Surviving Paris...food porn with photos

I am in Paris on vacation, staying in a delightful Parisian apartment the size of my college dorm room across the street from the famous Aligre market, which supposedly is where the best chefs get their fresh food.

Oh. My. God. I am surrounded on all sides by the most incredible food, and I am doing fine. 

This apartment is next door to a restaurant, 2 doors down from a patisserie (bakery), and catty-corner from a chocolatier. In all fairness, this could  probably describe ANY apartment in Paris.

I have been mindful but not overly restrictive of what I am eating and even still, I am at -800 calories for the day.

one thing we have noticed on this trip is the absolute quality of the food. We were in London for 3 days prior to this and even there, we found no HFCS and artificial colors or flavorings. This food is fresh and not processed. 

It bothers us tremendously to see what a stark difference there is between this and in the US. And, I have observed that the Parisian community, despite the number of them I have seen carrying baguettes and bottles of wine, are generally normal weight. Perhaps it is because they walk everywhere.

Anyway, here are some photos from the market today and a dinner salad. I will see if I can grab some photos tomorrow of the BIGGEST strawberries I have ever laid eyes on. They would be perfect for the ricotta stuffed strawberry recipe I saw on here earlier!

Laurie

All of this looks amazing! It is super depressing how processed everything is over here compared to many other countries! Have fun! What a great vacation! 

Thanks. It is part vacation, part scouting mission. My daughter wants to attend le cordon bleu here for a certificate in pastry, eventually. We had a tour there today. She loved what she saw. I also have an 18 year old son who won't be hanging around for much longer, so the time was right to do this. 

Hey Laurie!! Welcome to my neck of the woods!!! I hope you are loving it as much as I love it. And guess what? I got fat on all that lovely unprocessed market fresh food. I was skinny on the other side of the pond! It isn't just a US problem. Agree that Parisians are a special bunch because of the walking. I walked hours a day when I lived there as a student. Let me know how it goes and if I can help in your travels. 

I am loving everything, Julia! We have met some really nice people, and the language barrier is less of an issue than I was afraid of. :-)

I think I just felt an internal earthquake in my loins.

I don't even like tomatoes, but those look absolutely delicious.  It's funny how apples don't have to have a waxy coating, look perfect, yet taste bland.   Real food is so much better.

I think I'll hit the farmers market this weekend.  Great pictures.  Hope you had a fabulous time!

You are welcome ;-)

i saw tomatoes today that were the size of grape fruits, almost all flesh and very little seed. Crazy stuff!

laurie

Great pics and sounds like great trip !!!!

I have made the same observations in other parts of the world also......

My experience is mostly Asia and Europe..... most people shop "daily" for what they are going to use that day.

There refrigerators tend to be much smaller and the kitchens tiny compared to ours in the states....... roast a 20lbs. turkey in Tokyo...... not gonna happen.

Sure there "fast food" chains everywhere in the world now..... but it just seems in my travels outside the US there is much more "good food that's fast"

But, in the last 20+ years as the rest of the world has become more westernized..... obesity is on the rise also.

I also wonder why in Asian countries where rice and noodles are the staple..... the people are thin and tiny, it has to be the walking and un-processed foods.....

frisco

To your point about fast food: we are seeing a steady stream of BK's and McDonalds, but the fascination with KFC or KFC knockoffs is over the top! Couldn't swing a cat in parts of London without hitting one, it seemed.

So jealous of the trip and food....send a post card....