Paris Journal 2009 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Our restaurant “discovery” of
the summer, La Gitane on the avenue
de la Motte-Picquet, is where we took Dan and Mary for dinner last night. When we arrived and were seated
by our congenial and funny server, he brought us two menus in French (for Tom
and me) and two in English (for Dan and Mary). He spoke good English, but I
spoke French to him because I just cannot stop myself. And when I was reminded that
the Thursday night special is tete de
veau (calf’s head), I could not stop myself from ordering it. Here’s a recipe
for the version of calf’s head with ravigote
sauce that I ate last night. Tom, Dan and Mary are not as
adventurous when it comes to food as I am.
Part of my reason for ordering the calf’s head was that I wanted to
see their reaction. It is part of Dan
and Mary’s French experience, I told myself.
If they won’t eat calf’s head, then they can watch me eat it! Tom and Mary kept their
feelings to themselves. Dan started to
make a comment that he was having a hard time dealing with the calf’s brains
on my plate. I quickly responded, “Too
bad.” The server was very impressed
when I ordered this dish. I was far
from alone, however; almost half the people in the restaurant were eating
calf’s head. Tête de veau packs the restaurant on Thursday evenings. When the server brought the
calf’s head, it arrived in a covered stainless steel pot. Before placing the pot by my plate, he
asked “Do you know calf’s head?” I responded “Oui!” I have eaten it once before, at the
Chartier Bouillon on the rue du Faubourg Montmartre, two years ago. But that time, it did not come with the
brains or tongue or ravigote sauce. After I said “Oui!” the server
gave me an approving smile, a thumbs up gesture, and he said “Almost
French!” I laughed because that’s the
title of Sarah
Turnbull’s very funny book about living as an Australian in Paris. The calf’s head was delicious, and the ravigote
sauce was divine. I won’t go into
details about the dish; you can read the recipe for that. Bon
appetit! The other day, I noticed the guardienne from the building across
the street having an animated discussion with two other neighborhood ladies
out on the sidewalk. I thought about slowing
down to listen, but instead I went on my way to buy newspapers. When I returned, she was in our building,
on the ground level, talking to the substitute guardien about something that clearly bothered her. When I read yesterday’s Le Parisien, I figured out what was
wrong. Early Sunday evening, the
police noticed some adolescents acting suspiciously at the corner of rue du
Commerce, avenue Emile Zola, and rue Fremicourt. This is just around the corner from our
apartment in the 15th, . It
is the corner where we use the ATM, buy wine, and sometimes buy
baguettes. It is where I think we will
go later today to make copies of Tom’s book manuscript. So the police staked out the
area. I do appreciate the way the cops
of the 15th are so proactive.
At 2:30AM on Monday they caught the delinquents in the act of “theft
with violence” when they stole a backpack from a passerby. While investigating, the police
discovered that earlier in the evening, the three delinquents had already
assaulted two other passersby. One was
a man, from whom they stole a briefcase.
The other was a young woman, from whom they stole a purse. The violence is what especially
activates law enforcement in Paris.
The delinquents hurt the man so badly that the doctors prescribed
three days off work for him, and the young woman was prescribed four days
off. This paperwork which the doctors
fill out for all injured crime victims is used by the news media to give
readers or viewers a measure of how badly people were hurt. Two of the delinquents are from
housing projects in the 15th arrondissement. But the police will not say which projects
so that they don’t attract violence between gangs. This provocation is what occurred,
evidently, this past winter in the 15th when the news reported
which projects particular delinquents were from. Somehow, that triggered a gang war in which
a 21-year-old man was killed. It turns out that one of the
delinquents from the 15th in this week’s case was also wanted for
a theft-with-violence that occurred in this neighborhood last March. In that case, the victim was given ten days
off work. But she was able to identify
her attacker, so he’s been locked up in a very serious jail now. This kind of crime is not
typical of the neighborhood. I’m 80
percent certain that this was what had upset the guardienne across the street.
Maybe one or two of the victims are residents of her building. Who knows. But this kind of crime does
happen around Paris, and not just near the housing projects. This is why I don’t carry a purse at all
while I’m here. I just have my little
wallet that is pinned on a chain to the inside of my pocket, and I always
have pockets, except when I wear a dress.
Then the chain goes around a bra strap and the wallet is in my
bra. Be safe out there. |
Friday, July 31, 2009
The Saint Leon church on Place Dupleix in the 15th
arrondissement.
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