A year in a French market: Spring


A year in a French market: The idle of May

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

There are a lot of stereotypes about French people and most of them aren’t true: they DON’T wear berets everywhere, they DO wear deodorant (at least some of them, anyway), and (some) French women DO get fat. However, as much as it pains me to admit it, there is one French cliché that is based […]

A year in a French market: Grey Paree

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

May seems to beckon people to Paris, if my recent steady stream of house-guests is any evidence. Too bad the skies have been grey and greyer. As a steady rain drips down right now, I am rethinking the old adage: May showers bring June flowers. 
The humidity is not good for my plumbing problems (which, after […]

A year in a French market: What’s in season?

Monday, April 6th, 2009

At a recent dinner party, somewhere between the cheese course and dessert, that age old question arose again. 
Are there no seasons for fruits and vegetables anymore?
“When I was young, we didn’t have any green salad during the winter,” said the woman across from me, poking her fork disapprovingly at a leaf of mâche. “Only endive. For […]

A year in a French market: Stinky cheeses

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Believe it or not, I spent my first few months in Paris buying only three types of cheese: chèvre (goat cheese), Brie de Meaux (which I now know is a town near Paris) and comté (similar to Gruyère). Why? Well, I like these cheeses a lot, but I wasn’t trying to satisfy a craving. No, mes amis, […]

A year in a French market: Paris plumbing and pesto

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

It started with the lights in the kitchen. One minute they were bright as a film set, the next the room had been plunged into darkness. 
When the electrician finally came, he seemed doleful. The problem was très, très grave, madame. He would have to break a hole in the ceiling to fix it, he said, […]