We began our exploration of Paris today with the panoramic views provided by the Tour Montparnasse. With the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame de Paris cathedral, and Centre Pompidou visible all at once it seemed as if we were about to take on all of Paris at once. The city is 
quite organized, considering its age; many of the buildings seem to have grown up alongside each other, encircling little quaint gardens and fountains. After descending from that lofty height, we had lunch in a very chic restaurant. It was amusing to watch the waiters, who seemed very proper and formal at first, hold back their smiles at a young toddler wandering the restaurant. While some of the customers looked up when she started to cry, her presence seemed very much accepted, despite the fact that she was making faces in the glass and playing with the velvet curtains.
quite organized, considering its age; many of the buildings seem to have grown up alongside each other, encircling little quaint gardens and fountains. After descending from that lofty height, we had lunch in a very chic restaurant. It was amusing to watch the waiters, who seemed very proper and formal at first, hold back their smiles at a young toddler wandering the restaurant. While some of the customers looked up when she started to cry, her presence seemed very much accepted, despite the fact that she was making faces in the glass and playing with the velvet curtains.Dinner was truly magnificent at a small restaurant called le Tastevin on l’Ile Saint-Louis. With a quaint and intimate interior decorated by bottles of wine and twinkling lights we began our traditional French dinner with a bit of champagne or white wine. The entrées followed and in a normal American restaurant this would perhaps be the end of the meal, but it was only the beginning. The plats principaux were delicious and were accompanied by first a moderate red win followed by a deeper, more substantial red wine which heightened the flavor of the meal. Each dish was an adventure and a work of art as well (we took as many photos of the food as of ourselves).
Finishing with a rich dessert of the profiteroles (puff pastry filled with ice cream) and for myself a moelleux de chocolat, which was a delectable chocolate soufflé-like dessert, it seemed that the French meal far exceeded the average American meal in both quality of food and the length of the meal (we were sitting for nearly four hours). The French traditional meal defies the stress and limits of time imposed by modernity; we found ourselves eating not simply because we were hungry but for the taste of the food and the pleasure of our company. While we agreed that such a meal would most likely be impractical everyday, we began to understand the importance of food and of the meal in French culture.
January 5, 2006
Aspects of French Culture
