A French Feast
Discovering the joys of 'les marchés'--and of traveling once again
“So how was the food?”
That’s one of the first questions everyone asks now that we’re back from our trip to France.
I should have a ready answer, but I don’t. It wasn’t so much the meals we ate that wowed me, but the spectacle of an edible feast on display everywhere we went and the joy, pride and intensity surrounding its making, acquiring and eating. This was particularly true at the markets—the famous marchés—both open-air and covered that we encountered on the pedestrian street where we stayed, but also elsewhere in Paris, along the scenic Saône River in Lyon, and inside a big hall in Avignon.
It was also the pleasure of the morning baguette from the boulangerie down the block, the croissant from the other one round the corner, the perfect little fruit and custard tarts in the windows of the patisseries, the surprising number of fromageries with their array of fresh and aged cheeses, the chocolateries, at least three of which were on Rue Cler, our quiet little street not far from the Eiffel Tower. It was the poissoneries (fish markets, not poison shops!), filled with every variety of fish and seafood and the boucheries (meat shops) in the markets, where you’d see whole ducks, pigs, rabbits, pheasants and chickens, with heads still attached.
The markets and shops seem clearly designed to serve the home cook, which in France I was not, as we were staying in hotels without the means to prepare anything more ambitious than than a sandwich (but why bother when there was such a delicious display of them nearby?).
There were the charcuteries (shops and stalls that sell prepared meats), with the seeming endless varieties of aged sausage, flavored with nuts, cheese, olives, mushrooms, pimento, and more. There were the preserved fruits and nuts, including the rich Middle Eastern displays, like the one near the famous Marché d’Aligre in Paris’s 12th arrondissement (district) where I bought candied citron, lemon, cherries and plums to cart back to the U.S. for a future fruitcake. (Oh no, you say, not the dreaded fruitcake—but maybe, with these delicious, additive-free fruits, it will be the one fruitcake everyone wants to eat!)
Of course there were the cafes, brasseries, bistros and restaurants everywhere. There are differences between these designations (read about it here), with a café generally being the most casual and restaurants for more serious diners.
In Lyon, a city carrying the slightly intimidating, and apparently richly deserved, title of “gastronomic capital of the world,”1 there were also the bouchons, meat-centric eateries serving the traditional food of the city, such as Salade Lyonnaise, foie gras, and breaded tripe (tablier de sapeur). I didn’t attempt the tripe but tried a dinner of sausage in a red wine sauce with creamy potatoes that was quite good, especially the potatoes and the dessert, a rose-tinted praline tart that’s a regional specialty.
Both Jeff and I are enthusiastic fans of Nutella crêpes and had to have one almost every day. Luckily for us, there seemed to be a crêpière (crêpe maker) on every block! Occasionally they’d even sing for you!
And, as mentioned in my last post, we did discover that hamburgers, once a rarity in France, are now almost as ubiquitous and popular as the croque monsieur. The fries (frites) that accompanied them were some of the best I’ve eaten, often arriving steaming hot in little metal baskets.
Chance encounters
One of the great delights of dining in Paris and the other two cities we visited—Lyon and Avignon—was sitting in a restaurant, so close to other diners that you couldn't help chatting, usually in English, but occasionally, tentatively, I tried out some of my high school French, which happily began to come more easily as the days passed. Sadly, almost everyone, including the charming front-desk clerk at our Paris hotel, Najib, insisted on speaking English, except for his cheery morning greeting: “Bonjour, madame!”
At Petit Cler, a cozy restaurant that Najib recommended not far from the hotel, Stephane, a Belgian professor and musician on vacation with his 13-year-old daughter, offered to refill my empty wine glass from his bottle of Côtes du Rhône after overhearing me telling our server how “délicieux” it was. He had just taken his daughter to visit the extensive Egyptian exhibit at the Louvre Museum. We were inspired to fit in a last-minute visit to the Louvre. Sadly, we didn’t have enough time for the mummies, but we did get a brief glimpse of Leonardo da Vinci’s (and the museum’s) most famous masterpiece, Mona Lisa, as the clock ticked down on our late-night visit (hint: buy tickets ahead!).
The celebrated lady with the enigmatic smile occupies a place of honor in the Louvre’s largest room but appears rather small and slightly disappointing shielded behind glass, with the crowds craning to see her over a barrier. Still, given that the painting has apparently been vandalized or stolen five times, it’s easy to understand the precautions.
“Why is the Mona Lisa such a big deal?” Jeff wondered aloud. After racing by historic paintings of Joan of Arc and Napoleon crowning himself and his wife Joséphine emperor and empress, I admit I had the same question. This link to an article from ARTnews offers a few possible reasons, including the public’s fascination with the unsolved mystery of the identify of the painting’s subject.
Other Highlights
In between eating and that abbreviated excursion to the Louvre, we did do other things, including visiting several museums (among them my particular favorite, the Musée d’Orsay) and Montmartre, where we climbed to the top to see Sacré-Coeur, like everything else in Paris following the pandemic—or probably even before it—a huge tourist magnet.
In a way, I think we should have done less and just cooled our heels in a café sipping espresso and nibbling on tarts and croissants.
As it was, we did try to do a little too much, as you do when you don’t know when you’ll be back. We did enjoy some inspiring art, architecture and historic sights, especially when we just strolled down the street to see what we could see. We wandered into the courtyard of Les Invalides, where Napoleon’s tomb is located, and across the beautiful Pont Alexandre III, the striking Beaux-Art-style bridge completed in 1900. Along the Seine on the other side, there was still fall foliage, with a distant view of the Eiffel Tower and a bride and groom taking advantage of the moment.
Clearly Paris is as much a feast for the eyes as for the stomach. The best moments are when you manage to dodge the other tourists, which we accomplished best when we stayed away from their favorite spots—but sometimes you just can’t because you want to see what everyone else wants to see. Luckily our little neighborhood in Rue Cler, though not far from Eiffel Tower, did turn out to be a welcome respite from crowds most of the time. And the window shopping was mouthwatering!
Final thoughts
The thing about vacation is that when you’re on one it feels like it will never end, but then once you’re back home it feels like it never happened. Luckily unlike dreams that melt like mist in the morning light, we have the modern miracle (or some might call it a curse) of the cell phone to capture visions of the experience. Since Jeff and I took some 5,000 photos between us (the large majority being his!), it won’t all blur into unreality any time soon—and there will soon be a Photowalks TV episode to remind us of the experience. Stay tuned.
I do have more to say about Avignon—particularly about a well known bridge and an ancient palace that once housed seven popes (though not all at once!). As everyone is probably already hard at work on Thanksgiving dinner, I will save this tale for a future post.
Happy Thanksgiving! I’m enormously grateful to those of you who take the time to read this newsletter, subscribe, and maybe even leave a comment.
See you soon—or, as they say in France, à bientôt!
Ruth
According to the website Expatica, “there are more restaurants per head in this picturesque hilly city than any other in France. In fact, the country’s third-largest city is home to a whopping 17 Michelin-starred restaurants. Among them is Auberge du Pont de Collonges, the two-star flagship restaurant of the late, famed chef Paul Bocuse, the so-called “god of French cuisine.”
Great write up!
This is a wonderful round-up of your trip. I have never been to France (and doubt that I will ever get there) so it was extra nice to hear about your travels. The photos do make me a bit hungry though :)