John Talbott

The Week of August 29th, 2005 {Editors’ Note: As you know, real journalists write the hot stuff up front and the details at the end, so their generally despised editors can cut paragraphs out from the bottom. Me, I go chronologically in the Digest – but caution – this time the juicy stuff (from F. Simon) is near the end. And if you’re not a Gilles Epie fan, stop reading here.} Last Thursday-Friday, Le Monde’s Jean Claude Ribaut wrote up Le Petit Verdot, 75, rue du Cherche Midi in the 6th, 01.42.22.38.27. Unfortunately, it’s only available now as pay for view. In any case, it’s the brainchild of the ex-sommelier at the two-star Cordeillan-Bages in Pauillac and ex-Director at Hiramatsu, Hide Ishizuka, who with a talented chef has breathed life into this old place {EN: which in the Pudlo 2005 is listed as “N=new”}. While he liked his terrine, rumsteak, etc, he loved the wines even more {for my review, check in next week; sneak preview, I agree}. Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand of Zurban, continued his color-themed recipe column, but this week, covering black, he dealt with a menu from cookbook authors – Raphaele Vidaling and Anna Pavlowitch (Pour en finir avec la cuisine de meme, editions Tana, 12E). The meal {EN: which I’ll give short shrift to because you cannot find it at a resto, as opposed to his prior contributions,} consisted of black mushrooms, black pasta with black eggplant and black (slightly sweet caviar-appearing) lentils.} Adrian Leeds of ParlerParis, Wednesday, wrote about the several year old place Le Domaine de Lintillac, coordinates in the guidebooks, but which I’ll mention because she finds it one of the best price-quality places in Paris (as she points out – where else is the wine 3.35-12.60 E and mains 7.40-10.15 E?) {Both John Whiting and I have posted our reaction to it already, somewhere in the cyber-ether}. Thursday, the freebie ParisVendu wrote of the new décor’d, new menu’d, new chef’d (for a year) Cap Vernet and the new brasserie redone by the patron of Wepler in 1930’s style - BistroB’, 81, av Bosquet in the 7th, 01.47.05.36.15, menus at 22 and 28, count on 26-52 E a la carte. Thursday, Jean-Claude Ribaut in Le Monde wrote up: the Bistrot Ternes 43, 43 av des Ternes in the 17th, 01.43.80.19.28, open every day [sic] except Saturday, Sunday and Monday with both “jazzy” music and food (e.g., nems with foie gras and caramel, tuna with endives, duck with turnips,) count on 45 E a la carte; Chez les Anges already well-covered by others three months ago; and Citrus Etoile, 6, rue Arsene-Houssaye in the 8th, 01.42.89.15.51, closed Saturday lunch and Sunday, chef’d by Gilles Epie (see much more below) where he liked the gray shrimp with girolles, lobster tail with green asparagus, and exceptional veal’s liver a la vapeur, and lots else, a la carte 50 E. In addition, Ribaut wrote a piece on Basque food (see below too), in which he mentions: El Kano in Getaria, Casa Camera in Pasajes de San Juan, Ostape toward Labourd, l’Auberge Iparia in Bidarray (both Ducasse inspired), La Plancha in Bidart, Chez Philippe and C’est Au Bon Coin in Biarritz. In Friday’s International Herald Tribune, Patricia Wells was still writing from the south, specifically from St Jean de Luz where she loved Chez Dominique in Ciboure and Le Kaiku in St Jean itself. Saturday, September 4th, Francois Simon et al wrote six pieces in Le Figaro, all for only 1 E, all of which were interesting. Starting from the top left is what seems to be a tradition after two years, an extended “Croque Notes”-type piece entitled “Good (and bad) New Stuff upon Returning to Paris,” aka “chef changes.” The picture accompanying it is either intentionally malicious or unintentionally vicious, it’s of Gilles Epie’s model-wife, wife-model, {whatever,} Elisabeth, posing as if for her “close-up – Mister DeMille.” Anyway, the news {much of which you already know} follows: Paris still rules?, even in the face of what’s going on in Tokyo, Las Vegas, New York, Toulouse, Nantes, Vichy, etc; Alain Ducasse, after opening his Benoit in Tokyo, redoes the same-named 1912 classic here; Alain Senderens turns Lucas Carton into a 100-120 E starless bargain; Gilles Epie {yet again, more later} opens his own place – Citrus Etoile with his ex-Elite spouse; restos are going Italian in order to stay alive, vide Laurent after Gerard Faucher’s death; Pierre Gagniere redoes Gaya Rive Gauche {which I’ve heard reopened this week}; Antoine Westerman might revive Drouant {can it be so?, my French must be worse than I thought}; maybe a good Autumn place is Maxan [sic], sited in the old Poele d’Or space {all this stuff and the coordinates are at their site} where the new ex-Dutournier trained chef Laurent Zajac seems to have replaced the prior ex-Ducasse trained chef Alain Bourgade {for unannounced reasons}; maybe also the real surprise is Fauchon’s hiring Fumiko {one name - like Christo, Prince, Barbara and Cher; about which there’s more later}, an inventive woman-chef who held private dinners that captivated le tout Paris; also notable is the move of Amici Mei to 44, rue Saint Sabin in the 11th, 01.42.71.82.62, and Fogon to 45, quai des Grands-Augustins in the 6th; Albert Corre has ceded his post at Pergolese, renamed Gaboriau, to an unnamed chef from Lyon who won the best worker in France award; Jean-Francois Rouquette moved from Les Muses at the Scribe to the Hyatt Vendome; Christophe David has gone to the Park Hyatt in Chicago to be replaced by Sandro Gamba of the Chateau de Lignan in Baumaniere; Claude Colliot, who “unjustly” {must be a story there} left La Bamboche, has returned to Iguane, Hotel Quality Suites in Merignac; Arnaud and Veronique Daguin opened a hotel-resto Hegia in the Basque country; and {whew!} ex-Ducasse chef, Pascal Bardet, has settled at the Grand Hotel des Ambassadeurs in Menton. Simon concludes on an upbeat note; saying French cooking is changing and the new generation has arrived. New paragraph - same page. Top right, Francois Simon poses three tough questions to {yet again} Gilles Epie, who this week opened Citrus Etoile, in an article entitled “I don’t spit in the soup.” First, how come he’s been at three restos in the past 18 months? Ans: I’m now back from the US to run my own place; I just wanted to make a lot of money in Las Vegas. Second, some/most of your menu looks the same? {I assume as at Miravile, Petite Cour + Les Pavillion des Princes}. Ans: Not at all, everything’s different; it’s got Californian verve and an Asian touch. Third, are you finished with the star-quest? Ans: I’ll take what I get, “I don’t spit in the soup.” Next, a thermostat with 4 points on the 0-10 scale; 8 Cinq Mars (coordinates given before), for a great place that hits the nail on the head; 6 Food Costes is making 4 sauces for your tartare or pasta (purchasable from Colette, Galerie Lafayette or Bon Marche); 3 Heineken has opened {after much advanced notice} its 3-floor beer palace at 65, av des Champs-Elysees, 01.42.56.88.88 {see my post next week for my first impression}; and 1 R’Aliment has closed on rue Charlot and will become an Italian restaurant. Bottom left are some very strange photos and blurbs on the “Top 5” {I assume chefs of the Rentree?} featured above - Alain Senderens’ is a bit too jokey (lobster over shoulder), Pierre Gagniere’s smiling but what’re you going to do with that mug?, Claude Colliot is “Rodinish Thinker-like,” and Arnaud Daguin’s off-kilter. Only Fumiko’s is straight and attractive. Then comes Francois Simon’s real “Croque Notes,” wherein he mourns the loss of Thomas Zorn, Swiss gastronome, author and apparently wonderful host and the retirement of Alain Loiseau, sommelier of Ledoyen, singular for his sweetness – the very antithesis of the martial, in-your-face type. Finally the product of the moment – mirabelles, which need only a little Serrano ham, no sugar please. Topping off or ending the week was the usual article in the JDD featuring a prominent chef’s personal affordable favorites; in this case it was Jean-Andre Charial of L’Oustau de Baumaniere in Les Baux de Provence who expressed fondness for Pinxo + Chez Liza, whose Lebanese resto is in the 2nd. In addition, Astrid de T’Serclaes wrote that about the rebirth of an old company cantine into a hip Cantine du Faubourg, 105 rue du Faubourg St Honore in the 1st, no telephone or opening/closing days listed, formula = 45E. In an interview about this week’s New Yorker food issue, where he wrote “about chefs in London and Paris who are taking food to the extremes,” Adam Gopnik, points to Alain Passard’s “innovation in elevating vegetables to star status as well as Pierre Gagniere + Guy Martin’s “sublime cooking, at once sincere and full of artifice…” Felice gave me a copy of Nouvel Obs with the names of the restos in Paris run by the young chefs she mentioned in her thread, which I’ll pass on to you this week. They were: Angl’Opera, Aux Lyonnais, Mon Vieil Ami, Le Pre Verre, Le Comptoir du Relais, Ze Kitchen Galerie, Chez l’Ami Jean, Le Bristol, La Muse Vin, Le Temps au Temps, Le Bistrot Paul-Bert, l’Avant-Gout, l’Ourcine, La Cerisaie, La Regalade, l’Ami Marcel, Banyan, + Le Beurre Noisette. This month’s Omnivore (#19) also arrived and not surprisingly, because of the overlap of food writers between it and the selectors of the chefs/restos above, featured an article on a reunion of the “Generation C” folk earlier this summer - William Ledeuil, Gilles Choukroun, David Zuddas, Lionel Levy, Eric Guerin, and Flora Mikula - discussing “Generation C”. Also highlighted was the third part of an interview with food historian/Professor at Paris 1, Pascal Ory (“L'histoire culturelle de la France contemporaine : question et questionnement") and several in depth looks at chefs and their collaborator/wives -- Jacques Decoret, Veronique and Arnaud Daguin, Lionel Levy, Eric Guerin and Julie and Laurent Trochain (who are moving to an eponymous resto in the Yvelines at 3, rue du General de Gaulle, 78490, Le Tremblay sur Mauldre, sort of North and midway between Versailles and Rambouillet, 01.34.87.80.96). Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

There are many more, but the newest was announced yesterday in Figaro - Fauchon has hired Fumiko, an inventive woman-chef who held private dinners that captivated le tout Paris.

Great; let me stretch this thread a bit. We'll be driving between Bordeaux and Nantes (actually the Coast Road between Royan and St Jean de Monts; don't ask); all great finds and secret places gratefully and, I hope, gracefully received; nasty comments and one-ups will be ignored.

Having had two wines tonight from Le Verre Volé courtesy of docsconz (an Anjou and a Mercurey), I'll be delighted try what else is there.

I've been quiet on this one but I must add that some of the best meals in my life have been at places unknown to me where friends have taken me and I've said "just ask the chef to please me." 100% success. 100% surprise.

Margaret; are you encouraging us to offer up places out of the ordinary (you know, not the Bocuse, Giradet, Guerard, Point memories) but places where no autos have but 73, 74, 75, and 78 license plates and where we'd drive in a second if given half a reason? Cuz I got one many klicks from civilization (34 from Annecy) - to whit - La Ferme de Lormay outside Le Grand Bornand - p 368 in the 2005 G/M.

Viola! and consistency.

Isn't that cool? Only in Italy or Spain have I seen it tho' and often women.

I realize it is too late for 2010's need, but for others searching this thread in the future, that indispensable weekly Zurban has just published a special on Paris at Night in which it lists the following markets that are open late (all are closed Sundays): Daily Monop - 6 bd, Sebastpol in the 4th, til 12 MN Daily Monop - 55bis, bd Montparnasse in the 6th, M-Thurs til 12 MN, F&Sat til 1 AM Monoprix - 52, av Champs-Elysees in the 8th, til 12 MN As for pharmacies, Zurban's ParisPratique page lists: Pharmacie des Champs - 84, av Champs-Elysees 24/24 Pharmacie d'Italie - 61, ave d'Italie 8 AM - 2 AM And 24 hour restos include: Au Pied de Cochon Le Tambour Les Chimeres Starcooker Cafe Atelier Le Mondrian l'Alsace Champs-Elysees La Maison de l'Aubrac Le Grand Cafe des Capucines La Taverne de Maitre Kanter Brasserie La Maison Blanche Bar Brasserie le Bastille Le Dalou Finally, bakeries: Boulangerie Kayser Mon-Sat 24/24 Trojette Farida Tues-Thurs & Sun until 3 AM, Fri&Sat til 4 AM, Mon closed

I find my habits are very different if I'm living here for a year or more than if visiting for a week or two and different if Colette is here or I'm alone. When alone for 10-20 days, I am much more willing to try new, well-reviewed French places than with wife and/or friends, where French golden oldies are the mode. On extended stays (one year plus), I try out places I once ate at that I liked but have dropped off the A-list not because there was a problem but others have passed them on the short-list, ethnic places, funky restaurants in the quartier and places that require a car (eg La Table de Blot in Dampierre). I suspect if I were here for only one day, I'd go to a blow-out starred place I knew and trusted (eg Frechon). As for the comment , it somewhat shocks me to recall that day after day thirty years ago, on vacations, we could eat lunch and dinner at starred places, some with 4-5 courses. Now, while my buddy and I can successfullly put away 3 or 2 (no dessert) courses in bistros, Colette and her good friend often have just the plat. - that's another aspect: I guess in days past - noise, smoke and sardine-jammed tables were less important, now we like to be able to converse and be understood, taste the food and relax.

This probably merits a whole new thread, but I cannot refrain from telling y'all that the issue of what's traditional French is now vexing the Michelin folks as well as they launch their NYC and Japanese versions, if my spies are accurate. How does someone (I know - they say their reviewers will all be native) used to French cuisine rate Juniors as an example? Illustrative Story: So many years ago you don't want to know, we were blind tasting bubblies before our (first and only) wedding and all six tasters liked certain bottles and without prompting said they were Moet or Veuve Clicquot. Punch line: the winner was Macy's non-vintage Red Star (Again, I know, Macy's stuff was indeed bottled by others). Point: We are creatures of habit, culture, experience and training.

There is a link but it's not very helpful as to content. No 19 just arrived in my boite aux lettres which I'll be noting end of the week. And as someone above has said, these guys see themselves as food writers not critics, they come from journalistic backgrounds/education.

Are we approaching the moment when chefs, like avant-garde artists, will tell us openly that their creations are not designed to give us pleasure, but to challenge our preconceptions? That their primary purpose is self-expression? That , for the sake of enlightenment, we must accept discomfort, even suffering? The next stage will be hotel rooms with missing windows, cold showers and lumpy beds. ← I have two divergent thots: first, this thread is in danger of becoming dominated by those of us so white-haired and creaky that we actually ate with M. Point, Pere Bise, Lamellois, Bocuse and saw M Guerard take off for he hinterlands and G/M push innovation and tasted the birth of Senderens, Ducasse, Gagniere, Passard. For us the danger is they represented the good old days. Second, some of the young guys play the equivalent of too too far out music, so dissonant and cacaphonal as to be jarring; their stuff pushes the envelope tooooo far (Gilles latest, L'Astrance, La Famille's "progress". But there is a middle, solid, less precicious ground represented by Cerisaie, Maison du Jarden, dare I say it Ze, Temps au Temps, Lauriston, db, etc.

This didn't sound like a marketing ploy at all to me. I think it's written by people who are passionate about French cuisine and want to make sure that it progresses. Plus, I've read Omnivore's monthly publication, which I assume you haven't, so I know that it's not just "another marketing ploy". ← Robert - As Felice points out, it doesn't seem you've actually read Omnivore because your description is out of kilter. Omnivore is the uncola or the unGaultMillau; it has no advertising, no glitz about wine, no content to ad ratio that is offputting, no big names with glossy pictures- instead it's interesting, peppy, iconoclastic and broad. It was started by some guys who were disillusioned with G/M for whom they were reviewing and who thought French cuisine should be brought to another level, much like Henri Gault and Christian Millau did in the 1960's. It has no resemblance to those booklets handed out in the provences purportedly published by suspiciously-named, seemingly fly-by-night, self-congratulatory organizations with titles like "New French chefs in the Midi over 5 feet tall with blond hair." Omnivore, Le Fooding (both the movement and irregularly published magazine) and Generation C, all intersect and all, if I understand them correctly, are an attempt by persons concerned with the stagnant state of French haute cuisine, to inject some new trends into classical (Generation A) and nouvelle/minceur (Generation B) cooking - whether thru looking at foreign (Asian, El Bulli, new products) sources, different types of cooking (sous vide, slow slow cooking, low/no temperatures), movements elsewhere (Slow Food) etc. Sure, the chefs featured in their articles/events (eg Le Fooding) will benefit and thus be marketed. If it sounds like I'm defending them and the movement, you're correct. Having heard them and read them (the writers, that is) as well as eaten at many of the restos championed by them (and I agree with Felice that it's nice to eat well and reasonably inexpensively) - I think they're sincere. You may say, well, by bally-hooing these "new young chefs" the writers are marketing them. In a sense you're correct, all French food critics promote French cuisine (was it Pudlo or Simon who said in his book recently that inevitably all French food critics want French food to grow and succeed, otherwise they'd have no work). The difference is that with Omnivore and a bookstore associated with the Fooding movement, they're saying, hey guys take a look at what's going on in Girona, Bangkok, California, Chile, South Africa, etc - in both food and wine - don't just read Escoffier. They're not, like G and M, merely finding talent and promoting it. I'm as cynical as the next guy and I too have seen trends (millefeuille, purees, kiwis and other "exotic" fruits, pumpkin soup, layered amuse gueules) come and go. Only time will tell with this bunch, but at this point, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Today's New York Times Magazine had two letters to the Editor on Amanda Hesser's article; the latter noting that "since the 1960's" it's been known that containers made of plastic can "leach chemicals into food" and advocating for less harmful plastics.

The Weeks of August 15th and 22nd, 2005 Way back in June, somehow missed in my sweeps, was an article in Paris Voice by Julie Baker on “Cool terraces for hot summer nights” that suggested several places: Le Roland Garros, Le Bar Vendome, Les Arts, Diep, + A Tavola Ristorante. Monday, Aug 15, Amber Garrison in Postcards From Paris reports on a fine meal she had at Chez Julie, a new restaurant located at 31 rue Mirabeau, Deauville (the “21st arrondissement), 02.31.87.22.11. Monday as well, my eGullet colleague Felice reports that the week’s Nouvel Obs cover has a banner head - "Ces Restaurants qui font la Revolution" and that it contains “a very interesting article about young chefs who are going against tradition;” e.g. those called Generation C chefs. It has a pull-out listing 140 such restaurants nationwide. {EN: It is not available on their website, so get a friend to buy it if you want to see what they are}. More here. Monday’s l’Express has four articles about food in four regions – the Atlantic Coast from Oleron to Noirmoutier, the Basque country, the Cote d’Azur and Corsica – with recipes, restaurants and farmers’/etc addresses. If you’re interested you can read them here. Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand again followed his summer color recipe tradition, featuring the “whites” of Alain Passard of l’Arpège, 84 rue de Varenne, in the 7th, 01.47.05.09.06, including a salad of white radishes with lemon juice and olive oil, ivory-colored encornets, white onions {with a pear, yup, that’s what it says} and elderberries, and a dessert of white pears – everything it seems to be cooked very, very slowly in butter. Wednesday as well, indefatigable eater/reporter RW (Johnnie) Apple Jr reported in the New York Times on langoustines and where in Brittany to eat them: l’Azimut in La Trinite sur Mer, La Duchesse Anne in St Malo, l’Auberge Breton in La Roche Bernard, the Maisons de Brincourt in Cancale, and the Hotel de Carantec-Patrick Jeffroy in Carantec as well as l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, + Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. Thursday, Gilles Pudlowski in Le Point noted that Cédric Poncet has left l’Appart' for a new bistrot Chez Cedric, 13, rue Denis-Poisson in the 17th, 01.44.09.03.30 with a menu at 20, a la carte 50 E. In addition, the woman chef Nathalie Mahé has gone to Au Vieux Molière, 12, passage Molière in the 3rd, 01.42.78.37.87, a la carte : 45 E serving marrow beignets with aioli sauce, tuna tournedos and sautéed foie gras. He also notes that Pierre Gagnaire, 6, rue Balzac in the 8th, 01.58.36.12.50 is in fine fettle and serving a 92 E lunch menu with tapas starters, market veggies, daily special and desserts; he also has menus at 225 and 260 E. Finally, he along with others likes the Cour-Jardin at the Plaza, 25, av. Montaigne in the 8th, 01.53.67.66.65, a la carte 80 E for its Ducassesque southern mets, escabeche of sardines, risotto, cod and cocoa-raspberry cold dessert. Sunday/Monday, Margaret Kemp in Bonjour Paris wrote about Le Jardin des Cygnes, the restaurant-garden at the Hotel Prince des Galles, 33 avenue George V in the 8th, 01.53.23.77.77, lunch everyday but Sunday starting at 49.50, brunch is 55 E with wine. {EN: It’s not really a review but more of what one would write if invited to tour and eat there as a promotion.} Friday’s International Herald Tribune brought the rentree of Patricia Well’s, writing from Riec-sur-Belon {some name huh?} about “Dining: in oyster country.” She mentions two places: the Huîtrières du Château de Bélon in Port de Bélon, Riec-sur-Bélon, 02.98.06.41.43 where 15 Euros brought her “a dozen oysters, bread, butter, lemons and half a bottle of {Muscadet} wine;” and Les Viviers de Térénez on the Route de Térénez in Rosnoen, 02.98.81.90.86 where she had oysters, crabs, smoked trout and {again, Muscadet} wine for 60 E. The summer issue of Gastronomica is dedicated to Julia Child; thus much of it is France-related and some articles are available on their website. Especially relevant are Noel Riley Fitch’s “Notre Dame de la Cuisine and the Prince des Gastronomes” about her early Parisian culinary training; Patrick Healy’s piece on “In France with Julia” about her (and Paul Child's) life at their house in Provence; Laura Shapiro’s “Sacred Cows and Dreamberries;” and Joan Reardon’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” about the writing of her classic first books. Kitty Morse also has a letter/article on “Le Fooding” trend and she highlights three places: Café Charbon, R’aliment + Le Barathym, all of whose coordinates have been mentioned, along with the bookstore-art gallery “Food Gallery,” 58 rue Charlot in the 3rd. Two publications are reviewed which are of interest to us: a book, Histoire de l’alimentation: Quels enjeux pour la formation?, Julia Csergo, Christophe Marion eds, Dijon, Educagri Editions 2004, 199 pp, 22 $ (paper) featuring 27 papers given at a conference on teaching about food, especially in France; and another scholarly journal, like Gastronomica, Food and Foodways and Food, Culture and Society - entitled Food and History, The European Institute of Food History, Tours, Turnhout Belgium, Brepols 2003, 274 pp, 50 $. Last Wednesday, Sebastien Demorand in Zurban got to the color purple/violet with Benoit Bordier of Chez Jean, 8 rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th, 01.48.78.62.73, where the recipes and food included: a sangria like cold red onion soup with tartines slathered with violet mustard and grated gruyere, rolled beef carpaccio with red cabbage, raddichio and pureed violet potatoes, topped off with blackberries and beets with purple basil and cream of blackberries. Sunday, Margaret Kemp in an article entitled “Where the chefs eat” [on vacation] in Bonjour Paris mentioned several places on the south: Lei Mouscardins in St. Tropez, La Table de Robuchon in Monaco, the Auberge des Templiers in Vence, Le Sud in Valescure, L’Escoundudo in Le Rayol-Canadel, the Chévrerie du Peigros in Collobrières, and La Verdoyante in Gassin. Rosa Jackson, who writes “Paris Bites” for Paris Notes, reviewed Le Comptoir of Yves Camdeborde (coordinates above) very positively, except for the crabmeat and veal trotter gelee. Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

Ditto plus. I've been there almost a dozen times and not only have never been disappointed, I'm very impressed by the food. Plus, although I didn't get onto the Lipp thread, my opinions mirror those of other detractors. I think that based on your opinions of Ze and Lipp, which are the exact reverse of mine, you should burn the list I gave you fast. Hope you do better the remainder of the trip.

Well, while not quite equivalent, at Le Comptoir one does know what one will be served, Yves Camdebord's meal is essentially a "menu surprise" and I've heard no one on eGullet complain; come to think of it, neither do they about Alice Waters' place where I took several French friends for what I advertised as a meal they wouldn't have in the US or France - that night it was steak/frites.

1. Most neighborhoods have 7/11-like shops that are called "Arab," in the mould of "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran." Like the Korean grocers in NY they offer basic but ample olives, veggies, wine and tinned goods. My local Monoprix closes at 9 PM as does the La Grande Epicerie at Bon Marche. 2. Saturday morning, many neighborhood bakeries/pastry shops and outdoor markets, including the bio one on Raspail are open until 1 PM or so. Sunday afternoon things are pretty tightly closed. Have a good visit.

On French news last night there was a piece on Lir, a 6% alcohol content grape product said to be part of France's answer to the fall in sales of their routine wine products. Googling it results in a couple of articles, e.g. here, that sound like Lir is produced by chemical gee-wizz technology. Has anyone seen, tasted, ordered it/them?

We were dining with a very bio, health-conscious individual last night and she asked if toxic ingredients in the plastic bags leached into the food. I could not answer. Googling the subject today I'm aware that there's much concern, eg in iv bags. Anybody worried about this?

and they/you may not be able to get Friday’s International Herald Tribune with an article by Patricia Well’s from Riec-sur-Belon about two places: the Huîtrières du Château de Bélon in Port de Bélon, Riec-sur-Bélon, 02.98.06.41.43 where 15 Euros brought her “a dozen oysters, bread, butter, lemons and half a bottle of wine;” and Les Viviers de Térénez on the Route de Térénez in Rosnoen, 02.98.81.90.86 where she had oysters, crabs, smoked trout and wine for 60 E. She loved both.

Answer: Because everyone's entitled to have a fermature annuelle and the nearest places open are usually posted outside. In my neighborhood it's about 1/2 in July and 1/2 in August. But as Felice points out elsewhere, the rentree is in full swing, school began for the 4-day-a-week kids this week, and by the weekend, most folks will be in town.

Ah the old Groucho Marx problem: "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member."

While there are changes, eg the conversion of a horsemeat store to a bra boutique, the conversion of a cremerie to an eye-glass store, the conversion of a grocer to a wine shop, the musical chair switch of a cheese monger to a butcher shop, the conversion of an oyster shuckery to a shoe store; the Rue Duhesme/Poteau market in the 18th remains pretty much as it was 20 years ago.