Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities has come to my mind this week. As billionaires and the French government pledge money to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the Yellow Vest protests continue. While I do not condone vandalism and violence, the underlying circumstances that spurred the protests nearly six months ago have yet …
Tag: Paris
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/04/20/it-was-the-best-of-times/
Apr 15
Rebuilding and Resurrection
This is the season of renewal. Whether you celebrate Easter, Passover, or the Vernal Equinox, spring engenders hope. The fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during the Christian Holy Week was a horrific sight. Paris has lost an icon. However, the city has many examples of places that represent renewal. A couple of …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/04/15/rebuilding-and-resurrection/
Jan 27
Medieval Night
Last night was our 2019 French dinner. Since many of the churches we saw during our December trip to Paris were built in the Middle Ages (Saint-Denis, Notre Dame, Chartres, Sainte-Chapelle), we declared that this dinner would hew to the Medieval Diet. So what is the Medieval Diet? We eliminated ingredients that French folk would …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/01/27/medieval-night/
Dec 23
Last Day in Paris
Our last day in Paris was jam-packed. Bruce attended Mass while Julian and I went to the Grenelle open-air market. We always seem to go to these markets the day before we return to chain-grocery monotony. The displays of fish, meats, cheeses, and other foodstuffs were tempting. Julian bought a vegetable peeler and a tin …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/23/last-day-in-paris/
Dec 17
More Vacation Lessons
Nobody needed to visit an emergency room this year. We got to Charles de Gaulle Airport in plenty of time to catch our flight home. We had congenial companionship with our friend Bruce and Julian’s cousin Kitty. With the exception of the train ride back from Chartres, it was a very pleasant vacation. As usual, …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/17/more-vacation-lessons/
Dec 16
Montmartre Revisited
In a post three years ago, I registered my reservations about the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur. We went there today after our sojourn to the Eiffel Tower. It could be that the neighborhood is growing on me, or at least the basilica is. It was much less crowded than in …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/16/montmartre-revisited/
Dec 14
Free the Tower!
This morning we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. You’ll recall last year’s post that the Champs de Mars and the Tower were ringed in ugly chain-link fencing, making it very difficult for pedestrians to get around the tower to access the bridge over the Seine. This year the Champs de Mars was surrounded with …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/14/free-the-tower/
Dec 14
Breakfast in Paris
We do breakfast comme des Parisiens on this side of the Atlantic. Every morning we go to a bakery and get a fresh baguette pas trop cuit (not too hard) and a couple of croissants. We have juice and assorted cheeses on hand in the refrigerator. We’ll also pick up some fruit. Then we feast. …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/14/breakfast-in-paris/
Dec 13
Basque-ing in Goodness
Tonight’s dinner was at a Basque restaurant near our apartment called Pottoka. Le Pays Basque straddles the border between France and Spain. The Basques are independent sorts who have their own language, which bears no resemblance to any other Indo-European tongue. They were horribly suppressed by the Franco regime in Spain; as a partial result, …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/basque-ing-in-goodness/
Dec 13
Power Tools of a Different Type
Today’s adventures involved looking for the woodworkers near Place Bastille. Since our woodworking friend Bruce is joining us on this trip (see the post, Our Wine Cellar), we were looking for power tools. We ran across one wood shop that had this gorgeous chair in the display window: After lunch, we walked up to the …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/13/power-tools-of-a-different-type/
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