Dec 17

A Sad Reality

The last time we were in Paris was May 2015, before the mass shootings at the Balacan nightclub and at cafés in the city. It was also before the Bastille Day truck assault in Nice and the attack on a Berlin Christmas market in 2016. As a result, security is heightened throughout France. We’ve seen multiple layers of security in all of the cities on our trip this year, from private security officers to local police to soldiers armed with assault weapons. While this development may offer a visual veneer of safety to residents and visitors, I wonder if it’s a “fighting the last war” phenomenon. These strategies may force committed terrorists into using other tactics. For example, the barricading of sidewalks and bike trails against vehicles after Nice and New York didn’t prevent the attempted subway suicide bomber near Times Square earlier this month.

Yesterday we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. The grounds were a soggy mess. It looked as if a Christmas market was being constructed. I assumed one would be up and running by now. The Tower itself was ringed by security fences to the point that pedestrians had limited access to the streets and bridge to the north. (Julian took a shot of the top of the tower from a nearby neighborhood, but the whole Tower was not photogenic because of the fencing.) The ubiquitous selfie stick and souvenir sales people were confined to narrow strips of sidewalk, so you risked stepping on their goods as you walked past. If this is what the new reality is at low season, the summer crowds must exacerbate the mess several fold.

The Eiffel Tower in 2015.

While I am grateful for some of the enhanced security measures, there is a delicate balance between abundance of caution and abridgment of access. The Eiffel Tower is an engineering marvel. On previous trips I loved to walk under the Tower and gaze up through the metal latticework. Unfortunately, the current climate has eliminated that view for me and many others.

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Dec 16

Moment of Zen for the Cult of Cute Shoes

This was in a window of the French department store Le Printemps.

The Cult of Cute Shoes were tucked snug in their beds,

While visions of stilettos danced in their heads.

IMG_2063

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/16/moment-of-zen-for-the-cult-of-cute-shoes/

Dec 15

The Little Secret of French Cuisine

So you think that, after long days of work at le bureau, Maman (or Papa) cooks up three-course meals for the family every night? Au contraire, mes amis! Maman heads to le traiteur or le supermarché to get fixings for dinner, just like Americans do.

Traiteurs are fixtures in Paris neighborhoods. You can purchase a main dish and sides for less than a restaurant meal. The food is high quality and very tasty. Although fast food is making inroads, the traiteurs seem to be more popular with the French. Some French supermarkets are trying to muscle in on the takeout meals, as in the US. Depending on the supermarket, the offerings can be as good as the traiteurs.

When we’ve rented apartments in Paris, we’ve made use of traiteurs. It keeps us from buying too many ingredients that we’d have to throw out at the end of our stay. We had excellent Greek and Middle Eastern traiteurs near our apartments on earlier trips. Tonight we got a rabbit stew with carrots and prunes and roasted potatoes. I picked up a fennel bulb and pan-roasted it before I microwaved the rabbit and potatoes. We were impressed.

Traiteurs in France offer locals and tourists alike good food at a reasonable price. They’re worth checking out if you ever visit a French city.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/15/the-little-secret-of-french-cuisine/

Dec 15

European vs. American Homes

We’ve rented apartments in Paris three times. In addition, we’ve visited relatives and friends in the Netherlands and Switzerland over the years. There are features in some European homes that would be beneficial in North America:

  • Heated towel racks that double as a radiant heat source for the bathroom.
  • Separate the toilet from the rest of the bathroom. Most American homes have more than one bathroom these days, but this feature can be helpful in the morning rush.
  • Electric shutters. Our rental apartment in Paris is just off a busy street. The shutters protect the people and property inside from prying eyes. They can also serve as good noise and light blocks for people who sleep at odd hours (night shift workers).

As always, there are two sides to this post.

  • Most separate toilet rooms in France do not contain a sink. (Remember that I work in a hospital and my boss is an infectious disease doc; therefore, hand hygiene is automatic for me.)
  • We hate European home washers and dryers. Their logic escapes us. The set in our current rental apartment is driving Julian nuts. We can do metric conversions for temperatures in our heads, but the time it takes to get one load of laundry washed and dried is almost enough to pay someone else do it for us.
  • Most French kitchens don’t have an oven. If there is one, it’s small.
  • The kitchens overall are small. You think everyone has a La Cornue range in their flat? Pas de chance. (Come to think of it, we’d be hard pressed to shoehorn one into Casa Sammamish unless we put it in the garage and left one of the cars in the driveway. In addition, a La Cornue costs about as much as a new car.) David Lebovitz tells many stories about trying to bake in a Paris kitchen in his book, The Sweet Life in Paris. He also has a new book about his exploits in Paris, L’Appart. Maybe I’ll pick it up when I get back home.

Much of the differences are what one is used to. Americans are used to huge houses and (at least recently) large kitchens with big ranges. Retrofitting an old building with modern fixtures in Europe is not an easy task. Many of these buildings predate electricity and indoor plumbing. Bottom line: Vive la différence.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/15/european-vs-american-homes/

Dec 14

Gluten-Free in France

Two years ago (see this post) we were hard-pressed to find much in the way of gluten-free foods in France. I saw a couple of French translations of Wheat Belly and other “diet books” in a bookstore, but little food for folks who had to be gluten-free due to intolerance or celiac disease. Things may be changing, however. Our hotel in Lyon segregated some gluten-free foods on a counter away from croissants and other items on the breakfast buffet. There were gluten-free sections in La Grande Epicerie de Paris and Galeries Lafayette. Both also had a wide selection of non-glutenous grains such as rice and quinoa. We also saw a restaurant off Rue Montmartre called Noglu, which is entirely gluten-free. There is hope for celiacs in France.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/14/gluten-free-in-france/

Dec 14

For the Cute Shoes Clan

A masterpiece at only 250 Euros.

This artist must have been on some rather potent pharmaceuticals.

Another weird one.

We couldn’t resist taking these pictures of figurines in the window of a furniture store in Colmar.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/14/for-the-cute-shoes-clan/

Dec 14

Two Moments of Zen

We found these two window displays in Lyon. Enjoy!

The first one is of marmots.IMG_2035

The second is a geographically incorrect one of dancing penguins and a polar bear. (Sorry, the scientist in me sneaked out.) IMG_2036

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/14/two-moments-of-zen/

Dec 13

Last Stop: Paris

We checked out of Colmar and grabbed the train to Paris. Before we left Colmar, we stopped at a French bagel chain restaurant called Bagelstein’s. Before my bagel-eating friends book tickets to France, let me warn you: These are not real bagels. These are bagel-shaped dinner rolls. They are not boiled. If you want the real deal, stay on the North American continent. Julian got a smoked salmon sandwich, while I got a pastrami sandwich. Another difference between Bagelstein’s and American Jewish delis: the meat portions are more reasonable, demonstrating the concept of assez.

We’re renting an apartment near the Rue Cler, not far from the Eiffel Tower. The last time we were in Paris, Rue Cler was clogged with American tourists carrying their blue Rick Steves travel guides. Given that it’s mid-December, we may have fewer fellow Americans in the neighborhood. We walked around the corner to a restaurant called Brasserie PTT for dinner in the rain. I had salad Auvergne with beef cheek pot roast, Julian had a black eyed pea and sardine salad with a duck dish. The dinners were quite reasonably priced by Paris standards. The Brasserie seemed to be a neighborhood joint. Julian was greeted by one of the regulars, a pudgy Pug named Henri.

More news to come.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/13/last-stop-paris/

Dec 13

French Fluff Fixation

What is it with the French and Marshmallow Fluff? Two years ago we saw this at the Galeries Lafayette food hall:

I’m not sure if the sign is supposed to be ironic or not.

Our hotel in Lyon overlooked a bagel restaurant. Along with the oversized bagel models, there was a large model jar of Marshmallow Fluff. We found a candy store called Lolly’s down the street from our hotel in Colmar. This shop specializes in American sweets. Among the gift boxes in the window was this one:

There’s no way I could have made this up.

Lucky Charms, Marshmallow Fluff, and cotton candy? Where’s that insulin syringe?

When we were in La Grand Epicerie de Paris today, we noticed a new flavor:

Caramel Marshmallow Fluff?

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/13/french-fluff-fixation/

Dec 12

Next Stop, Colmar

Yesterday we took another train from Lyon to Colmar, in Alsace. Colmar is about 45 miles (70 km) south of Strasbourg. Colmar was spared some of the wartime damage that affected Strasbourg and other cities in the area.

Since Alsace has been swapped between Germany and France for centuries, the cuisine is a hybrid that tends toward German. Lots of potatoes, sauerkraut, pork, sausage, and the like. On our first night in town we went to the Winstub Schwendi, a very typical Alsatian restaurant across the plaza from our hotel. I had a vegetarian roesti, a shredded potato and cheese concoction, and vin chaud (hot spiced red wine); Julian had a pork roesti. Mine was a bit on the bland side.
Colmar has a Christmas market that stretches for blocks. Most of the offerings are made in China trinkets or local baked goods, along with the ubiquitous vin chaud. The city also had a craft sale in the old customs house. Some of the jewelry and pottery were quite impressive. The giant Advent calendar was also interesting.

Today’s main activity was a visit to the Musée Unterlinden, housed in a former convent. The highlight of the museum was the altarpiece of Issenheim, a multilayered, multi-panel painting of scenes from the life of Jesus and Saints Anthony and Sebastian. Pilgrims suffering from St. Anthony’s Fire (otherwise known as ergotism) used to pray in front of the altarpiece. One look at the accurate depiction of Jesus’s suffering, and the pilgrims realized they didn’t have it so bad. (A fun fact: Ergot derivatives have been used to treat migraines.)

Dinner was at Le Petit Schlossberg, another typical Alsatian restaurant. The specialty of this restaurant seems to be nontraditional meats. I had a venison ragout. You could also get ostrich, zebra, and kangaroo (non!) to cook on a tabletop grill. My ragout was almost black in color. I wonder if they used blood as part of the thickening. Julian ordered a gizzard torte. We split a bowl of three sorbets, which Julian said was the best food so far of our visit here.

This critter was looking over Julian’s shoulder at Le Petit Schlossberg.

I think we’ll go for something a little more tame on our last night in Colmar.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/12/next-stop-colmar/

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