I guess nostalgia can work both ways! I spotted this bi-national bicycle on rue du Grand Prieuré in the 11th arrondissement.
LOST IN ALMOND LAND
One of my favorite sights in the Central Valley of California is the blooming of almond trees in the early spring when the bare gray limbs disappear under a thick canopy of white blossoms. Almond production has increased at a frantic pace during the past two decades and new orchards sprouted in fields once planted with tomatoes or simply used as cow pastures. My ride to work takes me through country roads lined with dense orchards; this week, the low white skies and the thick white flowers enveloped me in a gauzy cocoon.
And yet, there is one almond orchard I still miss, the victim of another trend in the Valley: rampant urbanization. It was located in Manteca at the junction of SR 120 and Hwy 99, where the elevated off-ramp dips downward and curves South. Apartment buildings, storage units, and strip malls have replaced the huge almond orchard that was nestled within the ramp and extended as far as the eye could see.
On a clear February afternoon many years ago, Rick and I were driving back from San Francisco airport. As we left 120 to head home, my eyes lingered on the exploding blooms to my right, thick cottony pillows framed by deep blue skies. For a moment, I thought I was still on the plane, watching our descent from above the clouds and then through them. A second reentry. A second landing. Terra firma again.
THE CAT AND THE POT
Meet Saphir, my sister’s cat. She’s posing next to one of Grandma’s retired toupine. In Southwest France, a toupine is an earthenware pot used to hold duck confit, a regional specialty. Salted duck legs and breasts were gently simmered in duck fat; the meat quarters would then be transferred to a toupine and covered with liquid fat while still hot. As the fat cooled off and hardened, it would create a barrier between the meat and the outside air, and prevent the development of bacteria. The preserved meat could be kept for months in a cellar, without refrigeration.
These confit pots were highly valued and reused year after year. When the outside enamel eventually peeled off, Grandma would fill her toupines with dirt and recycle them as planters. Toupines usually fetch high prices at local vide-greniers.
Vocabulary
La toupine: earthenware pot
Le confit de canard: duck meat cooked and preserved in its own fat
Le vide-grenier: the French equivalent of a garage sale (literally, emptying the attic) but usually organized by the city and grouping individual sellers and professionals.
NIGHT WALK
Exactly a year ago, Rick and I flew to Paris for few days before our long-planned visit with my parents in Gourdon. It was a few short months after the terrorist attacks. We enjoyed the luxury of a half empty Economy cabin in the plane. The crowds in the city appeared markedly sparser than usual. Conversations on the streets were conducted in French, not in English or Japanese. Reservations to our favorite restaurants were simply not needed. It felt a bit strange but nice.
We walked back to our hotel after an early dinner on the evening of our arrival and crossed the Seine on Pont des Arts. The pedestrian bridge has always been a popular spot for flâneurs at all hours of the day. That night it was eerily deserted. All the love locks had been removed from the metal screens and the views of the river were breathtaking. Save for one woman sitting on a bench and admiring the reflections on the water, we had the bridge to ourselves. It felt a bit strange but nice.
Vocabulary
Le flâneur: one who walks leisurely