A FEAST OF FRENCH FOOD

We went to Versaille.

The weather was too wonderful to wander round inside so we sauntered into town for a pavement lunch with everyone else.

And then set off to view the produce at the market, starting with the vegetables. It is asparagus season. I must admit these look like some of the best I have seen and the bunches were a fine size. Good enough for a meal.

The salad veggies were so fresh.

There were filleted fish...

...whole fish...

...shellfish..

...and fishmongers...

There were quite a few stalls selling prepared foods. Versaille is a high socio-economic area and this is reflected in the type and price of the foods available.
Ready made delicacies and pastries and cakes abounded...

Here are glace fruits and petit-fours.

Splendid tortes and gateaux.

Snails and hors d'oeuvres.

And various marinated bits of squid and octopus.
But the major indicator of the wealth of this Parisian "suburb" was the take-away homemade soup.

I have magnified the pic to reflect its value. If I had to live in Paris I think I could make a fair living out of selling soup.
Back in the centre of Paris the previous evening (a mild Friday night) we had witnessed a long queue for the free soup kitchen held outside a church, right next to some smart restaurants along one of the boulevards. We ate splendidly inside one of them! It was also common to see bodies wrapped up and asleep on the pavement, in sunny spots and sheltered corners and even in the middle of the busy paths. A city of contrasts. Many of the poor seemed to be recent arrivals. Such cities still provide a massive magnet for the hopeful.
Cheers for now,
Gillian

PARIS AIR POLLUTION

We were in Paris last weekend and the weather was gorgeous. The sun shone on the Eiffel Tower by day...

... and the stars shone by night...

It also helps that it is lit up by electric lights and they twinkle for a few minutes every hour on the hour. This is a video of it...

If someone can let me know how to rotate it to upright, I'd love to know because I can do it with pics but not videos and I often take shots with my camera pointed portrait.

The next day Sacre Coeur also looked wonderful against the blue sky...

... but it was obvious that not all was well with the Paris air. The view across Paris looked like this...

There has been a news item today about the increasing air pollution. Parisians were given three days of free public transport last week to encourage them to leave their cars at home and this week they are being made to leave them behind every other day!
As we sauntered along the Left Bank on Sunday the traffic was suddenly stopped for a ROLLER BLADE ride...

We could see them coming across the bridge and then past us for a good many minutes.

Probably thousands of them!!!
It didn't please the motor traffic who were all held up at police road blocks for the duration but we loved the spectacle.
More spectacles later.
Cheer Gillian