--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I had a few francs, I spent them at…" description: "\"When I had a few francs, I spent them at a café on the Place de Longchamps, a block or so from my pension, where I could order a glass of Beaujolais an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/849/paula-fox-13833_beans_when-i-had-a-few-francs-i-spent-them-at_1092488.jpg" --- # When I had a few francs, I spent them at a café on the… ![“When I had a few francs, I spent them at a café on the Place de Longchamps, a block or so from my pension, where I could order a glass of Beaujolais and a plate of string beans in vinaigrette for the equivalent of fifteen cents.” quote by Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/849/paula-fox-13833_beans_when-i-had-a-few-francs-i-spent-them-at_1092488.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/849/paula-fox-13833_beans_when-i-had-a-few-francs-i-spent-them-at_1092488.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/849/paula-fox-13833_beans_when-i-had-a-few-francs-i-spent-them-at_1092488.jpg) > “When I had a few francs, I spent them at a café on the Place de Longchamps, a block or so from my pension, where I could order a glass of Beaujolais and a plate of string beans in vinaigrette for the equivalent of fifteen cents.” [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator recalls a modest, nostalgic pleasure of inexpensive dining near home, highlighting simple joys despite limited means. **In simple terms:** She enjoyed cheap food and wine near her pension. Key Takeaway Find joy in small, affordable pleasures. Themes nostalgia simple pleasures economics memory food Mood reflective content nostalgic Type personal descriptive memoir When to use this quote - daily life - budget travel - retirement - culinary nostalgia Key Concepts frugality sensory detail social setting Questions to Reflect On - What small pleasure brings you comfort now? - How do you balance frugality with quality of life? A Different Perspective The recollection may romanticize poverty, overlooking broader hardships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paris/) ## Related quotes > [“I have tried to express the idea that the café is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-tried-to-express-the-idea-that-the-caf-is-a-place-where-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is nothing in back of this cafe. Since the place sits right on the margin between the edge of the world and infinite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-naylor/there-is-nothing-in-back-of-this-cafe-since-the-place-sits-right-on/) [Gloria Naylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-naylor/) > [“A hundred francs! Oh, dear me! It is worth millions of francs, my child. 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But even more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-o-grady/the-implication-that-women-work-for-pin-money-and-can-manage-on-a/) [Frances O'Grady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-o-grady/) > [Trust is about keeping commitments, but in many instances, circumstances change and organizations therefore shed commitments, things such as retiree medical benefits, pension obligations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/trust-is-about-keeping-commitments-but-in-many-instances/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) ## More by Paula Fox > [My life was incoherent to me. I felt it quivering, spitting out broken teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/my-life-was-incoherent-to-me-i-felt-it-quivering-spitting-out-broken/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [People steal into one's consciousness and occupy what seems, in retrospect, to have been their place all along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/people-steal-into-one-s-consciousness-and-occupy-what-seems-in/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [You'll see some bad things, but if you didn't see them, they'd still be happening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/you-ll-see-some-bad-things-but-if-you-didn-t-see-them-they-d-still-be/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“I imagine there's a timid animal inside me...When it's afraid, I feel it tremble. It can't hear. It only knows the fear it feels.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-imagine-there-s-a-timid-animal-inside-me-when-it-s-afraid-i-feel-it/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I taught writing classes at the University of Pennsylvania for a number of years and I realized that all you can do is encourage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-taught-writing-classes-at-the-university-of-pennsylvania-for-a/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“Words are nets through which all truth escapes ("News From The World")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/words-are-nets-through-which-all-truth-escapes-news-from-the-world/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I don't like to listen to music while I'm working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-don-t-like-to-listen-to-music-while-i-m-working/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [Imagination has to do with one's awareness of the reality of other people as well as of one's own reality. Imagination is a bridge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/imagination-has-to-do-with-one-s-awareness-of-the-reality-of-other/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“Imagination is conjunctive and unifying; the sour, habitual wars of the self are disjunctive and separating. When I begin a story at my desk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/imagination-is-conjunctive-and-unifying-the-sour-habitual-wars-of-the/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [If a person had accused him of meanness, he could have defended himself. But with a dog - you did something cheap to it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/if-a-person-had-accused-him-of-meanness-he-could-have-defended/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [A year and a half after the end of the war and the German occupation, Paris was muted and looked bruised and forlorn. Everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/a-year-and-a-half-after-the-end-of-the-war-and-the-german-occupation/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“You’ll see some bad things, but if you didn’t see them, they’d still be happening so you might as well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/you-ll-see-some-bad-things-but-if-you-didn-t-see-them-they-d-still-be-2/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [Words are nets through which all truth escapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/words-are-nets-through-which-all-truth-escapes/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I've always known a lot of very bad people, destructive, brutes of a certain kind. Then I've seen these lovely impulses and what not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-ve-always-known-a-lot-of-very-bad-people-destructive-brutes-of-a/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/the-density-of-people-in-society-is-so-thick-that-we-forget-that-life/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) [Explore all 49 Paula Fox quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) ## More Beans quotes > [For Starbucks, there will be no shortage of the highest-quality arabica beans. 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