If you have ever read one of the best books there is A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, you will understand the concept of being able to “eat the words”. Hemingway had a way of describing the feeling of the street, the air and the specific warmth that overcomes you in Paris.
Anthony Bourdain was also able to tell a story in the same way, but with Bourdain we were lucky enough to also watch him as he discovered and enjoyed the simplicity of the perfect dumpling or a late night walk along the Seine. Moreover, much like Hemingway, Bourdain’s life ended the same way, at his own hand. There is great loneliness in greatness.
Maybe they both were only truly alive when they were exploring the corners of the world, and it was the loneliness of home that pushed them too far. In Paris, it is where I feel alive, and struggle to find that feeling every moment of the day when I am not there. How do you feed that constant feeling of exploration and excitement and enjoying the simple everyday moments that get lost when back “home”?
You no longer get to linger over a glass of wine or stroll the streets and chat with the cheese monger about the most perfect cheese plate. You cannot get those perfect moments anywhere else. People should be supportive and open to what other people want and dream of and maybe if they stopped long enough to listen they would see the world through new eyes. Today he would have been 65 years old.
While I can take some moments of solace in the fact that, I can now call some of his friends my own, I still miss his voice and wide eyed wonderment every day.
“Most of us are lucky to see Paris once in a lifetime. Please, make the most of it by doing as little as possible. Walk a little. Get lost a bit. Eat. Catch a breakfast buzz. Have a nap. Try and have sex if you can, just not with a mime. Eat again. Lounge around drinking coffee. Maybe read a book. Drink some wine. Eat. Repeat. See? It's easy."
“Okay: go to Paris, check into a nice hotel, and my plan is I'm going to eat some fucking cheese and I'm gonna get drunk." Anthony Bourdain we miss you and your voice every single day.