Paris Journal 2013 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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In several ways, this
summer is different from other summers in Paris. One of the major differences is that we are
reading the news online instead of buying newspapers in “hard copy.” Tom started doing this
months ago, back home in Florida. Ever
since he had cataract surgery, he finds it easier to read on a back-lit
screen than on paper. He also doesn’t have to
wear glasses at all anymore. I’m
envious of that. I was still reading the
newspaper (local paper and New York
Times) in hard copy until we arrived here in Paris this year. Now, like Tom, I’m reading the news online. One reason for that is that
the International Herald Tribune
(the international version of the New
York Times) has become so darned skinny and costs so darned much, that it
isn’t worth it. Le Parisien has so many pages of horse-racing information that we never use that it
seems like a waste to buy it – conspicuous consumption. And that newspaper does not contain
high-quality journalism. Le Parisien is even a couple notches below
U.S.A. Today. We finally tired of buying
and reading Le Parisien. But I must
replace it with some online news in French, perhaps Mediapart. What do you think? What French-language news sources should I
read? During a heat wave, one
advantage of newspapers in hard copy is that they don’t produce heat the way
a laptop computer does. Printed newspapers
are convenient, too, for reading in the metro, or on a park bench. There’s no doubt about it,
the invention of the rotary printing press in the 19th Century
made the distribution of news so much more practical. As an American, I believe
that Richard March Hoe was the inventor of the rotary printing press. But French people think that a man named
Marinoni invented it. Hoe (a New Yorker) invented
his rotating press in 1843. Then he
invented another one in 1870 that could print on both sides of the
paper at the same time. Hippolyte Auguste Marinoni
invented his rotating cylinder press in 1847.
You won’t see that in the English Wikipedia. This is one of those times when it helps to
read both the English and the French Wikipedias. Unlike the Hall/Héroult
debate regarding the invention of the electrolysis in the processing of
aluminum, where an American and a Frenchman each applied for a patent in the
same year (see my entry for August 12, 2012),
this time there is a significant difference in time. 1843 is most certainly years earlier than
1847. Nevertheless, the French
have named a Parisian street after Marinoni because they believe he invented
the first rotary printing press. However, we know that Hoe
did that, in 1843, when Marinoni was a mere 20-year-old lad. That said, I do appreciate
the way the French name their streets after scientists, inventors,
mathematicians, poets, politicians, artists, authors, and philosophers. Shortly after we saw the
rue Marinoni street sign, we saw a developer’s name engraved on the façade of
a Hausmannian building: A. Dechezleprêtre. Now THAT is a curious name . . . . I tried to find out about
that name, but all I came up with was a modern-day Antoine Dechezleprêtre,
who says he is a Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute on Climate Change
and the Environment, London School of Economics, and also a Research
Economist at LSE's Centre for Economic Performance and a Research Associate
at CERNA, Mines ParisTech. That sounds more
interesting even than a developer of Hausmannian buildings. According to Geneanet.org,
“Dechezleprêtre” is a “curious name coming from the Creuse,” a department in
central France. It’s where those
wonderful Aubusson tapestries and carpets originate. But it is not where that
marvelous Le Creuset cookware is made.
That’s in Picardy, in northern France. Even before we started
coming to France, I was a fan of Le Creuset’s enameled cast iron
cookware. Tom owned some, and I became
acquainted with it when he and I met and started cooking together (late
1980s). Tom bought his first Le
Creuset pans in France, when he was here in the mid-1970s. It was cheaper to buy Le Creuset here then;
I’m not sure that’s still true. Anyway, he treasured that
set of four enameled, oval cast iron pans so much that he carried it back
with him, on his lap, on the airplane.
If you are familiar with Le Creuset, you will appreciate how
uncomfortable he must have been. Those
pans are HEAVY. Later, he bought more Le
Creuset, including one of the classic covered pots. “Le Creuset” means “the
cauldron.” That’s what Paris felt like
yesterday afternoon, and probably will this afternoon as well, unless we are
saved by a thunderstorm. Wouldn’t that
be nice? Yesterday afternoon, I
looked down from the kitchen window and noticed that the glass roof over Le
Café Du Commerce was closed.
Hooray! They finally turned on
the air conditioning! So I made a reservation,
via LaFourchette.com (thefork.com).
Even when no discount is offered, I like using LaFourchette.com for
making reservations because there is a record of the reservation, and you
have it right there on your smartphone in case the resto lost record of
it. Also, reserving with
LaFourchette.com is a way to assure the resto has your name correctly in its
book. On its online reservation form,
LaFourchette.com even makes it possible to make little requests, like “une table en étage, s’il vous plait?” The resto doesn’t lose these requests,
because they are written down, in the lafourchette message. We like to be seated
upstairs (en étage) at Le Café du
Commerce. And so we were. I had the fish-and-vegetable special of the
day, but then I also had a baba au rhum,
all to myself. Tom ordered the chicken
suprême, which was excellent,
followed by a dramatic and large Dame Blanche
for dessert. Tom does love a generous
sundae. Tonight, Bistro 121 is open
again. With its serious air
conditioning, good food, nice service, and 50% off discount via LaFourchette,
it is an obvious choice for dinner tonight.
And so we go. |
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Street
named for Hippolyte Auguste
Marinoni, a man who did not really invent the first
rotary printing press.
Building
developed by A. Dechezleprêtre (you can barely see
his name in the upper right corner).
Faux filet special
at Le Café du Commerce on July 8.
Goat cheese ravioli at Le Café du
Commerce.
Looking
down at the counter, from our upstairs table.
The
fish-and-veggies special.
Tom’s
chicken suprême
came with scalloped sweet potatoes that were delicious. |
