tour of Paris, based on scenes from Ellis Avery’s 2011 novel The Last Nude. Click here for Part I of the tour, where I shared photos of Tamara de Lempicka’s fictional and real-life Paris apartments.

Whether you live in Paris and can wander through these sites at your leisure, or you’re just an armchair traveler who dreams of France, I hope you enjoy this literary tour.

 

 

If you haven’t yet read the book, you should know that Rafaela, de Lempicka’s model and muse, is a new arrival to Paris, and is on the slippery slope of becoming a prostitute in order to survive. Early in the book, she heads over to La Rotunde,  a classic French brasserie that has been at the corner of Montparnasse and Raspail since 1911. Rafaela is hoping to run into some people she knows from her early days at Alliance Francaise (a nearby French language school) who might be willing to buy her dinner. Instead, Rafaela meets a character named Anson Hall, who invokes the spirit of Ernest Hemingway. The two are fellow lost spirits, and strike up a wonderful friendship.

La Rotunde is a great place to have some spirits of your own, especially if it’s a nice day and you can sit outside with a journal or sketchbook. Maybe you’ll strike up a conversation with the starving writer sitting next to you . . . and who knows!

La Rotunde Montparnasse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From La Rotunde, you can follow Rafaela’s Left Bank wanderings to the site of the original Shakespeare & Co, which as of 1922 was located at 12 rue de l’Odéon. In the novel, Rafaela meets and befriends Shakespeare & Co. owner Sylvia Beach and her partner Adrienne Monnier. For a great collection of photographs of Sylvia Beach and her bookshop, check out author John Baxter’s website, johnbaxterparis.

After you swing by the site of the old Shakespeare and Co., you really do need to stop in the “new” one. Today, Shakespeare & Co. is located at 37 Rue Bûcherie, just along the left bank of the Seine. The bookshop is still mourning the loss of George Whitman, who owned the bookshop from 1951 until his passing in December of 2011. There are some great historical photos on their website.

Once you’re there, you really do need to stay awhile. Buy more books than you intend and enjoy the spirit of the place. It’s a treasure. In addition to their quirky and delightfully haphazard selection of books, they have super cute tote bags. And don’t forget to ask them to stamp the first page  of your books with the official “Shakespeare & Co.” seal. You can’t get that from Amazon.

Shakespeare & Co., 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, it’s an easy enough walk from Shakespeare & Co. to Pont de Sully, the bridge that connects the Left Bank to the far east end of Ile St. Louis. Toward the end of The Last Nude you will learn that Rafaela is living in a houseboat on the Seine near Pont de Sully. I can totally picture Anson and Rafaella having lunch on the deck of the houseboat pictured below. (Of course there’s a nice French tablecloth!) There is also a critical scene in the book that takes place on a bridge – I can picture it happening here.

Pont de Sully

Pont de Sully Houseboat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re too tired to keep walking, the good news is that there is a terrific little brasserie on the Right Bank of Pont de Sully called Le Sully at 6 boulevard Henri IV in the 4th. Try their Crepes de Maison with some coffee, and between the sugar and the caffeine, you should recover quickly.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these photos from my Last Nude Literary Tour. There’s nothing better than exploring a city through the lens of a really good book. Especially one that honors the history, the art and the spirit of Paris.

In a future post, I’ll give you an exclusive peak at a deleted scene from The Last Nude, and maybe share some additional photos. In the meantime, you could always go pick up the book and start reading!

 

 

 

An Artist’s Weekend in Honfleur

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Honfleur is an old harbor village in Normandy at the mouth of the Seine, just a two hour drive northwest of Paris. The perfect place to walk through the streets and scenes made famous in the paintings of Claude Monet, Eugene Boudin and many others.

La Ferme Saint-Siméon

Ferme St. Simeon Plaque

 

“Monet Slept Here.” If your budget allows, stay at La Ferme Saint-Simeon, a beautiful 19th century farmhouse that overlooks the estuary of the Seine. It was once the gathering place of the early impressionists – the St. Simeon art colony. Now a Relais et Chateaux property, you can check into one of the rooms in the main building – I recommend the “Monet Room” – or into the Pressoir, a separate building that once housed a cider press.

 

 

 

According to a plaque outside the inn, this place became the gathering place of the artists who would give birth to the Honfleur School, a movement in French art that fell between the Barbizon School and Impressionism. Artists such as  Courbet, Bazille, Boudin, Monet and Sisley frequented the farmhouse inn, where they enjoyed the apple cider of “old mother Toutain” and played dominos under the apple trees. It was here that Courbet painted the woods, Boudin painted his fellow drinkers sitting at the table, and Monet painted the road in the snow. Monet is quoted as having said: “Everyday I find more beautiful things, it’s crazy!”

Monet: The Road to the Saint-Simeon Farm (1864)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From La Ferme Saint Simeon you can easily walk or drive into town to visit The Boudin Museum, home to many lovely paintings set on the beach and harbor of Honfleur or the cliffs of Etretat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Etretat is a small seaside village about 45 minutes from Honfleur, across the big bridge to Le Havre and then up through quiet farm-lined roads along the northern coast. It was cold and blustery the day I was there, but I still couldn’t resist climbing to the tops of the cliffs that I have seen in paintings ever since I was a young girl. I tried to picture Monet climbing up there himself, with his paints and easel under his arm, fighting the wind. It was a cloudy day, but the air was never still. The clouds chased across the sky and the wind whipped up waves in the sea. It made for a very dramatic setting, and as a painter, it just makes you want to try to capture its spirit in paint.

The impressionists certainly did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would love to go back with my paints and my easel in the summer to try a little en plein air painting of my own. It won’t look anything like a Monet, but still. . . . I’d have a lot of fun trying.  And if not, well then I can always go drink some calvados at Le Ferme Saint Simeon.

 

 

 

 

Monet in Honfleur: A Guest Post by Author Stephanie Cowell

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I am pleased to welcome Stephanie Cowell, award-winning author of Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet to the American Girls Art Club in Paris. 

Claude & Camille is one of my favorite recent art history reads, and Stephanie is a real expert on Monet and his circle of French artists. When I told her that my husband and I were planning a weekend trip from Paris to Honfleur, she did some research for me and wrote this lovely piece about Monet’s early days in Honfluer. Enjoy, and stay tuned for a follow-up post with news and photos from my amazing trip.                                                                                

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HONFLEUR in Normandy, where Claude Monet first began to paint.

Claude at Twenty

If you walked along the port in the town of Honfleur in 1859 or thereabouts, you might pass two men strolling with portable easels over their shoulders, deep in conversation: the older of the two would be the landscape artist Eugène Boudin and the eager adolescent with dark burning eyes, Claude Monet. They were likely talking about the joy and difficulties of painting the sea and the light above it.

A hundred and fifty years have passed since then and Honfleur remains the same charming seafaring town with its narrow, cobbled backstreets, old houses and ancient wooden church.  It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre. The Seine had always in inspired artists and by the early nineteenth century they were coming steadily. It was the years when painters were discovering the constantly changing effects of weather on the landscape. Boudin who had been born in Honfleur was making a reputation as a painter when he discovered Claude Monet: a seventeen-year-old-with an attitude who hated school.

At that time Claude had no thought of oil paints or canvases; he made making a great deal more than pocket change sketching witty caricatures. Boudin persuaded the young man to come with him at dawn to paint outdoors. From that morning, Claude threw himself into a life of art. He went to Paris to study where instead of making money he almost starved. He never ceased to try to capture the light. He searched for it all his life and ended up painting its reflection in his water lily pond sixty years later. And he returned again and again to the towns of Normandy and medieval Honfleur.

Claude Monet: Entrance to the Port of Honfleur (1870)

First mentioned in history a thousand years ago, Honfleur had long been a trading and seafaring town. Now tourists come from all over the world. With its population of around eight thousand (rather more intimate than Paris!), it is one of the of the most charming little towns in Normandy with many little shops and seafood restaurants.

Boudin: the Entrance to the Port of Honfleur (1865)

There are interesting things to see and do. An old chapel houses a museum dedicated to Boudin.  Wander to the Vieux-Bassin (old dock) in the heart of the town, and stroll by the high, narrow houses which overlook the harbor on three sides. Visit St. Catherine’s Church, built entirely of wood or the vast stone salt granaries dating from 1670 which could store up to 10,000 tons of salt, but are now used for exhibitions and concerts.

But the best thing is to spend dreamy hours watching the light on the water. Sit in a café by the dock. Stay in a hotel overlooking the boats. Better still, bring some water colors or a small box of oil paints and discover for yourself what Monet found when he was very young and never forgot.

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Stephanie Cowell is the author of CLAUDE & CAMILLE, the story of the young Claude Monet’s struggling years to prove himself in the art world and the elusive model Camille whom he loved and married. She has published five novels and is the recipient of an American Book Award. Follow her on Twitter at @stephaniecowell.

November Stroll Along the Seine

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Saturday, November 12, 2011

It was a lovely mid-November day for walking all over Paris, starting near Place de Madeleine and walking toward the Tuileries. We stopped at L’Orangerie for yet another view of Monet’s largest water lillies, then popped over to the Left Bank for a cold beer at a Scottish pub. We crossed back over the Seine and wandered through the Ile St. Louis, which felt like a neighborhood from a different century. Parisians were busy strolling through all of the parks, enjoying yet another three day weekend, this time for Armistice Day.