Where has it all gone...?

Jude and I watched an interview with Marcella Hazan and her husband Victor.

It got me to thinking and I looked up Victor Hazan.  He is known for his book on Italian wine. I came across this interview.

For me it a moving read.  A sense of nostalgia rose up and reminded me of my earliest memories of Paris.  There was a time when the food here was unique and wonderful. 

I remember having a great fish plate in a place that is long gone over near la tour Eiffel.  The flavors were brilliantly complemented by a white wine.

Then there was the time I ordered a bottle of vinted Mums and drank it all by myself.  I happily walked the streets of the Latin Quarter afterward enjoying a gorgeous late July warm summer evening.  The adventure had started in a rather empty Deux Magots.

Then there was the time I searched out the cheapest best rated restaurant in the city.  The wine was around 5 francs.  The plate was around 15 francs.  This was during a brief time when the French franc was 10 to 1 against the US dollar.  And you know what?  It was quite good and I really enjoyed the experience.

It's all too easy for me to look back and remember.  My memories remain clear. The city here has changed over the decades and I wonder what has happened to Paris.

I find that the original charm of the city of lights has been trampled to dust through years of tourists tromping through this place looking for that something that made it so attractive to experience in the first place.  The city has upended itself in its rush to emulate American business practices.  The traffic circulates very differently than it did years ago.

Coming back to food, the restaurants that cater to tourists offer such mediocre fare.  The tourists will be able to tell friends and family that they ate at such and such a place and who would ever know if the meal was actually no better than could be had back home?  The level of quality of experience here has dropped precipitously while prices have climbed into the stratosphere.

Certainly there are gems.  They tend to live quietly in overlooked out of the way little places.  The locals still can go for an excellent repas.  One place we know serves a brilliant cremant for around 3Euro, which bodes well for the coming 50cl cote de Rhone and incredible cassoulet. These kinds of places remain thankfully closely guarded secrets.

We now talk about finding the best dishes, the best restaurants, and best open air markets outside of Paris.  When we travel we are continually amazed at what we can find once we cross beyond the Perepherique.

All this came up because of something Vincent Hazan said about Venice.  I can't imagine going there these days.  Shiploads of tourists arrive and depart daily.  Yet Victor found something unique, there.  He and Marcella were able to live outside of the areas visited by tourists.  They were able to experience a different Venice from the one we typically see on video sharing sites.

Strange, isn't it?