Vive le randomness!

Wednesday and Thursday of last week were spent visiting shops that sold des ustensiles de cuisine (cooking utensils). I wanted to check stores for their utensils for pâtisseries and their prices. Tuesday night before my hunt I had a dream of the métro stop where I ended up going to buy a utensil I needed.

Wednesday I did research on specialty stores where 4 of the stores I needed were off the métro stop called Les Halles, while the cheapest store with only 1 location was near a métro stop called Madeleine. Initially, I wasn't sure where to go because the selection in the specialty store off Madeleine was limited. In the dream, however, I went to Madeleine; so I decided to just follow the dream! Yes, crazy, right?! Turns out the store I researched was closed for the summer. So I quickly decided to run back to the métro at Madeleine and go to Les Halles before the stores closed. Once I got into the métro, I saw a store called Darty which I could see sold electronics and appliances. Looking around, I found the cooking utensil I was looking for and at the lowest price for my budget. God is so good!


Thursday was a little bit more interesting! I walked around Les Halles' shopping center and made my way eventually to L'Église Saint-Eustache. I think outside of the Vatican, this is one of the biggest churches I've ever seen in my life; it was enormous. The pillars inside are so massive it makes you feel like you are in a forest. The church is also undergoing a lot of renovation, so the renovated 1/4 of the church is absolutely stunning - ivory, gold, red, repainted ... awesome! The rest needs some work, but you can tell it will look stunning once all is done.





I then decided to visit the shops that sold cooking utensils for pâtisseries as Darty didn't sell these. I felt like I was child in a toystore when I visited Mora! It is a store for professional cookware and has everything you need with quality materials ... très cher, but you need good materials when you are baking. There are also materials for everyday cooking, but it's definitely a specialty store. Anyway, I could not help but be excited as I was going through the different spatulas, tart containers, and petite gâteaux containers ... great fun.

Exiting from Mora's and out of the corner of my eye, I passed someone who was coming into the store who I sensed looked at me. I didn't really think anything of it as I turned the corner, but then a little ways down the street, I had a tap on my shoulder from the man I had just passed. I could understand pieces of what he was saying in French, but I was caught off guard since we had just passed one another and I thought maybe I dropped something, and he was returning whatever it was to me. He ended up being fluent in English, and it turns out he was an artist and painter. Visiting his website (http://www.micheltemim.net), I was able to see his talent. What I liked about his past work is his ability to revive the mundane in the everyday. With an edgy-style, he knows how to create movement in his art. He also captures the emotions of those involved in the picture, while also evoking emotion (even humor) from his audience.

In a store I met a woman, Jane, who was so helpful in helping me find what I needed; consequently, we ended up having a great conversation on French food culture. It was so good to talk with someone who appreciates cuisine. We both agreed that learning about food also comes with having the support of the culture - in other words, how the culture embraces food will affect your experience of it. France is a good place for this!