Paris Journal 2013 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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One of the
first Wednesday-morning courses that I attended at my church after the then new
pastor began to teach them was about the history of Haiti. I had a burning need to know more on this
subject, and after I attended that course, I attended many more. Pastor John is not only a great scholar of
history, he is also a fine teacher/lecturer.
Must be that bachelor’s in theatre that he has . . . . From that
course, I got to know Richard and Margot.
Knowing about my fascination with France, one Sunday before the
service began, Richard leaned across the aisle and asked me what role, if
any, France had in the history of Libya. I had a vague
sense that there was such a role, and that it wasn’t the typical 17th,
18th, and 19th Century French Imperialistic deal. I knew it was some kind of post-World-War
deal. I said to Richard that I’d look
into it, because I was curious about that, too. I later told him what I learned about the
French control of the Fezzan area of Libya in the 1940s. Naturally, I’ve
been thinking about the same thing in regard to France’s role in the history
of Syria, given current events. So
today, I delved into that subject. I’ll share what I’ve learned. During World
War I, Britain and France covertly agreed to divvy up what had been the
Ottoman Empire. This secret 1916
agreement had a name, Sykes-Picot, after the diplomats who concocted it. So while it was
Arab and British troops who captured control of Syria in 1918, Syria became a
French mandate in 1920. Then there was
an independent Kingdom of Syria that lasted only a few months because of a
fight between the King’s forces and the French forces called the Battle of
Maysalun. The French
simply took over, and the king (Faisal I) had to flee. Later, Faisal I became king of Iraq. That same year (1920 still) there was yet
another “agreement” that gave France control of both Syria and Lebanon. Naturally,
there were Syrians who were not happy with this, and a revolt started in the
mountains and spread throughout Syria in 1925. The French suppressed the revolt by
sometime in 1926, and put a death sentence on the head of the leader, Sultan
al-Atrash, who fled the country and did not return until 1937, after Syria
negotiated its independendance from France.
The Syrian people were happy to see him return. The
“independence” wasn’t complete because the French kept a military presence
there and exacted economic control.
There was a constitution written and adopted, and an election was
held. Hashim al-Atassi was the first
president to be elected in Syria.
However, the French National Assembly refused to ratify the treaty
that had been negotiated! Thus, when
France fell in 1940, Syria became theoretically controlled by the Vichy
government. But it must
have been pretty difficult to control a country from afar when that country
had declared its independence and, beginning in 1941, was occupied by the
British and Free French forces, no matter what the Vichy government claimed. Syria finally
received true independence as an aftermath of World War II, but still the
French were slow to withdraw. They
were pushed out finally in 1946. Due to politics
in Syria, things haven’t been smooth running in this republic. But France’s controlling role ended in
1946. In keeping with
current events which have a decidedly global charater, we dined at La Boussole on rue Guisarde last
night. A boussole is a compass. La
Boussole specializes in world cuisine, with a French twist. It harkens back to the the old spice trade
among peoples in Asia, Northeast Africa, and Europe. The décor of
the restaurant takes on the spice trade theme, and includes some ship parts
and pieces. One curious item I noticed
in the restaurant’s video is a part of an old boiler made by Mast & Foos,
a company started in 1875 in Springfield, Ohio. “Springfield, Ohio” were not words I
expected to see on display in a Parisian restaurant. Our shared
starter course was nems de légumes a la
menthe fraiche, sauce saté (spring rolls with fresh mint an satay
sauce). These were terrific! They might be the best spring rolls we’ve
ever tasted. Tom’s main
course was tataki de saumon frais, wok
de légumes croquants aux épices Cajun (seared salmon with stir-fried
vegetables and Cajun spices). He loved
it. My main course
was a croustillant de magret de canard,
sauce au foie gras et fève de Tonka (duck breast slices in a thin pastry
with a smooth, brown sauce that is made with foie gras and Tonka beans).
Very tasty, very nice. The
sauce was inspiring. For dessert, we
shared a little dish of fresh pineapple with rum, topped by a scoop of
coconut ice cream. Now here’s a dish I
could and should serve in Florida. (We actually grow a few pineapples in our
back garden, mixed in with the other bromeliads. The trick is to harvest them when they’re
ripe, but before the racoons find them.
This is tough; racoons are wiley.) There is a lot
of Asian and North African influence on this European “spice route”
menu. La Boussole is an excellent
place to go when you want French food, but at the same time, you’re tired of
it. We liked our
server – a handsome young man from the Ivory Coast. Although we were speaking French, he wanted
to speak English. He had a charming
accent, and I told him so after he apologized for his “bad English.” It wasn’t bad at all. He’s a student, and Tom asked him if he
planned to return to Ivory Coast after his studies. The young man was not sure because, he
said, of the on-again off-again war there. It was
interesting to see that he seemed to be relaxed and friendly when speaking
with us; but when he was intereacting with the two young French women at a
table near us, he was strictly formal. If that’s what
we are, the friendly Americans who put people at ease, I treasure that. |
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Oleander, a subtropical poisonous plant, growing in pots in the
courtyard of the Delacroix museum on rue de Furstemberg. Below, more plants in the same charming
courtyard.
Spring
rolls at La Boussole.
The
croustillant
filled with duck slices actually had strips of the same kind of vegetables
used as garnish worked into the pastry forming the croustillant. That, along with the
rich, smooth brown sauce that incorporated both foie gras and beans, made this normally
ordinary dish into a very creative one.
Tom’s
teriyaki seared salmon with stir-fried vegetables. |
