The hours I have spent in cafes are the only ones I call living, apart from writing - Anais Nin The rain started to pitter patter just as we ducked into Café Le Prince Racine, a charming little nook tucked behind the Luxembourg Gardens at 22 rue Monsieur Le Prince. 22 had serendipitously followed me …
Author: julie pesano
Opening Shakespeare and Company
“I created this bookstore like a man would write a novel, building each room like a chapter, and I like people to open the door the way they open a book, a book that leads into a magic world in their imaginations.” George Whitman That mustard yellow sign, sage green door, and Shakespeare picture welcomed …
Hugo, Paris, and Me
I blame Victor Hugo. He is the reason for thousands of dollars spent, absence at family reunions, wear and tear of jet lag, and a penchant for daydreaming at work. He is the reason I adore Paris so much. My love affair began in the pages of Les Miserables, that 19th century Romantic novel of …
Time in Pere Lachaise
I didn’t want to face all that death. For most of my life, I’d been dreadfully frightened of ghosts, hauntings, or horror movies. Call it a 6th sense or an active imagination, but I was known to get spooked by antique portraits, dark basements, and creaky floorboards. This visit felt like eerie immersion therapy. But …
Balzac: Worth the Trouble
If I had known Balzac was going to cause me this much trouble, I would not have bothered. Maybe this was payback for all the crude jokes I had made at his name’s expense. After a 45 minute metro ride to the sleepy 16th arrondissement in a sweltering 108 degree heat with a screaming sore …
Lost Leading a Hemingway Tour
Sweat poured down my brow and my back in self-conscious trickles. Wide eyes glared straight at the reddening rosacea on my cheeks. My brain felt foggy, my heart leaped into my throat, and my stomach flipped. Was that pungent pit odor mine? Could they hear the crack in my voice? The fifteen students and …
The Improvised Shakespeare in San Francisco
Well, that was fun. Like almost piddle-in-your-pants, slap-your-neighbor’s-knee kind of fun. I’m talking about The Improvised Shakespeare performance we saw last Friday night at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Just to set the stage (pun intended), I teach Shakespeare, I have Shakespeare art on my home and office walls, I’ve led Shakespeare tours in …
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The City that Drinks and Thinks: A Tasting of Litquake San Francisco
Sinking into the oval wicker chair, I took the first sip of Kir Royal, the Champagne and Crème de Cassis cocktail famously known as the welcome drink in France. Amidst the rolling tones of Edith Piaf, pearls of pink bubbles danced on my tongue tickling the throat so much that I could easily swallow my …
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Jack’s Ashes
“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.” Jack London 1916 On a long-shadowed October morning, Eric and I crunched our way up the fallen-leaf trail to Jack London’s grave site in Glen Ellen, California. The …
A Leap of Faith Steinbeck Style
The Steinbeck Museum in Salinas California changed my life. That’s right, I said it. Let me explain. I had been teaching night and weekend classes as a part-timer at De Anza College for five years and could never get the elusive and coveted full-time tenured position I had dreamed of for so long. So in …
Julie Pesano 