First Person
Letter from Paris: A Place for One’s Ball Winder
Dear friends,
A couple weeks ago, the most astonishing thing happened. The sun came out.
We hadn’t seen it in months, and began to wonder if it had (as sometimes happens) got sick of Paris and retired to southern Italy, where it was too preoccupied with putting a new bathroom into a dilapidated 16th-century farmhouse to even send us a postcard.
Once we recovered from the shock, we hit the streets. By we, I mean everyone in town who wasn’t confined to bed or in jail. The whole world was out for a stroll.
The relief was palpable. Since October, we’ve gradually been turning the color of those weird blind fish that live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
The next day, we were back to blech.
At least the pervasive gloom has allowed me to stay indoors without feeling like I’m missing out. There is so much to do.
The state of the workroom was shameful. I hadn’t realized in the moment how thickly chemotherapy had fogged my brain. Chaos reigned.
I keep finding fragments of what must have been intended as swatches or projects, and I have no memory of most of them. For all I know, they aren’t even mine. It’s possible I’m sheltering a rat who’s really into experimenting with cables.
The overwhelming mood of the moment is rejuvenation. Every day I try to get through a little more sorting and classifying and tidying. This has been greatly assisted by the arrival of a quirky meuble de métier (the pretty French expression for a functional piece of furniture used in a workshop) that arrived from a dealer out in the country. I think it must have started out as a washstand before some thrifty carpenter got his hands on it.
Its delivery was (as all large deliveries are in Paris) fraught with peril.
There was the customary cancellation of the first delivery date. No explanation, but it was a Monday so I imagine the driver was nursing a hangover.
The next day, I got a text message that the driver was on his way, and that he would call me when he was about fifteen minutes out.
That meant at least one French telephone conversation, and those are still terrifying. On top of that, this guy was coming in from a region whose accent is, to me, impenetrable.
He could be calling to tell me that he was fifteen minutes away, or that he had rolled the truck into a ditch and my meuble de métier had perished in the fiery aftermath. My chance of understanding was, at best, about sixty percent.
Assuming no fiery crash, he would have to park illegally in front of the building, blocking the sidewalk and the doors into the courtyard. This would tickle the gardienne’s seventh sense, and she would come out of her hidey-hole and begin to yell.
The gardienne, whom I believe I have mentioned before, is the traditional Parisienne specimen who rules through fear and intimidation. I once passed by when she was dressing down a neighbor for putting his empty wine bottle in the wrong recycling bin, and wet my pants in sympathy.
The meuble would have to be carried through the courtyard, and the gardienne does not approve of things being carried through the courtyard. The courtyard is not there for carrying things through, it is there for display purposes only.
I knew that if this was a bad day, if she’d already caught someone smoking or having a phone conversation out there, that she would pounce and pursue us, yelling, across the paving stones and up the steps, explaining in Albanian-accented French that This Was an Unacceptable Disturbance to the Neighbors and that We Would Be Lucky If She Did Not Summon the Authorities and that If We Scratched the Paint in the Staircase There Would Be Hell to Pay.
I understand her concern. This building has been standing since before the Revolution, but one bump from the leg of a mid-sized piece of furniture and we’d be sitting in a pile of rubble.
I do not know by what miracle she was in a benevolent mood that afternoon, but she didn’t yell as we shuffled past her potted plants toward the door to my stairway. I got A Stern Look, but from her A Stern Look is like a pat on the head.
“Bonjour, Madame,” I said.
“Urrhhmmmhhrrrr,” she said. Or something to that effect.
We (the driver and I) even got the thing up the stairs without incident. He did say something to me as we paused for breath on the second floor landing, but the heck if I know what it was. I just said, “Ouais, bien sûr” (yeah, sure) in a cordial tone and he looked satisfied. It’s possible that I have agreed to marry his daughter. Or him.
One at last has a proper home for one’s ball winder.
Meanwhile, knitting continues, of course. I’m beginning to lead the Patreon patrons through a sock knitting series, simultaneously making a new pair of socks for myself because you can never have too many socks going on.
This pair has cuffs, heels, and toes in a mystery partial ball from stash, and a very pretty hand-dyed skein that was a gift from Enrico at Les Tricoteurs Volants. I guess he got the itch to do some dyeing, and then he asked if I wanted one of the skeins for myself. You know how touchy Parisians are, so I said yes.
I’m also un-knitting. This poor, beleaguered vest in a blended family of four worsted yarns from stash is intended as a knit-to-fit project, but unfortunately I can’t understand my own notes on it. However, even without notes I can tell that I have done something terribly wrong with the armscye shaping.
Rather than rip, which would (for me) ultimately result in tangles and gritted teeth and hurting people I love, I’m unknitting. That has the added benefit of allowing me to see, in reverse, what it was I thought I was doing. Once I regain the underarms, I will take stock (and better notes) and make a second attempt at finishing it.
So, in spite of the endless grey, there’s a growing sense of renewal here. I hope, I hope very much, that the same is true for you wherever you are.
Cordialement,
Franklin
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Thanks for this nice look into your life. Wishing you a blooming Spring!
During my 2-week stay in Germany it rained on me a little every day. A knitted then fulled red wool hat was the smartest thing I packed.
It is always such a delight to read your writing, thank you for another lovely story!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend 🙂
Do you suppose we could talk that cable-mad rat to teach the mice in my place to knit? (Socks, if possible).
I’m sure they could manage via Zoom.
I am so glad that you seem to be improving. What a horrible ordeal you have been through but your sense of humor and strength seem to be helping you get thru. That and a bit of knitting when possible.
Wishing you only the best in your recovery.
Merci,
a perfect description of Southern England’s weather this past winter.
But we have had incessant rain to add to our misery.
Blech indeed.
Thank you for adding wit and a ray of sunshine to this Ide of March.
“It’s possible I’m sheltering a rat who’s really into experimenting with cables.” I wonder if we share the same rat? I dare not let any WIP hibernate….
Another funny and entertaining letter from you! The new cabinet is perfect and another sign of your slow and steady recovery. Lovely all the way around.
Thanks for this, and you, Franklin.
Blessings and thank you for easing my own blech and annui…
Laughing so hard: bwaaa! (“For all I know, they aren’t even mine. It’s possible I’m sheltering a rat who’s really into experimenting with cables.”)
So, now I will roll on over back to sleep out respect for my pending alarm clock and the matcha I promised myself when I get up.
Oh my goodness – thank you.
Be well you smart and quirky man.
Chemo is over, the sun is shining in Paris again, you obtained a beautiful antique, you are fixing a beautiful hand knitted vest of your own design and your land lady didn’t devour you! Things are looking up, All will be well. Be grateful, happy and well and may everything you knit be a master piece! Happy knitting, happy life!
What a great letter, thankyou for making me laugh this morning x.
That’s a lovely piece of furniture. Glad you are feeling better!
I’m convinced Paris has been so resolutely gray because her Favorite Sun has been ill. Now that you’re on the mend, warmth and light are returning, witness the grudging acknowledgment (Translate: joy) of the gardienne as you and a strange man struggled past her doorway, carrying a meuble de métier(!), for which anyone but you would’ve been excoriated. Oh, how I wish I were your neighbor! Carry on, M. Habit!
Wonderful, funny despatch as usual – the light in the room where the lovely meuble lives, the particular quality of French rudeness! Love it, and glad to hear you’re on the mend.
Franklin- hope springs eternal, in knitting and in home decor vs functionality! Thank you. 70 yesterday and 28 expected in two days here w snow squalls. Each cycle brings spring closer- the dye pot and clothes line are itching to go! Yarn winder has residence near the kitchen table right now…
You are as charming and hilarious as always, my friend. Happy sorting/planning/unknitting/figuring out. I assume the cable-knitting rat moved in after Monsieur Mimi moved to the Heaviside Layer. I assume you will introduce him or her if you ever meet. And Enrico’s dyed yarn is lovely.
As always, love your writings….on point and they make me laugh. Looking forward to more!
Before my serious medical treatments some years ago, I had started and gotten about halfway through a sweater I was designing on the fly, complete with stand-alone cables. By the time my head was clear enough to knit, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. The woolen singles handspun yarn was too delicate to tear out, so I had to just give up. You are much more determined and resilient than me.
I always enjoy your column;you bring me laughter, enlightenment, and yarn/knitting just! Seeing your sewing machine in the background reminds me of your wonderful class at Vogue New York,several years ago. It was merveilleuse!
Ahh, having more storage in a small space is always happy-making. Thanks for the note from Paris!
I so look forward to your letters to us about Paris and your life there. Your sense of humor always brightens my day. Wishing you many many sunny days ahead and hoping you will write to all of us again soon.
I do hope the wedding (be it to the driver or his daughter) will be shown on Instagram, just like your wonderful walks around different neighbourhoods that I enjoy so much. Thank you for a good chuckle to start my day!!
I’ve spent the past two winters in Paris, and Hubby and I laughed over your characterization of those sunless days…the sun came out one chilly day in February last year and every chair in the Jardin du Luxembourg was taken, all facing the winter sun…we thought the tide had turned Mais non! The following day was dark and dreary…
Thanks for the laugh and hope your spring is delightful.
A letter from Franklin is always a highpoint in the day, but this one is one of the best.
I always love reading your posts. So glad you have have weathered your ordeal to see sunnier days. Hope you get all you projects in order and can enjoy some outside knitting. Happy Spring!
So fun to know that Paris and its guardiennes haven’t changed much since the 60’s. Life would be easier, sure, but somehow not as “French.” (Quotations because somehow I think that French life in the suburbs has become sadly more “Americaine.” Glad that the weather has started to lighten up for you and that your meuble has survived verbal onslaught, tricky accents and several flights of stairs. Looking forward to June when you are well, your vest is perfection and Paris again has become the beautiful City of Light.
I had a friend who did her Masters in Paris many years ago. I remember when I visited that I wondered why London had such a bad weather rap in the US but Paris did not. It was so dreary!
This is the most delightful thing I’ve read 8n some time. Thank you for sharing these vignettes of your life in Paris. Best way to start my day!
We are under a dark blanket of clouds again today, your post brought a lovely ray of sunshine into the dreary day. Hopefully your sun will come back to stay for a longer visit for a beautiful springtime in Paris.
Is that an Irish or troubadour harp? Do you play?
that sunshine and spring are on the way!
I have so much sympathy for both deliveries in Paris and French phone calls. I successfully navigated getting internet set up over the phone this week in French and declared the rest of the week off for phone calls.
Congrats on getting your delivery into your apartment!
Franklin, your stories are enough to brighten any dreary day I have ! Hooray for sunshine!
I almost spit my food out when I read the second paragraph. I think we got some of your rain today in Maryland, or I’d send you sunshine… So glad you are feeling better and things are looking up. Your letters always make me smile.
Seeing your byline this morning was like a ray of sunshine!
Thank you for your letter. Here’s to more sun, less brain fog and a very talented rat.
Oh, I remember those dreary grey winters in Paris rather well. I hope that spring is truly on its way, and you get to enjoy the sun more often!
Franklin, it is wonderful to hear from you again. I have missed reading your columns.
If an imaginative rat can cook & run a restaurant then I’m sure he can knit cables in his spare time 😉 So glad the fog has lifted.
I, for one, would love to know more about that beautiful, wooden ball winder! Assuming you shipped it to Paris, it must be pretty special …
Oh, Franklin, you do make me laugh. Thanks so much for your posts. Wishing you health, wealth and happiness.
What a delightful update, Franklin! I’m laughing out loud – before coffee yet. Your humor and patience regarding blech is welcome here too – ANOTHER overcast New England morning. The “new” cabinet acquisition is lovely – and hopefully becomes ever more precious for the hassle it brought as time goes on. Enjoy! xo, g.
I know no French but I really need to learn “yeah, sure.”
So glad that the building did not, in fact, fall into a pile of rubble, and equally glad that you are not hearing from any wedding planners. What a wonder to wake on a Friday and get such a chuckle. Thank you, Franklin, and wishes for continued recovery and successful organizing.
Hi, Franklin, as soon as I saw your article on the MDK instagram page, I scurried over to the MDK site and started reading it in less than 15 seconds. I always LOVE your letters and this one is so like the others, very entertaining and insightful as written by an amazingly talented man. Thank you again for sharing your notes of what it takes to lead a daily life Parisian style.
mon dieu!!!
so, so funny courage!! et merci
Great letter, thank you for your humor. I can somewhat feel your sadness about the lack of sun-I live in Indiana where in the fall/winter we can go weeks without it shining. But spring is here, the Robins are back and so is the sun, well at least most days!
Ah, just the sunshine I needed this morning. This bright, entertaining message served lever le brouillard. Thank you. Be well.
It’s amazing how a bit of sunshine can totally change the mood – it had be a gorgeous day if even the gardienne was in a good mood!
Your letter brighten my day!
Ellen
You have a harp?!
Tell us more!
Once again, I so enjoy your letters from Paris! So very happy you are on the mend and I love your “find” that did not provide a catastrophe for your landlady or her beloved courtyard and stairway! Hopefully you did not agree to marry anyone…. lol! May sunshine warm your heart and soul❤️
I’m glad to hear you’re feeling so much better and are able to start digging yourself out of the stuff associated with illness and then chemo brain. Hoping for more sunny days around the corner!
Glad you are feeling better!
I have just start following your blog, and enjoy it very much.
I live in Seattle, where we have very similar weather…today, the sun will be appearing, followed by thousands of people heading out anywhere to feel the warmth.
I love Paris!
Amy
I love your writings…..you have such beautiful expressions of life!
Keep them coming.
Thank you,
Judith
Rejuvenation. Renewal. Spring. Healing. Humor. Gratitude. Strength. Beauty. Gentleness. Connection. Resilience. Grace.
You know what’s important.
Thank you for reminding us.
Love to read your well-written tales of life in France. So happy that you are feeling well and less foggy with each day. Thank you for all the walking tours. Love seeing your beautiful work as well. I wish you continued good health and happiness always.
Absolutely priceless piece piece of storytelling!!! Hope the sun returns SOON
What an uplifting missive, merci! A smile to start the day goes a long way, and your recovery is fabulous!
Love your letters so much! I particularly love your new piece of furniture. I have a house full of primitives and that cabinet would fit right in. My cats ears perked up at the mention of “rat”but luckily no such critter to be found. Wishing you a future of sunny days!
I still have the blue lace shawl/scarf that I made while on chemo eighteen years ago. There’s a mess in the middle I was never able to fix. But I wore it this year on my birthday because I wanted to wear a pretty blouse that wasn’t really warm enough for January.
That to say – time to put the gray winter behind and hold onto the lovely things that matter, and the new things you can manage to get up the stairs! Always so good to hear from Paris.
Sunshine makes all the difference 🙂
Love this story, funny and yet so realistic….love love love.
Your letter is a great introduction to spring. I always enjoy your humor and resilience. I hope your health is improving and life is looking up.
It’s much the same in Portland Oregon, without the cache’ of le tour Eiffel, or any other tower. Today and tomorrow are to be sunny and 70, and tout le monde will be at the farmer’s market bien sur.
Love your letters, Franklin!
Happy to see that you say, “Meanwhile, knitting continues, of course,” because not long ago, knitting wasn’t a simple matter of course for you. Wishing you continued recovery!
Thank you for such an entertaining letter.
Always, looking forward to your knitting adventures and neighborhood musings.
Take very good care.
We are expecting a sunny weekend, in the low 60s here in the Pacific Northwest. It is exciting, and I plan to go kayaking. Yesterday we saw our first swallow of the year. Enjoying every sign of spring, even when typical March returns. Stay strong!
Thank you, Franklin. I love workroom sorting stories. Yours was amusing and motivational.
I love your notes from Paris. They aways make me smile so thank you for that.
Always great hearing from you. Love the socks!
I love hearing from Franklin! Learning more about Paris. No wonder people talk of Paris in the spring, if people are so excited about seeing the sun.
The brain fog is lifting along with the coming of the sun to Paris. A doubly good change! I love your posts – I really live vicariously through them. Thank you!
Franklin, you should really take a lesson from the Brits on dealing with the weather. When the Parisian sun doesn’t shine, brew a nice cuppa and knit (or unknit) on!
Thank you so much for your beautiful letter today. They always make me smile. Happy to hear you are feeling better.
Love your posts! Thank you and best wishes for your good health
I’m so glad you’ve had a glimpse of the wonderful (I’m sure) Parisian spring which is just around the corner. I’m also very glad to hear the chemo brain fog is lifting. My husband is starting to experience it as he begins treatment for lymphoma. I read him a bit of your post today and it helped him to hear this is normal and it WILL lift as he returns to good health.
I love the new bureau/chest of drawers?! It was worth the risk of the wrath of the gardienne.
Thanks as always, for your cheering words!
In the midst of my own trauma/drama your letter is a fabulous ray of hope and sunshine!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I continue to root and cheer your journey from my waterlogged home! Spring IS coming!!
If you haven’t seen the “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which I can’t imagine, Rose moves to Paris, and has a gardienne just like yours! It must be a “thing!”
Lovely “new” piece of furniture, storage is essential!
Is the gardienne softened by gifts? Perhaps chocolate?
I always love reading about your Parisian adventures. Merci.
“It’s possible that I have agreed to marry his daughter. Or him.” I LIVE for lines like this from Franklin. Thanks so much for the chuckle this morning….
Your gardienne (and all like her) sounds very much like many a Korean ahjumma: every (almost) encounter with one on the Seoul metro… “I’ve raised ungrateful children, put up with a husband, managed a household thanklessly (but as is my right), suffered through in-laws and now I can do as I darn well please, and get out of my way.” They are mature women who put up with crap and now want to dish it out in return. I get that. And how lucky for you on your delivery date that she was relatively benign!
I think of your recuperation time and hope that all continues to go well, brain fog notwithstanding, even if it requires deciphering and unknitting. Cheers, and thank you for your witty words!
Delightful, as always! La gardienne description makes me think of my niece’s terrifying Russian piano teacher. Even people who never saw her (me!) fear her!
I’m so happy to hear that you are feeling more like your old self! I love your letters. They always brighten my day!!! Thank you for the humor and a glimpse into your life in Paris. I’d never be brave enough to do that, but I REALLY enjoy reading about your adventures!
We are also wishing for the sun in Ohio, hopefully it will come back
Franklin – it is wonderful to hear your lifted spirits and return of joie de vivre in your writing!
And as I write from Eugene, Oregon, we are having a sunny day – first of three in a row promised by the weather forecasters. So I fully understand the difference a sunny day can make.
Welcome back, and good luck with your unknitting anf mystery swatches.
Fight through that chemo fog, Franklin! Good idea to reverse knit your way out, treat it as a meditation.
Yay, Franklin! You are sounding like your old self! How wonderful! I love the “new” cabinet for your ball winder, your socks, and the vest-to-be as well.
Happy spring!
Don’t feel bad for writing poor notes when you were undergoing chemo! I cannot for the life of me decipher mine, and I have not had anything medical going on for years!
Hurrah! A new charming post from Franklin!
I love your humour dear Franklin. You are an icon ❤
Great article, loved the picture you painted. Thanks for making me laugh this morning.
Love Franklin’s Letters from Paris. I always smile and chuckle when I read them
As always, your letter from Paris has made my day. Thank you for your clever and warm missives.
Unknitting! I’d never heard the term but it was how my mother taught me to rip out stitches. Go backwards!
Ahhh, rats that can knit cables might make fair company on a rainy day. Do they use cable needles or just float those stitches?
Rejuvenation now that’s a great spring word!! Reminiscent! Ringeovanimemt!
Enjoy that cabinet…I wonder if the cable knitters might like it too?
I enjoyed this new letter – especially enjoying your regeneration since chemo. The cabinet is lovely and a wonderful bit of storage.
I so enjoy your posts from Paris, especially as we are going back INTO winter here in Calgary, Alberta….On the plus side I’ve got my knitting!!
It sounds like you are feeling a little better as the weeks go by and I am very pleased for you.
I so enjoy Franklin’s letters. He is a joy!
Oh my!! Thank you for starting my day with so many laughs. I was picturing the entire delivery episode in my mind and it was so much fun. Not for you, perhaps, since you might be engaged to the delivery man or his daughter. I’m loving that new piece of furniture! The patina on it is lovely. If only our antiques could tell us their stories. Sigh… Good to know you’re up and about and on the mend. Thanks again for making my Saturday morning joyous. ❤️
Darling Franklin! You have taken my day which is fraught with anxiety for my loved one and duty for his care (happily given let me add) — and given it a bit of a sunny shine. Don’t marry the driver – I’m sure he’s not good enough for you. 🙂
Bonjour Franklin,
You are lucky to still have a gardienne. Of course, you know that; it comes through between the lines.
Soon it will be the time of very long days and endless twilight under an infinite sky. Knit away in the sim days while they last.
I very much enjoyed your story.
It reminded me of once standing on the sidewalk making photos of people and a moving crane lift a piano into an upper story apartment in, I believe, the 4th. The accommodation of the current to the pre-Revolution and 19th century infrastructure is one of the aspects of Paris that fascinate we visiting North Americans.
Be well.
Always a treat to read your latest letter, Franklin.
Magnifique! So many signs of hope. Gratitude for your missive and your ability to turn a mundane delivery into something utterly charming.
Always nice to hear from Franklin.
I went through 27 chemo treatments and I know what you mean about the fog. I went to the store to get something and when I walked in, I couldn’t remember what I came for. I walked around for awhile and finally remembered it. Cooking was another trip. I couldn’t remember if I seasoned something or not, so I would add a little more salt or whatever. It was impossible to eat, but my wonderful husband didn’t say a word and ate the food. The food tasted like metal to me and I prayed that the taste wasn’t permanent. Eventually I got past the treatments and am now 16 yr. survivor.
Once again you have inspired me! With humor involved.
I love all your hilarious stories about France , the people and of course your knitting. Glad you are feeling better!
Merci for Franklin’s article. It is good to see his health is improving. As a new Paris resident, I can vouch for everything he wrote, and enjoyed every word. Please send my wishes for better weather and clearer knitting. I look forward to his next article.
The gardienne sounds like my eastern European dental hygienist! Of course I floss daily! I fear the repercussions if I did not!
I wish you healing and happiness.
Thank you Franklin for this delightful passage. You are all the sunshine that Paris needs!
Dearest friend, as always I delight when a new letter arrives . Your new work room piece looks to be a perfect addition. Thank you for the wry wit and hilarious descriptions of life in Paris. Grateful for you being in better health. Xoxohugs ❤️
Brain fog and Paris fog must have made for a long winter–I’m so glad you are emerging from both! Your gardienne sounds just like the one we had 25 years ago–her daughter, perhaps? The workroom looks cozy and full of good things. Any chance you would share the pattern for the wonderful orange scarf hanging on your dressmaker form?
(Also, if you hate dreary Paris winters, stay away from Berlin, where the sun comes up around 10:30 a.m. in the winter months and is down by 4:30.)
Thank you Franklin. Hope you have some sun today
Your writing always makes me feel better.
Oh dear Franklin…you have me laughing so hard regarding “wetting your pants in sympathy”. And I feel for you regarding the terror of phone calls in a foreign language. Reminds me of the time I thought the letter I received from the utilities company (in Germany) was telling me about my monthly usage…until my friend put me straight and said they had come to turn off my utilities for non-payment. Made her call the company and take care of it!!! Enjoy your Parisienne Spring, organizing and knitting.
Franklins letters are such a joy to me. I look forward to them, and am grateful for such fun and cheer.
Bless you Franklin! So glad you are feeling up to hawling furniture upstairs. A mere vest will not stop you now.
Bon jour!
Ah, yes: (or oui) – the what was I doing with this?
Northern Europe and the lack of sun in the winter. Tres depressing. Where we were, it ‘pished’ every day – not enough rain for an umbrella but enough to feel permanently damp. I, too, counted the days until a bit of sun shone. The city I was in, however, wasn’t as pretty as Paris. It did have good bread though ….but no Marie d’Medici cycle.