There's a famous saying attributed to Jerry Hall that says in order to keep a man, a woman must be three things: a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen, and a whore in the bedroom.
I'm not sure on the first one, but after watching the new movie "Julie & Julia" it seems that Julia Child had the last two down pat. In the new film, the kitchen was not the only place in the Childs' French residence where things got hot and steamy. Speaking about the movie on "The View" last week, writer and director Nora Ephron compared Julia and her husband, Paul, to a "couple of rabbits." She said love letters written between the two reveal a very active sex life.
None of this is surprising, and it actually makes Julia's larger than life but still approachable persona all that more real to me. Julia could be the new personal icon to legions of never-married ladies in their 30s and 40s. She was in her 30s (and, according to Ephron, a virgin. She had pretty much resigned her life to being a spinster) when she met her husband Paul, who was ten years older, during WW2. That means they had the good fortune of behaving like newlyweds later in life.
Julia: "We were based at a lovely old tea plantation, and I could look out my office window into Paul's office. I was still unformed. He was ten years older than me and worldly; he courted various other women there, but we slowly warmed up to each other."
Source: Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme. My Life in France. 2006. pg. 118.
I've heard snippets here and there that the devoted couple were very much in love, and Paul is certainly portrayed as a supportive, adoring husband. For Valentine's Day, they would make their own postcards of themselves - one bizarre shot, which I've tracked down up above, showed the couple sitting together in a bubble bath, which were then mailed out to friends.
There is a very somber scene in the movie where Julia learns that her newly married (and even taller sister) is pregnant, and she breaks down into tears in Paul's arms, revealing that she wanted children of her own. It's very sad, but at the risk of offending mothers everywhere I have to say I don't think she would've had the career she had if she had children, and I also think being childless gave her a less stressful marriage.
Julia and Paul Child enjoyed a marriage that lasted nearly 50 years until Paul's death in 1994.
By the way, the movie is nothing short of fantastic - funny, hearty, and a fun ride. I thoroughly recommend it - and not just for the women.
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