43 Comments
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Helen A Szablya's avatar

Lovely ode to a home with history and so many good memories! I assume your new place is a bit larger ❤️

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

Ohhhh it is!

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Helen A Szablya's avatar

Haha! Maybe when I visit next year you will invite me over!!

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Mila Phelps Friedl's avatar

such stories in Rue de la Roquette. xx

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

the walls are imbued with your voice, too. it's soon time for you to come grace the new pad

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Evelyn Skye's avatar

Beautiful piece, Samuél! Best wishes for the adventures you’ll find in your next era.

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

Thank you Evelyn, next time you're in Paris, we'll have to stroll around the cemetery and meet Gertrude Stein and then come upstairs for a cup of tea

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Evelyn Skye's avatar

Absolument!

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Katie Barrie's avatar

What a perfect ode! I have a vivid memory of reclining on that couch — sated with wine and cheese and abundant conversation — watching you, Megan, and Mila trade off on the piano, knowing for certain that a move to Paris was the best decision I could possibly make. You and Gus are kings at making people feel welcome!

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Augusta Sagnelli's avatar

I love being ur Parisian king 🥹

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Fog Chaser's avatar

such a beautiful homage to such an important home and chapter of life. lovely.

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

Thank you sir. There was a moment I thought I needed to write a tune to honor Roquette while I was there, but of course the melody only came to me once I started writing it in the new spot

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Annie's avatar

So many of my dreams about Paris take place in that Roquette sanctuary. Thank God for that place and the people who called it home 🩷

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

It's a pleasure to know you will also remember it. Twas a time indeed

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John Sannaee's avatar

A fitting memorial!

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Kathleen Clare Waller's avatar

Beautiful homage! I'm a huge fan of apartment stories. Lovely.

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

Thank you! There are so many apartment tales in this city--in all cities, really--and we inhabit so many different truths and fictions in each

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Carl Boehm's avatar

I love this piece, SLB. I have a strong sense of anemoia … I’ve been waiting to throw that one out there!

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

Ahhh now that's a killer word. I had to look it up. Almost as if I had anemoia for a word I'd never known ...

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Carl Boehm's avatar

I don’t follow many Instagram accounts but lostcanyonsla is one of my favorites and I learned that word from Emmeline’s account. If you check her out you’ll see how well that word flows from her very entertaining content.

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Janet Hulstrand's avatar

Just beautiful. These places that leave their mark in our hearts and minds. Merci!

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nika burnett's avatar

never forget <3

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Augusta Sagnelli's avatar

Foundational.

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Mitalee's avatar

a special place that made so many folks feel at home— I still wave at the door every time I pass by

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

the red doors shall always welcome us. Also I'm pretty sure that door code will never change

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Feasts and Fables's avatar

Utterly beautiful. It hits for me because I am indulging myself in reflections as I pedal. Perhaps it is because I learn constantly that it is people more than place … humanness more than inanimate, souls not stuff. It’s gorgeous writing, Samuél, a treat for my downtime on a ferry to Bilbao.

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

What a treat to read your words from the open road. People over place. Yes indeed. And there's something about France that seems to attract particularly special folk. Like you and Jojo. It's a pleasure to have friends out west. Happy biking

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Feasts and Fables's avatar

So excited at the prospect of being back in France from Sunday … it must mean it feels like home. Or the right people are there to make it *the* place. And we need to make sure we come to visit our lovely friends in Paris before too long. 💛

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Jane Stephens Rosenthal Cooke's avatar

What a time!

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oriana's avatar

What an ode. You and Gus were the beating heart of our block.

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

ahhh, and you were the Best Roquette Neighbor we ever had. When are you back to Paris?

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Yasmin Chopin's avatar

Since I'm totally engrossed in Home and Place Writing, your ode to Rue de la Roquette is just the sort of writing I like to read.

Samuél, I wish you well in your new home!.

Fom reading the comments here I get the impression your friends will ensure that your 'kingship' transfers easily to your new apartment. One with a cemetery view no less. Maybe you could say 'hi' to my namesake, a distant relative, who has resided in a tomb there for many a year.

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

Thank you Yasmin! I have waved my hand to Ole Freddy down below. He says the water's warm. And that the nocturnes in the park are a dream.

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Yasmin Chopin's avatar

Aha! Terrific, Samuél. A waving hand is perfect.

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