Artful about Food
As I write this, I am reminded of the title of a Rod Stewart song from 1971, “Every Picture Tells a Story” as it is apropos of this post (but not in the context of his lyrics).
Do the French eat to live, or live to eat? When you visit France you can not escape feeling their inherent fascination with food and drink. It is in evidence in their DNA at every turn, in every town, in every moment of their days. The French live to make, market and enjoy! They live in cafes, shops, at their wineries and near their ovens. And I, for one, can’t get enough of it. Here, they celebrate their love affair with the gastronomic experience, the very human impulse to survive and satiate. And, they elevate this impulse to the highest level possible – but never betraying its elegance.
Ahhh, food and the psyche – now there’s a subject for controversy, especially at the extreme ends of the spectrum, and especially in this day and age. I found myself willing to examine and contemplate the very essence of this wildly debated subject – if only in this lighthearted and whimsical way. I’m channeling all the sentiment drawn from a site that I follow: “This Is My Happiness Travel Blog” http://thisismyhappiness.com:
The venues – at every turn, a celebration of their culture:
Well, life has presented me with all kinds of fundamental questions after this last trip to France. Do I really hate gloomy weather? Does it color my opinions of everything? And now, can one eat their way to happiness? No, No and Yes!
What do the French do that I adore? They delight in their food. They rival the Italians in this department and I, for one haven’t definitively decided who has actually won this game. But, I am, horror of betrayals, leaning, quite substantively toward the French. They approach their food, their shopping, their selecting, their bartering and bantering, their enjoying, as an art form. It is fundamentally a part of their way of life. And, for me, this is one of the primary attractions to their country, to their culture, to their warm and inviting lifestyle.
Here is a country who continues to have a formalized organization devoted to their Breadbakers (Baker’s Guild circa 1200 AD) and who named St. Honoré their patron saint of Pastry. Now, I ask you, is this not dedication?
Yesterday, I found myself wrapping up my set of posts about our latest trip to France. As I scrolled through for about the 100th time, I gave myself the permission to consider if I could eat my way to happiness in France. Surely, this defies conventional wisdom and all the the surety projected down from the halls of Psychological analysis. I am here to defy this conventional wisdom and say, yes, one CAN eat their way to happiness. If you want to try this experiment for yourself, the number one venue would be: France!
Of course, this proclamation is somewhat tongue in cheek, for we all know that once you imbibe you must deal with the aftereffects, non? Ha,Ha, Ha! But, I am at least game for trying out this supposition. The trick for me would be to indulge and then spend the rest of my waking hours walking off the calories………
I used to spend my time on European trips not eating all the foods that everyone enjoys when they travel to famous gastronomic outposts. The first time I went to Rome, I ate no pasta, bread or gelato. I repeated this exercise a few times afterward – not having a croissant in Paris, no Macaroons…….. I have since given up this self-denial as I found it defeated the purpose and denied the pleasure so inherent in the place. It was like getting 1/2 value of my trip.
Here, as my final post on this last trip to France, is the evidence to support my hypothesis:
These are but a fraction of the photos I gathered on this trip which say to me, “let’s celebrate” our love of food – it’s preparation, it’s fulfilling endeavor, it’s time to share, it’s drive to perfect, it’s statement of culture, it’s beauty, all of those people who grow, raise, gather, offer, prepare and eat it. Life is to enjoy! Even, if in many cases, it is just looking at it!
Any Arguments? Yes, Rod Stewart, every picture, whether imagined, taken or merely observed, does indeed tell a story……….