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New words I've learned
since arriving
le chiffre
la montre
sentir
sensibilité
bête
éparge
souvent
sourir
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April 14, 2002, 0930 hrs
Last night, at the restaurant, Patrizia complemented me at one point on my French pronunciation. She said that I had ordered very well, it was just that the madame taking the order didn't speak good French and that is why she didn't understand me (or pretended not too, it's hard to tell sometimes). Sometimes the French pretend not to understand if one doesn't use the correct definite article. Apparently, "une croissante" is completely unintelligible compared to "un croissant" (the correct form, masculine). All bread seems to be masculine (oh, joy!; a rule I can understand). My phone connection here at the Résidence is currently not working. One has to paid an account in advance in order to use the phone and one is charged by the minute. I've been using it a lot lately and have run through my 15E credit. Unfortunately, the concierges don't appear to work on the weekend, so I cannot recharge my credit. I hope to catch one of them in the hall before the end of the day so I may connect again. Here's a quickie snap of the front door of my residence (on my way to market): )
I was pleased that Patrizia confirmed last night something I had suspected. I have been reading L'Equipe daily and I try and read other French publications and notices (the various politicos are giving out flyers daily now because the national election approaches in another week or so). Anyway, the writing in L'Equipe struck me as of a very high quality compared to some of the other writing I've been reading.. I know, you scoff. But really, the sports writers for L'Equipe appear to take their art, and their language very seriously. I loaned the paper to Patrizia and was pleasantly surprised when she confirmed that the writing was of a very high quality (the constructions and verb forms were quite sophisticated apparently). So I appear to have lucked out in my quality of daily reading. I know now that when I read La Libération - the major liberal daily - that it's easier for a reason. Well, I should be off to the Marché Public and to look for a concierge. The sun has finally broken out again (after hiding for a couple of days) and my good mood has returned. )
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From left to right, I encountered this seller of dried fish near the very end of the market, where I had not gone before. Since I was going to buy the product, I didn't engage the merchant in conversation. So unfortunately, I don't know what they were.. I should have written down the labels. A table nearby held these fresh herbs, quite a few of which I didn't recognize. On the way home I passed a boucherie halal, which if I remember right is basically Muslim food that conforms to religious standards for slaughtering and preparation (equivalent of Kosher). BTW, the kosher meal I had on the plane over was basically unrecognizable as food. I ate it, but I have absolutely no idea what it was (and wouldn't order one again). The far right image is of a fresh fish seller (there are a couple in the market). I guess we're not that farm from the ocean here, because there was some fresh tuna on the table.. )
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I did the photographer thing and took some detail shots that showed off the color of the foods. On the left are some lovely light-green peppers. They seem awfully large to be jalapenõ, so your guess is as good as mine as to what they are. Then some lovely ripe strawberries (I'm sure they are organic), some more fresh fish and finally some amazingly large leeks and red peppers. The leeks looked lovely - but I would have to be cooking for twenty to use one that size I think.. )
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On the far left and right are some perspective shots so you can get an idea of how large the market is. It stretches about three city blocks and sells both household stuff (gadgets, cooking implements, clothing, handbags, luggage, jewelry) and a wide selection of food. Since most restaurants and daily food shops (boucheries aside) seem to be closed today I suspect that the French buy their day's food at the Sunday market. The second from the left photo is a table just of different kinds of honey. I'll probably explore these more when I have occupied my studio and can actually have a place to store foodstuffs. Finally, the third from the left is of a set of rotisseries cooking many chickens. This was one of three or four sets (a lovely smell in the air) of chickens cooking. Since it was near the very start of the market (where people entered) it was quite difficult to get a good photo and this is the best I could do.. )
Here is the cheese seller where I bought that wonderful St.Marcellin cheese the other day. This time, he wished me "Bonne Dimanche" as I departed. Yet another greeting. I wanted to buy two and he asked me how I wanted them, "sec", or "demi-sec" or some third choice that I don't remember. The difference is basically in degrees of ripeness. The "sec" being quite dry - and not yet ready. The demi-sec being edible, but one should wait a bit (maybe a day or two I would guess) and the third being quite ready to eat today. When they wrapped them up, they gave me three, so I don't know if I have two ready to eat today or just one (I haven't opened my package since I got home. L'Equipe came with a weekend magazine yesterday and I'm working my way through it. Came across a nifty ad for 'Hotels Premiere Classe': Vous n'aurez plus besoin de tricher - which translates as you don't have a need to resort to trickery. They have (I believe) built these hotels along Japanese lines where access to your room is controlled by your carte bancaire (bank card) and you can stuff up to three people in your room for 28E. Not a bad deal at all I should think (considering I just spent about 85E per night for two nights in the Rue Cler). And the room comes with private shower, toilet, and cable TV. Nifty. Having a good time.. I'm going to do the week's laundry and finish my baguette with some of that wonderful butter and St.Marcellin cheese I just bought.. |
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