I Have to Go

…back to France.

Yes, there are more things to scout for and more experiences to collect, but it’s deeper than that.

I have to go to renew the bonds of friendship. If I stay away too long, the winemakers, chefs, café proprietors, book dealers and artisans will fear that I have forgotten them. The French are very sensitive. They need reassurance.

My friend Gérard, self-described the laziest antiques dealer in France, laments that 30 percent of his fellow dealers have retired or gone out of business in the past year. I have to go to his remote little village to make sure he continues to “pick” for me.

I have to go because I miss Mary-France Latour’s gratin de courgettes and her husband’s estate bottled Cotes du Rhone.

If it’s warm, we’ll play a game of pétanque.

I have to go to see what’s new at the Maison et Objet trade show in Paris.

I have to go because I have a foot in each country and the one in France will lose sensation if I neglect it too long.

I have to go to renew my spirit as much as my inventory and to rediscover what I already know, namely that it’s necessary to see everything again with fresh eyes. That’s how you find the best stuff.

I have to go!