Truffling

Cheeses marbled with aromatic black truffe have taken over Paris fromageries and are gravitating to many more places besides the apéro planche: fondues, omelets, mac-cheese, pizza, risotto....

 

Below: grilled (truffle) cheese sandwiches

 

 

Ghost café

 

 

Following distant laughter a night walk reveals an empty café.

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Autumn in Montmartre

A café terrace

Two tables, four chairs, two ashtrays.

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In spite of a preoccupation with la santé publique (public health) and the many precautions surrounding Le Covid in France, ironically, smoking continues as before, as evidenced by ashtrays set out on terrace tables at most cafés and restaurants. Before smoking inside restaurants was prohibited I'd been working on a book, "The Non-Smokers Guide To Paris," but while my co-authors and I were still researching and compiling information the ban came into effect and in truth, it was a welcome development.

 

When the law first appeared it clearly stated that besides interiors, enclosed terraces would be subject to the new smoke-free rules. But in no time at all smokers and their smoke invaded all terraces. Owners turned a blind eye; many of their regulars were smokers, as were they. I’d grown up around cigarettes; my father had been a chain smoker for awhile and, it seemed, so were all of his French friends who’d spend hours together all talking at the same time, puffing away. Smoking was not stigmatized, it was sophisticated, a choice, an after-dinner plaisir enhanced by an espresso, and I chose not to take it up, nor was I tempted (deaths in France due to smoking-related illnesses are high but accurate stats are hard to come by). So I shouldn't have been surprised when the prolific tabac quietly showed up on the list of “essential purchases only” establishments allowed to stay open, along with supermarkets, gas stations and pharmacies during the confinement.

 

While Paris, as any large city, has its share of noxious vapors and air pollution, for me, one thing that's come out of all this is that masks can make sense. However whether they make sense for a virus (smoke molecules are much larger yet their fumes go right through the masks) is another debate. - BPJ

Most missed

One of the things I missed most during le lockdown? Chaotic sharing meals around a table, with friends.

  

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10 things I missed most
July newsletter

School rules

Schools in France reluctantly re-opened on May 11 and so far, into the third week, all seems to be going well.

Above: posted outside elementary schools, "Gestures to retain. To protect me and to protect others!"

Restez chez vous

 

 

Not everyone is fortunate to have a home.

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Some bénévoles (volunteer) organizations in Paris:

Tous Bénévoles
France Bénévolat 
Je m'engage

Santé!

"Santé!" (to your health...), the standard toast in French, has never seemed so apt.

Above: setting up for Sunday night's multi-time-zone zoom session when everyone raised a glass

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The grissini is Mario Fongo's whole wheat hand-rolled grissini integrali at Eataly Paris (online), many Italian specialty shops, at La Grande Épicerie and other épiceries. Call first.

Who was that masked man

Home deliveries / Livraisons à domicile

Pizza isn't the only show in town when it comes to ready-to-indulge home food delivery in Paris. Who wants to rattle pots and pans day after day when you can answer the door to a pair of smiling eyes blinking above a mask, leaving you to return to that still-warm couch to catch up on the latest coronavirus developments? Besides Boulangerie Poilâne, here are three more favorites from before the lockdown that I was delighted to find had stepped up to the plate, so to speak. - BPJ

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La Maison Plisson (above) is keeping two of its shops open during the crise as well as offering products for sale online: fruit, prime ribs and meats, vegetables, baguettes, cheeses, Bordier butter, tasty spreads, seafood, organic eggs, granolas, organic champagne (!), alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

93 Boulevard Beaumarchais 75003
35 Place du Marché Saint-Honoré 75001


 

Flyin' Circus a new delivery service run by the popular Circus Bakery is taking orders for their superb sourdough bread, banana bread, and apple pie. The infamous cinnamon knots are also available, and they will deliver to every Paris arrondissement except the 12th and 13th. They make their own deliveries on bicycles, and orders placed before 4 p.m. will be (safely) dropped at your threshold the same day.

 

Eataly, the mega mercato in this Italian food hall in the Marais district, offers pre-packed baskets as well as baskets to order - wines and cheeses, fruits and vegetables; spaghetti, pasta, and brunch boxes, even a "family kit." Individual products such as charcuterie, olive oil, panettone, Moscato and a selection of taralli can be delivered within Paris starting at 8.50€ with a 50€ minimum.

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A new crop of web video platforms is being used as never before to meet up en groupe for tea, coffee, or an apéro, a fun way to stay connected with friends and family scattered all over the world.

May newsletter

Empty chairs

Empty churches.

Bulk bread

In France we're not bulk buyers but these long-lasting whole grain pains au levain outside a boulangerie were being sold in large hunks and sliced into several days' worth.

Ça va passer

Yesterday's headline: "Liberty Confined"

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The other day a very old lady, hunched over, maskless and pulling a shopping caddy behind her, mumbled a French version of "Bah humbug!" as she passed the line at a local organic foodstore. Everyone was wearing masks and, in silence, keeping prescribed distances when she burst out, "Ça va passer!" - this will pass - waving her free hand in disdain. A welcome gesture, it broke the ice and everyone laughed and agreed that we need to put this into perspective - as well as treasure this precious disappearing generation, sadly, today's most susceptible, who've seen it all: wars, holocausts, depressions, recessions, pandemics, natural disasters. - BPJ

Forty days

 Yesterday's announcement that the lockdown will be prolonged (hopefully for no longer than two more weeks) came as no surprise. In the Middle Ages the practice of quarantine (from Italian quaranta giorni; forty days - quarantaine in French) was considered the minimum amount of time needed, they noticed, to remain in confinement to prevent an epidemic from spreading. The term dates from the days of the Plague in the 14th century when ships would sit at anchor in the Venice harbor for forty days before landing. What will the end of our quarantaine bring? - BPJ

 

Update: It brought another lockdown. And another.

Evening apéros

Well before the lockdown, we'd made it a tradition to have a pre-dinner apéritif almost every evening, whether chez nous, chez friends, on a café terrace in nice weather or at a favorite wine bar, wherever we are. And the drink needn't be alcohol - it could be a fruit juice, iced tea or sparkling water, with accompaniments of anything from peanuts, chips, pretzels or olives to cheeses, sausages or more elaborate canapés. - BPJ

Above: dried mango, almonds, whole wheat grissini, two kinds of cheeses

Below: yesterday's gin tonics, cheeses, spicy cashews, cured sausage w/fennel, dark German bread