Famous Chefs Market And Drinking Operettas

I absolutely adore going to the many outdoor markets here to pick out my fruits, vegetables and seafood.  They are all a dazzling feast for my eyes and the smells of roasting chickens, simmering paellas, tartiflettes, etc  offer enticing bouquets that titillate my nose as walk down the aisles.

This one had famous chef’s farmers who supply their restaurants and was all part of last weekend’s celebration, of Fete de la Gastronomie.

It took place just south of Pigalle and the Moulin Rouge on Rue Martyrs, in the 9th arrondissement, which has become one of the many foodie streets in Paris, where there is an overt concentration of  specialty food shops, butchers, bakeries, and green grocers.

Good thing I really enjoyed it, as by thursday I was having cold symptoms that totally sidelined me this weekend, causing me to sadly miss out on Nuit Blanche Saturday.

The small square was crowded and proved difficult to maneuver around to the booths, many laden with colourful autumn vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Some such as Joel Thiebault sells his beautiful produce at various marches in the city, such as the President Winston marché near Place Alma, which I hear he is soon retiring.

By the time I got there, a lot of the produce  had been picked over, since it started at 8:30 in the morning, but there were still some cooking demonstrations.

Three renown chefs were still there, Fréderic Anton  from the Pré Catelon,   Hélène Darroze with her two little girls, and Olivier Barbarin from Chateau d’Audrieu in Normandy.

The most unusual and certainly the most expensive food for sale by a long shot, was the guy selling fresh black truffles, from where I failed to notice.

They were tubers unicatum or summer truffles, and a small sac of dried ones were only 30 euros, which I found somewhat below what I would have expected, unless the weight corresponded.

There was a basket of larger fresh ones that a lady started to dig around in and bring out to smell, which was certainly very brazen of her, and even though the owner looked disturbed by her actions, I was surprised that he didn’t reprimand her.

She picked out two small ones to be weighed and was told it would be 54 euros.  I did not see a price per kilo for the fresh, but generally they are above 1000 euros/kilo.

I felt briefly tempted to buy, but I am pretty strict about my budget and not easily swayed to go beyond it, unless it is for a holiday or birthday meal.

There were also little boxes of various unusual herbs, and a few flowers , several that I did not recognise.  They are mostly used to garnish a plate or certain dish,  not only for colour but flavour.

I have grown and eaten nasturtiums, violets , Johnny jump ups, pansies and of course herb flowers such as purple chive blossom and pink rose geraniums. .  Only use flowers that you know for sure have not been subjected to any garden pesticides.

I might have bought  some of the very bright rainbow coloured chard, but was heading to my next stop across town and did not want to drag around a bag full of heavy and cumbersome vegetables.

I did feel a twinge of guilt accepting a free cloth tote bag, that I had fun stenciling my name.  It may have been set up for children, but there were big folks like me intensely stamping away with the stencils.

There were free rides for the little ones on the merry-go-round and kids of all ages were clamouring to make bicycle smoothies, which was totally new to me.

Basically it was a bicycle that had been geared up with a contraption to put a blender jar on and pedal away to turn the blades of the blender.

If you wanted a really smooth smoothie, you would have to pedal hard and fast and everyone one them were working up a sweat  in the process.

The flower stall had some spectacular blossoms that were tempting as well, but I ended up leaving with an empty tote.

It was also interesting and fun to amble down Rue Martyrs peering into shops and bakeries. Sebastian Gaudards looked the fanciest and I would have loved one of his mille feuilles, if not  knowing I would be making a puff pastry tarte for dinner.

I took the metro at Notre Dame de Lorette, heading towards Bercy village alongside of the Seine in the 12th arrondissement.  There was to be another marché and a free concert of operettas around french drinking songs, which are plentiful in every wine region of France.

Bercy was chosen for the event because it use to be a wine warehouse for wine negocients during the 18 and 19 centuries. Paris had another one at Jussieu in the 5th, but because Bercy was at one time outside the city limits, wine could avoid taxes levied upon it.

You can still see the rails embedded in the ground which were used to transport wine barrels that arrived in barges on the Seine. The wine was generally bottled and sold, some of which was undoubtfully blended with inferior wines.

As the demand for wine to be bottled on the estate in order to maintain purity grew more popular, the warehouses at Bercy were emptied out around 1960.

Now it is full of shops, wine bars and restaurants which are mostly chains.  Two crowded ones were popular American branches that were recently opened.

The other marché that I had planned to go had been canceled due to lack of security that could be provided.  Another fatality of the times.

Since I was there earlier than expected, I got a front row seat just next to the pianist.  They explained to the crowd a little of the history of Bercy before they started to sing.

Dressed in cute attire from the past, their voices were delightful. I was initially pleased to have been offered what appeared like a glass of red wine from a bottle they were drinking, but was shocked to find that it was grape juice!

That has never before happened to me here in France, but can understand that the singers may not have wanted to drink real wine  out of concern for their performance.

Disappointed and way too sweet for me to even take another sip, I left it untouched.  All in all the music was spirited and mood lifting and well worth the trip across the city to take in.

With all the horrible events like bombing of hospitals in Syria that make me sad and feel powerless to do anything to stop, these distractions are undertaken with sobering knowledge that suffering is going on while I have the freedom to enjoy these privileges.

Just another reason to feel much gratitude for all the many interesting and entertaining activities that Paris offers each week free to all.

For the moment, I can only offer my fervent prayers for this war to end.