Three days in France and the familiar feeling of being in another world has set in. The combination of being catapulted into another time zone and a complete different life here makes one wonder if I had ever left.
There is something about French life and French culture that has been coveted by many, but I think it’s the casual sophistication of everyday life that can captivate you. The appreciation of nature, the slower pace, attention to details, setting a table, rituals like after lunch coffee and the daily walk to fetch your baguette. As an outsider on the inside I blend well, but notice the differences.
I’m barely off the plane when my kitchen is filled with fruits from my sister-in-law and father-in-laws gardens’. From Valerie, tiny golden plums that you must stop yourself from devouring and from Jean-Claude freshly picked raspberries that are so tiny and sweet. Fresh from the garden, can’t beat that kind of welcome.
My in-laws are a farming family, so they naturally have more roots to the earth- pardon the pun. But I would say it is European in general to appreciate growing some sort of fruit or vegetable in your garden. Obviously if you live in a city like Paris this is hard to do in your apartment, but where we live here we are in a suburb of Paris and it is influenced by all of the farm lands in the surrounding area.
It is not a culture of one stop shopping. You don’t roll into QFC and get strawberries any time of the year that don’t taste like strawberries. They may LOOK like them, but they certainly don’t taste like them. No. Here, you eat strawberries when strawberries grow naturally, in the summer. They are small strawberries that are so deep red, and when you bite into one, you really taste summer. You taste sweetness and freshness. Since I won’t be able to bring home this fresh produce, I will be better about going to our local farmers market when I get home. I hope you are enjoying some of the markets in your area.
Who doesn’t love the convenience of one-stop…..but what are we racing around to do really?
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