Kathryn Davis Events

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Paris and Longing...

Steam rising from manholes, the tar - smell of wet asphalt after a rain and diesel fumes make me yearn for the soothing yeasty smells of boulangeries in Paris.It was in Paris on the precipice of becoming eighteen that I discovered I was a Gourmonde, and simoultaneously I, was morphing into a woman. The first time I ever tasted pate foie gras with the truffle I almost went crazy with pleasure.

Having spent most of my school years in a grey skirt, white blouse and navy blazer you can only imagine the sensory overload that socked me in the City of Lights. I was seduced by any and all of the provocative Parisian styles,discovered exotic cuisines and stayed out all night dancing if I fancied doing so.It was a fun way to burn calories. My new freedom was some pretty heady stuff. and being a survivor I assessed quickly that I had better impose some limits upon myself so that I could survive the lovely hedonism that constantly tempted.

Paris awakened many of my senses and for that I am eternally beholden.It was Paris that many of my "firsts" were lived. I had my first freedom, first apartment, first culinary lessons, first foreign language, first career, first love, first break up and yes first love of another country.

After having lived lives in other cities and other loves,and some years later my daughter, was conceived {another first} in Paris.

Paris reigns first in my heart with endless tales of culinary pleasures entwined with romance and outright seductions.

France Became My Beacon

It was exhilerating to land in Paris a day after high school graduation. For me it felt as though I was walking on a different planet.All of my senses were heightened. I was struck by how different the light was than in Los Angeles. Paris was bright and shimmering with abundant tiny shadows as if I had walked into a post impressionistic painting. Los Angeles felt oddly flat and artificially bright.

I was thrilled to begin exploring the new world I was entering. I lived on adrenalin and steak with pommes frittes {French fries}

My trip to Paris was intended to be a vacation before entering college. I was to return to Los Angeles after the summer and attend Mount Saint Mary's Girl's College. It was not to be.Having modeled since I was twelve,and having looked eighteen at twelve, I had been booked for years in Los Angeles and New York doing tons of print and television commercials. I packed my portfolio in my suitcase in case I decided to try to work in Paris during the summer. It was a decision I would come to cherish throughout the years as my life unfolded.

I was predisposed to learning French because my father had lived in Poitier France when I was a little girl. Upon returning home, he brought me French Francs and stories of French girls he fell in love with. Those love stories were punctuated by descriptions of jazz clubs, fine wine and cheese and endless beautiful countrysides.

France became my beacon.