No excuses...let's go to Paris

 I offer no excuse for being absent. Just ask forgiveness. I was in France for a month with tempermental Wifi...or wee-fee as it's called. Am ashamed to say my phone was stolen, yes, I felt like a country bumpkin when that happened.  Here's some photos that miraculously made it to the cloud beforehand.

 My wonderful editor sent me a galley of THREE HOURS IN PARIS to share with booksellers in Paris.

In a covered passage

 Here are three cakes. Yes, edible confections - even a Chanel bag, lipstick and perfume - for an amazing occasion.

Seriously, this is a work of art that I want to spoil and eat it.

 Those blue café chairs that I want to bring home.

 A glimpse into the Patisserie window.

 At the Toulouse Lautrec exhibition at the Grand Palais.

 Cheese, cheese, and more cheese.

 Big thrill was visiting Aimée's 'place' on the Ile Ste-Louis. The City of Paris granted us a special tour.

The view from Aimée's window...

A great bistro on the Seine.

Cara - Tuesday

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes

Cara on Tuesday - Proust said 'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes'. Confession time, I've started his famous book, Remembrance of Things Past, several times but never finished reading it. The closest I've ever come was eating a box of madeleines. But Proust's quote struck me in full force on my last day in Paris. I'd mounted the Metro steps at Père Lachaise, opposite the famous cemetery, on my way back to my friend's where I was staying. I've stayed there off and on since I wrote my second book, Murder in Belleville, set in that quartier. As I had so many times, I hurried by the bus stop heading to a back street short cut when I noticed the fromagerie cremerie oeufs sign in old letters. Why hadn't I noticed that before? On the window was a respected Gault-Millau gourmet mention. Time to go inside a place I'd passed for maybe sixteen, seventeen years. Get cheese for dinner, maybe a wedge of something to smuggle on the plane? Pungent smells and a plethora of cheeses on their straw sat waiting. And a customer with a Provencal straw bag and long shopping list for this evenings meal. A small older woman in a white work coat with matching hair stood behind the counter serving her. The customer, very much in hostess mode for her upcoming meal, was asking for recommendations, lots of questions. In short being very French with her cheese seller who she referred to in that intimate way a good customer does. Minutes passed. More time and in my American way I just wanted to buy some cheese and get going. But this wasn't Safeway. On the sparkling clean wall was a photo of this little lady, the cheese seller, Loulou and an article about her. I read up while Madame customer was making her purchases which ended up filling two straw Provencal bags. Loulou was eighty-six years old, ran the cheese shop herself, and very ably from what I witnessed. She took payment with a chip card that requires the user to put in their code etc. I've seen younger cashiers at Franprix get flummoxed with this. Loulou was born in Hopital Tenon up the hill in Belleville, where Edith Piaf was born. She'd grown up here, married, raised a family and worked in the cheese shop all her life. She was the oldest commerçant in the quartier and helmed the shop staggeringly by herself. Finally it was my turn. I wanted to ask her so much and ended up with her recommendation for 'Tentation' a Brie-ish double creme melt in your mouth cheese. Yes, she said she'd lived here all her life and before I could ask her how the area had changed, how she felt about it and so much more a line of customers had formed. I regret not using new eyes to see this gem I'd passed so many times. Of hurrying and not really looking. Next time. But I double plastic wrapped the cheese and smuggled it home. My husband and son took one taste and said 'this is Paris.'

travails at Gustave Eiffel's iron lady

A strike closed the Eiffel Tower for most of last Friday.  The unionized staff and and the tower officials were fed up. They'd had enough and felt unable to protect visitors and themselves from pickpockets operating around the Paris landmark.  The staff and officials demanded more help.
"There have always been pickpockets at the Eiffel Tower, but we are now facing an organized network", said a union representative. The strikers want additional police to be deployed.
The company said it was already cooperating with police to improve security at one of the world's best known tourist draws. The site was closed for about six hours and reopened to visitors in the late afternoon.

The staff protest and strike came a day after Paris authorities launched a drive to improve tourist protection and said theft around Paris' main attractions was on the decline compared to last year.

The last time I went to the Eiffel Tour was when my son was six years old. It was a summer evening, after a long day, but at least with not many people.  I remember how my son complained that we had to go up so many, many stairs.  We were with my friend Jo, and her daughter, the same age, who'd brought our special treat. Jo had suggested and furnished everything for a late night picnic on the Eiffel Tower. Perfect, non? In the summer it remained light for hours, so here we were finally after a long climb on the second level, I think. Both of the kids had gone on 'strike' and said they weren't taking another step and they were starving.  I'd carried a big melon, bottle of wine and Jo, ever the Brit, a flowered tablecloth, bread, cheese and charcuterie. Imagine Paris spread below us and no UTENSILS ie no wine bottle opener, knife or anything to cut with! Poor Jo had forgotten and brought everything but...She ended up finding a plastic knife so les enfants could slice the cheese, saucissons and they tore off the baguette. But alas, the knife broke trying to cut open the sweet smelling honey-dew melon. No bottle opener either, honestly we thought some French person would be carrying one somewhere on the Eiffel tower but zut! Despite the lack of utensils, we ate and les enfants were finally sated, us too. But I kept looking below and thinking how would a melon look if I just let it drop à la David Letterman - I'd remembered the show where he'd dropped a watermelon from multi-storied building once and replayed it in slo-mo...Jo got very British and wouldn't let me drop the melon because she said  I could actually hurt someone and the staff would be waiting to arrest me at the bottom. So we carried the melon and the wine back down the stairs, across the Champs de Mars and onto the Metro.  So our saga had no pickpockets and no wine bottle opener.






Cara - Tuesday

As local as the locals?

A few weeks ago I found this quote in my room at an Oregon writers conference by Mark Twain from his book, The Innocents Abroad: “In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.”

Twain poked fun at the American tourists in the 19th century visiting gay Paree. But it got me thinking about the other side of the Euro if you will - the life of the expat who's lived in France for awhile. How do you know when you're becoming as local as the locals?

Inspired by Zoe's questions but not the four minute stare,  I found some pointed issues that an expat might examine if they're wondering if it's just been too long. Courtesy of the blog, My French Life, with a few adaptions.

1. Do you no longer consider that notebook grid paper so strange?

2. Do you say ‘bonjour’ and ‘au revoir’ to everyone, including the bus driver.

3. Do you find that if you want something from someone, you’ll start your query with “excusez-moi” because that's how to get their attention?

4. Have you stopped giggling when men kiss one another hello?

5. Do you consider bread a utensil to eat with other foods and act accordingly?

6. Do you need cheese like it’s oxygen?

7. Do you believe in long lunches with multiple courses and insist on this with your friends?

8. Do you believe driving more than a few kilometers anywhere requires a weekend?

9. For the Parisian expat, do you never batt an eye when there’s yet another métro strike? Respond with a yawn?

10. Have you accepted that a reasonable response to a question is a shrug and bof with pursed lips? Have you ever conducted a whole conversation in French without saying a word?

11. Do you think calling someone a flea or a cabbage is cute?

12. Have you stopped laughing at the French name Fanny?

I'll leave it up to you if you're going for the four minute stare.

Cara - Tuesday

the Paris school menu this week - bon appétit

 In case you were wondering what Parisian school children eat for lunch - and who hasn't since they seem to be born 'gourmands' - here's this weeks school menu for les enfants in the 8th arrondissement of Paris this week.

 Even the three-year-olds sit down at tables with knives and forks and spoons and real plates and are fed the same kind of food their working papas and mamans are probably eating at the brasserie on their lunch breaks. The menu is posted on the school gate (and now online)  every week so maman can ask how the endives-au-jambon were and what fruit they ate. Parents are expected to read it, and avoid serving any repeat food for dinner. Food and eating are considered part of the academic curriculum, starting in nursery school. A child’s palate is as worthy of education as a child’s brain.
 
There is also no rush. The lunch break lasts a full hour and a half, at least 45 minutes of which involves actual eating. Fresh ingredients– local meats, fruits and vegetables– are used as much as possible.

Other menu items include: ratatouille, grilled fish, cabbage remoulade, sauteed chicken, paté, lentils, assorted cheeses (even stinky ones), sweet potato salad, petit poids, cucumber and chevre salad, and, at least once, escargot.

CULTURAL STANDARDS
- Lunch is traditionally the largest meal of the day in France, representing approximately 40% of children’s caloric intake.
-There are no 'kids' foods in French school lunches – the French actively teach kids to like and eat a wide variety of 'adult' food.
- Every child sits down to the same meal – there are no substitutions or multiple choices available to customize the lunch.
-Packed lunches are strongly discouraged for all ages, K-12.

LUNCH HAS FOUR COURSES
1.  Vegetable starter: leafy green salad or sliced or grated vegetables.
2.  The warm main dish, which includes a vegetable side dish.
3.  Cheese course.
4.  Dessert is fresh fruit four times a week with a sweet treat on the fifth day.

All this is governed by REGULATIONS mandated by the French Ministry of Education
- Municipalities must adhere to strict regulations governing portion sizes, nutritional composition, and cooking methods.
- The minimum time required/allotted for children to sit at the table is at least 30 minutes.

- Children drink water with lunch: there are no other drinks of any kind available at lunch.
- Vending machines and fast food are banned in all schools.
- Twenty different meals are served per month. Schools do not repeat the same dish more than once every month in any given school.

- Over the course of 20 meals (one month), only 4 main dishes and 3 desserts can be high fat (more than 15% fat).
- Vegetables comprise approximately 50% of the overall meal.
- Fried food can only be served four times per month.
- Ketchup is limited to once per week (many don’t serve it at all).
- Schools are not allowed to leave any sauce, mayonnaise, salad dressing, or ketchup available to students to serve themselves freely.
 

FOOD PREPARATION
Most schools are built with kitchens and cooking is done on the premises. In some cases, municipalities may have a central kitchen, where food is made for multiple schools and then delivered. Increasingly, however, French schools are contracting out meal preparation to private companies, which is the cause of some controversy in France. However, even where a private company prepares the meals it is the municipality’s responsibility to provide staff to monitor and serve them.

COST PER LUNCH
The relevant French law allows municipalities to set their own prices, but also allows for a sliding scale, and caps prices — with the goal of allowing all children to have equal access. Thus, prices vary but in Paris, for example, most families pay about $3.00, the wealthiest families pay $7.00, and the lowest-income families pay $0.20 cents per meal.
Cara- Tuesday bon appétit