French almost with tears
As a special Saturday treat , an arrangement was made that after buying the weekend newspapers and lottery tickets , hoping to win $50million or so , we would drive with friends to the Magnetic Island dump shop and check it out . One of the finds there (above) was a publisher's not for sale, advance , uncorrected proof copy of the Left Bank Waltz, by Elaine Lewis , about the Australian bookshop she opened in Paris.
It was almost as good as a lottery win . It tells how the author ,visiting her muso son in France , in 1984 , got the urge to open a bookshop in Paris . After doing a lot of research in Australia, in March 1996, she , aged 60, launched the Australian Bookshop, an odd looking stuffed Koala at the entrance door , with a week of opening ceremonies .
It was officially opened by the Australian Ambassador, Alan Brown, who had been recalled in 1995 as a protest against proposed resumed French nuclear tests in the Pacific ; the dynamic former Lord Mayor of Brisbane , Sallyanne Atkinson , once Senior Trade Commissioner to France, who had also been a research assistant to Liberal Defence Minister, Jim Killen , was guest of honour at the next ceremony ; French photographer Michael Fainsilber provided a collection of portraits he had taken of outback characters in the Northern Territory and at Broome , Western Australia .
The Australian Bookshop became popular and staged rencontres-readings, art and musical events, encounters with authors and Australian wine, Kiwis and Crocodiles .
Delighted to have found the book in the scattered offerings in the dump shop, we drove off to the Drop Bear Cafe for drinks and to check on the smart resident green frog who lives in the runoff from the cool room.
Then, as we drove about the island on a mystery tour , the car emitted an ominous ding! ding! ding! , so we stopped, the manual (in English ) consulted. To cut a long story short, after a plethora of concerning dings and stops, it was discovered there was nil water in the radiator.
Three bottles of Aussie water from the nearby Arcadia Hotel were poured into the radiator after an arm wrestle with its cap. The alarming ding! ding! ding! did not resume when the car was restarted , so we drove off along the island's answer to the Champs- Elysees, taking in Nelly's groyne ; the car was eventually towed to the garage because it was found to have split hoses .
