Back in the USA

I am back from a lovely couple of weeks in France. (Oh, that sentence sounds so nice.) I saw parts of the country I've never been to: Provence, Cotes du Rhone and Burgundy, plus just a couple of tantalizing days in Paris.

Like every other tourist who's ever been to France, I was entranced by the open-air food markets, with cheeses, sausages, spices and vegetables so aesthetically displayed. Odd, then, how few vegetables there were in many of the meals we ate--there was always something, but it tended more toward garnish than a full helping. I see there was some discussion of eating rabbit on the blog while I was gone; I did see skinned rabbits in several markets, their intact eyes and ears making it very clear it was bunny you'd be buying if you could actually get past the eyes and ears. One market stall in Aix-en-Provence was selling roasted and skinned beets. What a great idea--if I could buy those here, I'd probably eat beets daily. On Saturday, after getting home, I went to Findlay Market, appealing and aesthetic in its own way. One vendor was selling a similar value-added product: heads of garlic roasted and smoked over cherry wood chips. The outside papery skin was nut-brown, and the inside smoky and soft. I've already used the two heads I bought. (I forget which vendor, but he was on the right-hand-side as you walk toward the market house--mostly he was selling homemade soap).

Has anyone else who's been to France noticed this?--there are Irish pubs everywhere. I saw at least one Molly Malone's, so I guess it's not surprising that we've ended up with two of that name here.