Laura Calder

1 week ago | lauracalder.substack.com | Laura Calder

Peter and I were reaching the end of the Robert Doisneau exhibit in the Musée Maillol when a great pounding began on the rooftops. Everyone gasped and all eyes shot from the photographs to the windows where hail was pelleting down from the heavens, Gatling-gun style. Once outside, we were shocked to find the pavement cobblestoned with Gobsmacker-sized ice pellets that shopkeepers with big brooms were trying to sweep away before anyone’s feet went out from under them.

2 weeks ago | lauracalder.substack.com | Laura Calder

Last week was my birthday, and the fine weather that ushered it in felt like a gift from the skies. Our neighbours came over with a candle-pierced lemon tart for me to blow out, and I’ve already forgotten the wish I made, so that gives you an idea of how over the hill and dottery I’m already becoming. Oh well, as one friend recently reminded me when I hit 50, I’d said at the time, “Thank God. I’m finally the age I’ve always been.”LAURA CALDER: A Place At My Table is a reader-supported publication.

3 weeks ago | lauracalder.substack.com | Laura Calder

Always is the short answer, but I’ll do you better than that, especially when it comes to this particular type:You’re looking at a bistro table, of course, that iconic (s)eating space for 1, 2 or 3 that you find in restaurants, cafés, and terraces all over France, and indeed beyond. Its rise came along with the arrival of bistros themselves in the 19th century, when smaller tables replaced the long communal tables hitherto favoured by taverns and inns.

4 weeks ago | lauracalder.substack.com | Laura Calder

It’s been ages since Peter and I did a video together, so I thought it was high time we drop in to say hello. (Click the play button above to watch.) Don’t worry, this won’t be a one-off. We can finally get back on track with these regular video chats, because after a year of rarely being in the same place at the same time for longer than a blink, Peter and I are side by side again, living the same life in the same spot with the same focus. Whew.

1 month ago | lauracalder.substack.com | Laura Calder

I’m always slightly conflicted about whether I prefer country life or city life. Obviously, for convenience, the city is better. That’s where my social life is, and it’s easier to stay fit, because you can walk everywhere instead of always having to climb into a car. But, for quiet, peace, and getting in touch with nature, the country can’t be beat. You don’t realize until you get out there how much you’d actually been craving it. LAURA CALDER: A Place At My Table is a reader-supported publication.