Moving on to Paris

I have more old photos of Avignon and other places in Provence, as well as some photos of the days I spent in Rouen and Paris in September 2001. Even so, I'm moving on. Our next trip to France was in April 2002. It was a pivotal moment. That spring, I was suffering from intense allergic reactions to pollen in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. I told Walt I wanted to go to France to see how I would feel there at what in California was the height of the allegy season — at least for me. I had been struggling with debilitating "hay fever" from around late January until mid-May every year since 1992. Those were 10 miserable years.

I don't remember how I found the apartment we rented for that trip. It was on the internet, of course, and it must havbe been reasonably priced. It was on a street called la rue Mayet in the 6ème arrondissement, not far from the Tour Montparnasse and the Duroc metro station. It's a fairly typical Paris street. We had rented an apartment in that same neighborhood in May or June of 1999, so we were going into familiar territory. It's also just a short walk to CHM's apartment in Paris, and a short walk from the Alliance Française, where Walt and I had first met each other back in 1981. Above and below, you can see the view from the rue Mayet apartment, where we stayed for two weeks.

The day we arrived in Paris, I was dead tired because I had had an one of the worst allergy attacks ever as soon as we got on the plane in San Francisco. Half way through the trip, Walt looked at me and said: "I think you're going to die." That's how bad it was. We landed at CDG airport, collected our bags, and headed into Paris on the RER train. All along the way, it seemed like every tree we saw was covered in white blossoms. It was springtime, after all. And my allergy symptoms just seemed to get worse. I told Walt that if I was going to feel like that for the two weeks we had planned to spend in Paris, well... I wouldn't be able to stay. I'd have to go elsewhere. Where? I didn't know.

We got to the rue Mayet and the rental apartment fairly late in the afternoon. The first thing I did was take a shower. That made me feel better. I think we might have picked up some food to eat that afternoon, because we had tickets for a concert that night. The shower seemed miraculous. My allergy symptoms — teary eyes, uncontrollable sneezing, a runny nose — ended immediately. I was still exhausted, but I could see and breathe normally again. I breathed a sigh of relief. We took the metro and rode over to the Right Bank to the place where Alain Souchon was to perform, Le Casino de Paris — it's near the Opéra Garnier and the Eglise de la Trinité. We were jet-lagged but we both really enjoyed the concert. Some of the other people in the audience were the singers Françoise Hardy and Patrick Bruel.

The apartment itself was sparely furnished, but it was comfortable. I'll post some photos of the interior tomorrow. My hay fever (le rhume des foins) did not come back, despite the fact that all of Paris — especially the public gardens — was in full bloom. We also went to Normandy for a couple of days to see friends there, and all the apple, pear, and other fruit trees were in full blossom. I could still breathe normally. It became obvious to me that I was allergic to some very specific pollen that was in the air in Northern California and the SF Bay area. For ten years, I had talked to doctors in SF about whether or not I should go see an allergist. They told me that an allergist was going to tell me that I was allergic to springtime pollen, and that I already knew that. So what was the point?

The first thing I did when we got back to San Francisco — the allergies came roaring back as soon as we landed at SFO and I stepped off the plane — was to call a well-known allergist. It took two months to get an appointment, but I finally got in to see him in June. I told him this story, and he looked at me and said: "I would advise you to leave the Bay Area. Maybe you should seriously consider going to live in France, if you feel so much better there." He did the scratch tests to confirm his preliminary diagnosis, which was based on stories other allergy sufferers had told him. I was allergic to cypress tree pollen, and the whole California coast is lined with stands of Monterey cypress trees. Avoid the South of France for the same reason, the allergist said. In December 2002 we came back to France — that time to see if we could find a house to buy.