food

In all the chaos of our re-introduction to france, it's not often that I get to enjoy the benefits of being back. Occasionally, however, I do get to smell the roses. It's always small things of course, since it's not like I'm going to be going to Ceuse or Annot anytime soon. Today for example I was buying Chloe and I lunch at an Ile Verte boulangerie. This place had all kinds of beautiful tartes, delicious sandwiches on bread right out of their gigantic brick oven, pain au chocolat in dark AND milk chocolate, walnut breads, perfect croissants and many other things. The truly amazing part is that boulangerie/patisseries like this are not even that uncommon here. As much as I love the bay area, there really isn't a single place that I can think of that does proper viennoiserie. Even places that come close, but charge an arm and a leg like Tartine are swimming in such a pool full of turds that they seem like the best thing in the world. In Grenoble (not a culinary capitol really!), Tartine would not even rate. For a pastry and bread aficionado like myself, that's pretty good news.