Paris at a Certain Age

French Films and Sainte-Nitouche

I know, I know, Gilmore Girls was a TV series, not a film. And they aren't French. But thanks to the miracle of DVD's and the 'language selection' option, I'm watching the shows for the first time and with French subtitles. The series is known for its witty repartee and teenage argot. So I am learning all sorts of new words, like Sainte-Nitouche for example. A Sainte-NItouche is a goody-goody or a goody two-shoes. It's derived from n'y touche, as in 'don't touch'. Along with watching French films (with or without English subtitles), watching American films with French subtitles is a great way to learn new vocabulary.

Salon du Chocolat

Parisians talk about the Salon du Chocolat with sighs and dreamy looks in their eyes as they recount tales of eating their way through last year's event. Fortunately we were warned to go early and avoid the Toussaint holiday weekend unless we wanted to fight through crowds to get to the chocolate. So today we made our way out to the Porte de Versailles, just a bus ride away from our apartment, arrived when it opened for the day, paid our 12€ entrance fee and proceeded to eat our bodyweight in free samples of amazing gourmet chocolates. Chocolate is taken seriously in Paris and is quite expensive but of extremely high quality. This event had 153 stands of the finest chocolates in the world (France, Belgium, Switzerland, Tokyo, Madagascar and on and on). So we more than made up the entrance fee in samples.

We ate chocolate dark/milk/and white, with every imaginable flavor (e.g. orange, violets, lavender, pistachio, ganache, chiles, cranberries), and every type of nut.

They also featured candy. What a thrill to taste candy from a Cordon Bleu award winner of the Best Confiserie in France! They had jams, too, and we sampled spoonful after spoonful.

Lunch was decadent: a foie gras/chocolat/confit d'oignon sandwich on a fabulous baguette.

We watched demonstrations of chefs making chocolates and truffles and listened to presentations.

They had chocolate sculptures and chocolate fashions.

Numerous exhibitors spoke of chocolate's beneficial effect on health, well-being and the spirit. It's influence on l'amour was evident as well.

The King of Cheeses

We just returned from Burgundy with this cheese, dubbed the King of Cheeses by no less than Brillat-Savarin.
It has a deep orange color and strong aroma. The taste is equally strong and rich. Berthaut won a gold medal for his Époisses cheese, which is one of the AOC cheeses(Appellation d’origine contrôlée) of Burgundy. This cheese is unpasteurized and a little bit of heaven.