Civil Disobedience & Sauce Béarnaise

Another day of great fun and exploration has just ended.  I got up and out very early by Paris standards.  I awoke early so I could video Skype with Jen and see my cutie pie kitties on screen.  Little Birdie has grown already and Percy is as adorable as ever.  Olive is at Grandma's house (her favorite place in the whole wide world) in case you are wondering why I couldn't see her over Skype...I miss my little family!

I was out the door by 9am to start my exploration.  Larisa is going to have a hard time adjusting to starting her days "late" as she is such an early bird.  We'll see if she picks up the slacker French lifestyle by the time she leaves. I have had no problems at all with the pace here!  I went to see the Bastille this morning.  I thought I was there a few days ago but turns out that I wasn't at the Bastille at all.  It was some other landmark that I have yet to figure out.  The Bastille is an open square (actually a circle if you want to get technical) with a huge monumental column in the center.  This site used to be a prison long ago and it was stormed on July 14 - hence Bastille Day.  This place is still used for public protests and in fact was at the center of the recent strikes and protests we all watched on the news a few weeks ago.  By the way, people here are really pissed off that their retirement age has just gone from 60 to 62.  The Bastille is a busy place with lots of traffic and chaos which I suppose is appropriate for it's purpose.  I have been reading "Even Silence Has an End" by Ingrid Betencourt the entire time I have been in Paris.  Ingrid was a Columbian presidential candidate that was kidnapped by a guerilla army in 2001 ( I think ) and held captive for 6 1/2 years.  There's a lot of controversy about the validity of her version of the story but it is certainly captivating.  I've been reading this book every night before I fall asleep and I was thinking about her experience while I was at this historic place known for civic uprising.  I wonder why there wasn't a lot of public outcry over all of the hostages that were taken during that timeframe.  There were so many people kidnapped during that era that they had several radio broadcasts of family members sending messages to their captive loved ones.  I know the issues are complex and I am certainly no expert in South American politics after reading a memoir but these were my ruminations while visiting this historic place.

On a much lighter note, I discovered a 2 entirely new shopping areas.  It seems that Parisians like to shop as much as they like to protest.  I thought I had seen all I could in the Marais neighborhood but lo and behold I discovered another cool area on the way to Place de Vosges.  There was even another Camper store - that's 3 I've seen so far.  Oh, and Place de Vosges was pretty too.  Open park area, fountain, sculpture of a guy on a horse....did I mention 3 Camper stores so far?

I made my way to Marche D'Algire which is an open air and covered market.  We had visited this market before and enjoyed it immensely.  It's funny because this time I didn't like it so much - the vendors were much more aggressive and didn't seem to really care about their products.  I've learned that I prefer the smaller markets closer to the town center much better as they are way more laid back.  How spoiled am I that I can now say I don't like a green market in Paris...sheesh!

This evening was my Autumn French Bistro cooking class at the English speaking cooking school.  Our teacher Julie was French and spoke great English.  She has worked in restaurants however now spends her time as a private chef and instructor.  She was a little bossy and I loved it.  She was strict about keeping our work area clean and focused a lot on technique.  We made soupe au l'oignion, saumon avec sauce béarnaise and chocolate souffle.  All very classic French dishes that French people don't eat any more.  I loved all of them and will definitely try to recreate that salmon dish at home.  I realize that I never sauce anything I cook but here in France, everything comes with a sauce of some kind and they are all delicious.  It really is perplexing how these folks stay so healthy because they typically eat a big lunch with wine and eat big dinners with lots of wine every day.  I have even noticed more than one baby being wheeled around in a stroller while suckling on a pastry - no lie!  I know, I know...it's a lifestyle thing.  They walk everywhere blah blah blah.  While I'm definitely not French, I have no problem emulating this sauce-filled/walk-filled/shop-filled lifestyle - at least for a few more weeks...