Toujours Bon Appétit

My new friend Sydney and I share many common interests, and one of them is our shared love of Julia Child.  So, it seemed only natural that we make a day out of seeing Paris from Julia’s eyes – that is, where she lived and shopped.

So this past Saturday, that’s what we did.  While attending Le Cordon Bleu, Julia was a regular customer at E. Dehillerin, a kitchenware store that has been around since 1820.

E. Dehillerin, 18-20 rue Coquillière, 1er arrondissement

The store was absolutely magical.  From the second we opened the creaky door and glimpsed the wall of copper pots and pans hanging on a cork-board, we knew we could easily imagine Julia being right at home there.  There were narrow aisles of every cooking utensil you could imagine stacked neatly on shelves stretching from floor to ceiling: pots and pans (both copper and stainless steel), thirty different types of knives, molds, whisks, things which I didn't know their function…

The store's front-window display of copper pots and pans.

The store just kept going on, and on...it even has a basement, which you access by way of a creaky, winding staircase. It was really charming, actually! And they weren't kidding when they said they sell for professionals.  We found a giant soup pot so big that I probably could've sat in it (if I were looking to get kicked out of the store in 5 seconds flat!) And then, hidden on the back wall, was exactly what I was looking for: a POÊLE À CRÊPES (crêpe pan), the most beautiful kitchenware item I’ve ever owned!

My new, stainless steel crêpe pan!

They also sold crepe pans that were lighter weight, coated with a non-stick material.  But I wanted something really original --and that meant no shortcuts.  This one requires preparation before I can use it! The salesman I talked with explained that with this pan, the crêpes come out with a softer, more authentic texture, and so my decision was made! 

From there, we headed to 81 Rue de l’Université, or “Roo de Loo,” as Julia and her husband Paul affectionately called their Paris apartment.  I had been in that neighborhood in the 7^e arrondissement before, on our program’s excursion to tour the Assemblée Nationale the previous week.  But what I hadn’t known is that on that day we’d been literally blocks away from Julia’s former apartment! It makes sense that since they’d been living on Paul’s government salary, they’d live in an area with government buildings.

81 Rue de l'Université

I finished the afternoon with a little treat to myself, which I think Julia would very well approve of: English Breakfast tea and a pastry called L’Opéra. 

While we're on the theme of food, even an act as simple as grocery shopping is really different in France.

One big difference is the grocery stores themselves, which are MUCH smaller than their American counterparts, often with narrow aisles barely wide enough for two people to pass (you have to turn sideways – personal space is not really the same concept here) and shelves almost up to the ceiling.  Another thing: don’t except someone to bag your groceries for you, nor for them to provide you with plastic bags, either! Often there’s a charge for plastic bags, or you’re on your own.  That explains why it’s common to see people walking down the sidewalk with what looks like a giant backpack on wheels.

A couple weeks ago, Sydney and I made an exciting discovery: there’s an organic store right around the corner from our foyer, only a 5-minute walk away! Organic is referred to as bio here. Below is what I bought on my very first real grocery shopping trip here, all from the organic store – oatmeal, soy milk, olive oil, pasta & sauce, and in the second picture, something really hard to find, and quite expensive here: Peanut Butter!! (at around 4 euros, or $5.50 a jar).  

I told myself I wouldn’t make a regular habit of buying peanut butter in order to better integrate myself into real French society...but giving it up is really easier than I thought it would be! While it has normally been a staple of my diet in the U.S. (maybe more so than I’d care to admit), I’ve started to forget it exists over the past couple weeks. I’ve only taken it out once or twice to spread on a morsel of bread or apple, but for now, what I consider the ultimate American comfort food is going to just bide its time to be taken out on special occasions.

And today, I leave you with a quote which I think applies really well here, reminding me to make the most of every minute of my stay in France.  Julia Child concludes her memoir, My Life in France, by reminding us that “the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite — toujours bon appétit!"