Lunch a la Fresque

I was noticing this morning that my eyebrows are doing a fair caterpillar imitation.  On the other hand, I’m in a country where the women don’t shave their armpits.

Jules came today from the U.S. (after I called her from JFK yesterday and told her, “Meet me in Paris.”).  First stop, Les Halles (in the 1er arrondissement) for lunch.  If you ever took French class, it was probably beaten into your head that there’s a liaison when a consonant comes before a vowel so theoretically it should be pronounced “lez al.”  I’ve never heard it pronounced as such; always with a silent “h,” as in “lay al.”  I wonder why.

Anyway, Les Halles used to be an open market in Paris where King Philippe II Auguste built a shelter for the merchants in 1183.  By the 1850’s, glass and iron buildings had sprung up amidst the vendor stalls and are still in evidence today.  In the late 1970’s, the market was moved to another Paris suburb and Les Halles in its current state is the central hub for the RER, the underground system. We went to La Fresque with the Vu/Nguyen clan.  It’s a local’s type of place – not fancy, just simple bistro fare.

It’s the same place I went to five years ago with Lan where I first encountered steak tartare.  I felt like I was coming full circle ordering the dish.  Mesclun salad, a baked potato (which I gave away since I needed fried potatoes), and a quarter pound of ground steak with a raw egg yolk perched on top, surrounded by onions, capers, chopped cornichons and other condiments.  Jules has been a vegetarian for some time and has slowly been re-entering the carnivorous world.  She says she was fascinated watching me mix everything together and eating what amounts to little more than raw hamburger, but I think I might have set her back a few years.

I have marching orders from Wendy: “Go to Fauchon.  (mink stole optional, but definitely not if you are wearing mac 'n cheese).  Order the $20 truffle omelette. Eat it.  Buy a jar of lobster butter.  Eat that in the car on the way to wherever you are going next.”  So, we have Fauchon and Mariages Frères to hit this afternoon.  And then we have to figure out where to go for dinner…

Comments

[souris]

ki,

silvio explained to me that the liasion sound with the H was concocted in the years that we were learning to speak French, but that it was not originally part of their speaking rule set. that's why Les Halles is pronounced as lay al. the French refuse to make changes quickly. make sure if you're at les halles to stop at the cafe beaubourg on the right side, facing the centre pompidou.

the armpits comment is more true in San Francisco than France.