No matter what goes wrong, or even bearing in mind the imperfections of the day, today was pretty much the encapsulation of my fantasy of moving to France. And it could easily be expressed thusly:
I shopped in markets, fromageries, and boulangeries, all walking around in a beautiful city. I brought it all home. I cooked and ate it.
I am not bragging or gloating, or saying anything was perfect. Life goes on and is full of hardships that we bring with us and that visit us as well. But bearing all that in mind, this was what I comically aimed at, and it was pleasantly amusing to see it hit its target after so much... fuss.
"But what did you get?" You reasonably want to know.
At the Liberation Market I bought an eggplant, three tomatoes, a bundle of local herbs and the lady asked if I wanted some parsley at checkout so I said yes, a pomegranate from Espagne, a lemon with a lot of leaves still on it, a few misshapen kiwis, potatoes, and two onions. At the laterie, which was really a cheese shop, I bought some bleu d' auvergne, reserve comte, and very hard gouda that the lady used three knives and so much trouble to cut that I applauded when she managed it. I also got a quart of their milk, from Normandie, and a chunk of reduced fruit gel that tasted like a very good fruit roll up. At the boulangerie I got a baguette and an apple pastry just cause it looked good. At a corner store I picked up a bottle of champagne.
I spent about 50 euros.
"Great, is clerkmanifesto now going to just devolve to being a bunch of shopping lists?" Someone asks.
I don't know.
Maybe.
I'm trying to integrate with French Culture.
Oh, did you want a picture version?
The fans want cheese tasting notes!!!
ReplyDeleteI will gather my thoughts on the matter, but, more importantly, gather more cheese!
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