After several e-mail exchanges (mutually complimentary) and a couple of phone calls (about timing) Tom Rudolph and I eventually met in the lobby of his very bijou hotel on rue de l'Université in the 6e. He wore the big smile of an adopted Parisian returning home.His first words were to admire my dress (see previous blog posting - phew) and to describe a small restaurant down the street that he is particularly fond of. We ordered aperitifs followed by dinner and wine and swapped tales from childhood to Paris and back again seamlessly for several hours.
He asked me what I found so inspirational about Paris. I looked up the height of the building dwarfing the street in shadow as the evening sun fell below the roof line and pointed out the golden glow in two window panels and the last vestiges of sun on two bars of a three-barred balcony. Tom did not follow my line of sight but was looking at me. "You should see your face right now," he said. "You are in love."
Practical movie conversation was limited to the sound equipment (lost by Air France between LA and CDG). They mis-labelled it "Transit". Interesting movie conversation was about how he knows Sherry Stringfield (she is his next door neighbour in LA).
Back at his hotel I met Sherry and her boyfriend and Coco (the other videographer). I will see them around over the next couple of days but our time together is Thursday, filming Paris through my eyes. Sherry and I will have microphones on and I will take her on a tour of the 18e, cameras in hands, walking, talking and photographing. The crew, and Sherry will then come to the vernissage and film there too. Tom promised not to break any plates.
