Meditations on cheese

Yesterday, Dec 30, was the one year anniversary of my return home to my beloved after a four month residency in Paris. I was really ready to come home. Are there things I hated leaving behind? Yes. Cheap wine and cheese, incredible markets and monuments to the sublime, the ridiculous, optimism and arrogance. But, most of all I miss the cheese.

Particularly Roquefort which can be purchased in my neighborhood here at a price similiar to gold per ounce.

In 10 days I'll be returning to Paris and the first things I'll shop for will be a good, cheap pieces of French country bread and a chunk of Rouquefort. The title link will take you to an article on the history of Roquefort. Now I understand one of the reasons its so pricey - of course the exchange rate doesn't help matters any.

The link above will take you to a site which is collection of writings by an American who lived in Paris and wrote for Time-Life books for many, many years. He is in his late 80's and spends most of the year in Paris still living in a 5th Floor walk up in Montparnasse. I am a big believer that part of his vitality is due to climbing those stairs everyday as well as the knowledge that he can live freely in a city that he escaped on bicycle the day Hitler's troops marched into town.

Vive le France!
Vive le Roquefort!
Oh, and Happy New Year!