Notes from Abroad

by Jim Buckley

Vintage postcard from Paris

The Paris Insider is a Must Read

Guess what? I’m in Paris, France, having arrived on April 12^th. And other than the first two days, the weather has been… how you say? Crappy? Overcast, mid-40s to mid-50s (at best), drizzle and rain. But, hey, it’s “April in Paris,” right?

Right.

Next time, I come in May. Or June.

But I digress.

It is not the weather, after all, but an always colorful and appealing website that is the subject of this first look at April in Paris. It’s called The Paris Insider, and it comes out six days a week. Mondays, for example, are set aside for “vintage” Paris, whereupon Terrance may use a photograph or an old postcard to launch a discussion of a certain place or person in Paris. Every day has a different theme.

The Paris Insider is one of – perhaps even the best – of the online publications I regularly receive concerning Paris and/or France. I get the French-language version of “Time Out” not so much to learn what’s going on among the demi-monde but to try to keep up (unsuccessfully) with French slang, and my international news comes from “France 24,” where mentions of Donald Trump are ever so slightly unbiased. The French really don’t yet quite know what to do about him. They are skeptical, but open in a kind of Gallic way.

The Paris Insider features books, authors, photographers whose shows are on exhibit, artists, trends, and movies (we’re off today with a small group to see “The Red Shoes,” released in 1949 and celebrating its 75^th anniversary). Other covered subjects include wine, food, French history and lots more.

The Paris Insider’s major domo has become a pal. His name is Terrance Gelenter. He’s from Brooklyn, and befitting his Jewish background, he has been in the garment business and the jewelry business; he’s also sold furniture and, well, he’s a salesman and has had a successful career as such.

He decided to “retire” at the age of 62 and thought Paris might be a good place to retire in.

Turned out, he was right.

I met him just before Covid turned our world inside out. It was December 2019, and we were among a pack of journalists and interested parties attending the pre-opening of Hotel de la Marine in Paris, which was scheduled to be unveiled to the public for the first time in over 200 years the following month.

Hotel de la Marine is not a hotel. Neither is Hotel de Ville, which houses Paris’s (and every French city’s) City Hall. Back in the day (1600s and earlier) a “hotel” was the house of a noted bigwig who, because of his exalted position, saw many visitors. Hence, his “home” was a busy but impressive structure.

“The Paris Insider” editor/publisher Terrance Gelenter with Ellen and Melanie, two of his “Chicago Connection” friends, at Les Jeux Magots.

I was intrigued because Terrance speaks French, Spanish (his ex-wife is from Mexico), English of course (in a heavy Brooklyn accent), and a little Italian. I didn’t know it then, but he has a pretty good voice too, one that he utilized to great effect for several years performing a weekend gig shaping songs from the Great American Songbook at a small hotel in Paris.

We spoke briefly upon our first meeting, and he invited me to join him and his “gang” at La Coupole on a Sunday, which I did, and have done every time I’m in Paris. This most recent Sunday, after the group get-together, a few of us ambled next door to a little Italian place (La Manifattura) on Boulevard Montparnasse, where we opted for a light lunch and where, for around $25, you can enjoy a glass of wine and one of the best pizzas you’ll ever have. We could have stayed for a more substantial lunch at La Coupole too, and certainly would not have been disappointed.

Mama mia!

And, I can safely say that if you are in Paris on any given Sunday (unless he is traveling, which is rare), you are welcome to join him and his mostly ex-pat friends from 10:30 am to noon.

Terrance is a rarity in many ways, not the least of which is that he is able to charm his way through Paris, a city that can be as tough and mean as New York, especially to foreigners trying to fit in.

We’re sitting in a small café across from Place de Vosges where King Henry IV died and where both Cardinal de Richelieu and Victor Hugo once lived and where monsieur Hugo banged out “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” among other novels. (I’m buying lunch, but Terrance reciprocates with a two-scoop cup of gelato from Amerino, nearby). We are catty-corner from the spacious apartment Hugo and family lived in and where the writer’s death bed is now on display (though he died elsewhere); Coincidentally, Marcel Proust’s (“A la Recherche du Temps Perdu,” “Swann’s Way”) deathbed is tucked at the top of Musée Carnavalet, a couple blocks away.

An additional aside: Victor Hugo (“Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Les Miserables”) shares a crypt in the Pantheon with two of his fellow writers: Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers, “The Man in the Iron Mask,” “Count of Monte Cristo”) and Emile Zola (“J’Accuse,” “Nana”).

Terrance doesn’t just publish The Paris Insider. He also hosts some of his ex-pat friends and readers on side trips to Périgord in search of black truffles, winemakers in Burgundy, perhaps the landing beaches of Normandy, things like that. He can lead you to a new restaurant and even help you find an apartment (maybe).

I wondered who these people were that he has embraced. “I would describe them as people with whom I would have a drink even if I were buying,” he says with a laugh.

But it’s true. He has surrounded himself with accomplished people who, as he says “have been to the Eiffel Tower. They’re looking for more.”

Terrance is fun to be around. He’s a non-stop talker and may – at the drop of a beret – break out into song, as he did during both our most recent lunches.

“So, in a sense,” he says as we wrap up our conversation, “what's happened is I've just found this wonderfully rich life that every day brings me some surprise.”

You’re in for a surprise too if you do find yourself in Paris on any given Sunday and have wended your way to La Coupole where you have engaged with a small group of new friends.

Google terrance-paris.com or The Paris Insider; subscribe (it’s free, though Terrance would never turn down a donation). You’ll – as Edith Piaf famously sings – not regret it (Je Ne Regrette Rien). In fact, you’ll be happy you did.