Beauty and Generosity - Bakeries, Horses, Frenchmen - Tuesday, 21 September

A beautiful and historic bakery, Au Petit Versailles du Marais at 1, rue Tiron, sits just 1/2 block from the apartment.  It dates back to 1860.  Its paintings-on-glass and chandeliers and racks are stunning, as are its breads, sweet pasties and dishes such as quiche (so far I’ve had just the salmon & leek version - wow!).  Its proprietor, Christian Vabret, is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF), Best Craftsman of France, a title awarded to the highest craftspeople in a variety of professions.  This is a huge honor which comes only to the winners of competitions that are held every 3-4 years in their area of expertise.  Mr. Vabret won the honor in 1986 and built a school of bakery and pastry in the city of Aurillac in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-central France.  He also bought this property and opened his bakery.  I get to eat his handiwork every day.  How lucky am I?  

As I was having afternoon tea across the street from Au Petit Versailles du Marais, groups of two or three mounted police officers clipped-clopped by.  Gorgeous horses, all apparently the same breed, carrying their no-nonsense gendarmes, both men and women.  I don’t think there were any demonstrations in the area - hopefully they were just out to monitor the arrondissement and add their unique touch of beauty and calm.

If anyone tells you that the French are unfriendly or discourteous or uncharitable, send them my way so I can set them straight!  As I was returning home from my wanderings this evening and approached the elevator, a young man came down the stairs and asked me to wait just a minute since he needed to get something out of the elevator.  (My perplexed response told him that my French was, um, rusty, so our conversation continued in English!)  His partner was just behind him, and she held the elevator door open for him while he grabbed several boxes that they had sent down.  One of them was a case of wine.  I said “ooh, party!” and he said “no, we’re moving, would you like a bottle?”  I demurred, but he said “really, take this one, I think it’s pretty good” and handed me a bottle.  It is pretty good indeed, a 2019 Domaine Faiveley Mercurey "Les Mauvarennes" Nuits-Saint-Georges (Pinot Noir)!  It goes beautifully with pretty much all of the cheese, meat, bread, sweets, etc. I have in the apartment, including the aforementioned salmon & leek quiche!  Per an online search, the average price of this vintage is 29 euro per bottle.  Nice guy (and his partner), lucky me (again!).   https://www.domaine-faiveley.com/en/wines/50/mercurey-les-mauvarennes