*** Actually burgers are VERY trendy in Paris at the moment. We even have a burger joint in our neighborhood (besides the ubiquitous McDonalds which the French call MacDoo). But having tried a couple of the fashionable burgers, I can detect almost no resemblance to what I think of as a burger. The flavors are lovely, and I've enjoyed them, but they aren't burgers.
*** A young Frenchman won a stage of the Tour de France today with all of France rooting for him on the last, killer of a hill, the Wall of Brittany. Good for him! He deserved the win, and it's nice to see the home team take an inning. (Thought I'd mix my sport metaphors there a bit in honor of my baseball and cycling loving brother-in-law, Peter.)
*** We get few channels of English speaking TV here, just a couple business and news channels. I think it's a good thing - keeps us honest and watching French language TV. We're regaining our sports vocabulary, watching the Tour de France on local coverage. Not to mention how interesting the coverage is, since they have a cultural commentator who explains the history and cultural importance of the sites the race is going by. Fun to hear the history of the chateau that the helicopter is filming, in between tracking the peloton.
*** The hydrangeas on our terrace are in an absolute blooming frenzy. They look like the familiar snowball bush of Denver, but on steroids. Big balls of tiny creamy flowers, these are about the diameter of soccer balls. I've brought some in for cut flowers. And speaking of flowers I've learned to buy what I see, when I see it, at my local florist. Seems like plants are like most everything else here - lovely quality that may only be available for a short time, and there are all these fragile looking elderly ladies who are circling like sharks to nab the best plants.
*** And back on the topic of terraces, I cleaned the tile on our lovely little red "Pagoda Terrace" where we often eat lunch or breakfast. I'm pretty amazed at how dirty things get here. Must be huge amounts of crud and dirt in the air. It wasn't just a matter of sweeping the tiles, I needed to wash them with hot sudsy water. I guess part of my amazement is that, even if the air is as dirty as I think it must be, my asthma and allergies have been all but non-existent here - such a dandy vacation from them. I guess I'm only allergic to things my system recognizes. But I'm still glad we did our homework and are in one of the lowest pollution areas of the city. It's bad enough here.
*** We get advertising circulars in the mail, and I try to take a look at them to work on my vocabulary, if nothing else, since we don't have any of the large vendors nearby. A recent advert was from E. Leclerc, a big grocery chain, sorta like King Soopers or vaguely Target. I was interested to see one of their promotions was to label the French makers of a whole series of Leclerc's products. The labels indicated the name of the company, the area of France, the founding year of the company, and the number of employees. I've noticed before that all produce and meats are always labelled clearly with their origins, but this is the first time I've seen such detailed labelling. Interesting. Obviously the locavore movement is alive and well in France.
*** Looking at the prices in the circulars, I realize that we are spending more to buy from our little local stores. Can't manage to work up much regret as the quality from our nearby vendors delights me, and we also enjoy the friendly interactions. It's very nice to have your wine vendor remember exactly which wine you bought before, when all you can manage to recall is that you want "that lovely, inexpensive Bordeaux you recommended when my brother-in-law was here." Or to have our cheese monger suggest a house-made, local brie layered with ground pistachios "because you liked that other brie so well." (The pistachio one was to die for, by the way.)***I keep noticing new aspects of the neighborhood. Just noticed that we have a store nearby that sells carpentry and electrical tools for workmen, and uniforms and safety equipment for them. An interesting contrast to the store that sells handmade, harps for symphony orchestras, the shop that specializes in gifts for bar and bat mitzvahs and the jumbled, rarely open shop that seems to be for clock repairs although we're not sure.
*** Warren would like me to stop babbling and tell you what we did today. We had a leisurely breakfast of tea, croissants, and big, fat, black cherries. Then we wandered out to stroll through a nearby weekend flea market where I bought a silver plate teaspoon for 2 euros to use for our tea sugar, and just because it was so pretty. We came back to watch the Tour de France and enjoy the cool breezes flowing through the apartment. We've be luxuriating in a spell of cooler weather. And, with washing the little terrace floor and making the burgers for dinner, that was today.*** A postscript - I'm hoping Warren will append some more pictures of Paris Coats of Arms. We've found some more!
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