"Lionel Poilane's dad was a French baker, and he inherited the family bakery when he was a young man. Rather than sitting still and tending to the fires, though, Lionel become obsessed with remarkable.
"He did extensive research, interviewing more than eight thousand French bakers about their techniques. He pioneered the use of organic flour in France. ... He acquired the largest collection of bread cookbooks in the world—and studied them.
"His sourdough bread is made with just flour, water, starter, and sea salt, and it's baked in a wood-fired oven. Poilane refused to hire bakers—he told me they had too many bad habits to unlearn—and instead hired young men who were willing to apprentice with him for years.
"At first, the French establishment rejected his products, considering them too daring and different. But the overwhelming quality of the loaves and Poilane's desire to do it right finally won them over.
"Virtually every fancy restaurant in Paris now serves Poilane bread. People come from all over the world to wait in line in front of his tiny shop on the Rue de Cherche Midi to buy a huge loaf of sourdough bread—or more likely, several loaves. The company he founded now ships loaves all over the world, turning handmade bread into a global product, one worth talking about." —Seth Godin, Purple Cow, p. 58
I had not known about the history of
Poilâne, then yesterday I read the above passage in a book lent to me and was blown away (they sell over $10 million in bread each year!).
M and I also waited in line in this bakery on the Rue Cherche de Midi and we then ate the best
tartes aux pommes (apple tarts // 2nd photo) of our lives. The above photos—I die! It was the perfect moment. I loved the classic French illustrations on their cloth bread bags, made even better when I turned around and saw the dog waiting outside the door to the bakery.
Pas pour les chiens!
le [petit] Sacre Coeur, Paris
(as seen from l'Arc de Triomphe)
listening // loving
Sacred Heart - the Civil Wars
(their new album — amazing.)
Geneva is beautiful, quiet, and quaint (particularly the Vieille Ville, old city, which I loved).
It was interesting how similar and dissimilar it was to other European cities I've spent time in or visited. The commonalities are obvious—beautiful streets steeped in history, public transportation, monuments and parks, old buildings, shuttered windows, and delicious food (Movenpick pistachio ice cream, for instance).
As for what made Geneva different—there are plenty of tourists by the lake admiring the jet d'eau (jet of water) but apart from this, but still Geneva struck me as a sleepy little city, business-like and home to so many important organizations—headquarters of international companies and organizations of every sort. I took a tour of the UN headquarters there, which was another highlight.
The above photo was taken just outside the front door of the house in France where we were cat-sitting for a few days (ha). I loved this house with its juxtaposition of rustic stone and modern features and fixtures (it really reminded me of
this house).
oh. my.
raclette. (and the goat cheese with the endive salad was creamy and perfect.)
We've been learning clothing vocabulary in my French class and the other day we held a class fashion show. Naturally.
My group's theme: "la discothèque et le karaoké chinois." I think that says it all.
I changed out of the heels and purple silk shirt right after class, but wore the rest of the ensemble the rest of the day. At work, one of the security guards in the library complimented me on my pants. (Ma soeur me l'a prêté.) Nous sommes très chic, n'est-ce pas?
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