Emily in France 🇫🇷 I'm Done with Socks

Summer has arrived in Paris

Summer may not officially arrive until June 21, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s here. (And not just because of the gorgeous weather Paris has been enjoying for the past few days.) I’ve long felt that seasons seem to arrive sooner than the calendar says, according, not to a date or even (always) to a weather phenomenon, but rather to a moment… many of which, it must be said, are governed by market stalls.

Fall sets in twice: Once when the very first potimarrons appear alongside late-season tomatoes and mirabelle plums, and then again, when the leaves change.

Winter, too, arrives twice: Once when I have to put on the heating (ugh) and once when it snows (oh!) But it arrives, too, in the plethora of veiny Savoy cabbages and Brussels sprouts, in the panoply of rainbow beets and the bruisy apples destined for compote.

Spring comes with asparagus and cherry blossoms, with local peas and tiny French breakfast radishes and the suggestion that occasionally, one might leave one’s black trenchcoat at home. (In Paris, one mustn't – that’s a surefire way to ensure that one shouldn't have and to invite Winter: The Encore.)

And summer? Summer comes again and again and again.

Summer begins when I finish dinner before the sun sets. It begins once more when the parks smell like freshly cut grass, and then it begins one last time when I realize I can put away both closed shoes and jackets until September, eschewing socks and tights, living in sundresses with a cardigan rolled in a bundle in my purse au cas où, just in case.

But long before that… summer begins with gariguettes.

Gariguettes are strawberries, mais pas que. The torpedo-shaped gariguettes are the first of a panoply of strawberry varieties to take their place on market stands, usually alongside the last of the asparagus and peas. They're mildly acidic and floral – and they're only the beginning.

Next will come come the Mara des Bois, the Charlottes, the Magnum, the Cléry, the Dream, arriving, arriving, much like summer itself, not all at once, but in a crescendo.

They appear in pastry shop windows with even more fervor than they do all through the winter (which they do, unfortunately, in out-of-season fraisiers flavored with jam and garnished with pretty berries that taste of nothing at all). Now, though, my favorite pastry shops are putting them center-stage, featuring them in tartlets and entremets and viennoiseries.

Strawberries are still in the spotlight, now, but soon they’ll have to share: with cherries and apricots, with honey-sweet Cavaillon melons and rosy-cheeked white peaches. But for now, strawberries reign supreme, and I take full advantage, easily devouring a punnet of fresh berries all on my own – and sometimes two, comparing and contrasting the different varieties: this one floral, that one jammy, this one juicy, that one tart.

If I’m very lucky, and the timing is right, I take my spoils to a nearby park, where I take off my sandals and, grass between my toes, I eat sun-warmed berries, and I think to myself… luxury isn't the Ritz, nor is it a Michelin-starred restaurant. It’s this: long, light-filled days and the freshest of produce at my fingertips.

Cheese of the Week

At La Laiterie de Paris, Pierre Coulon is focusing on seasonal products in his own fashion. Goat cheeses are still in season, and his fresh chèvre is all dolled up with za’atar from Nomie, honey, and toasted hazelnuts.

It’s a cheese, he says, that reflects the demographic of the neighborhoods that surround his shop. And moreover… it's delicious.

To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.

What I'm Eating

Ippudo is a Japanese chain boasting a few outposts in Paris (and one in New York my brother professes to be his favorite). The menu is pleasantly short, featuring three donburi bowls and three types of ramen – shoyu, veggie, and tonkatsu – each of which can be dressed up as “tamago” (with egg) or “special (with even more toppings) for just a few extra euro. More on the blog.

Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france and on the blog.

What I’m Doing

June 26 to 30, my friend and fellow writer Anna Polonyi and I will be launching the very first iteration of the Nantes Writers’ Workshop.

During the five-day workshop, you'll take full advantage of morning generative writing sessions with me and afternoon craft and feedback workshops with Anna, an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad and teacher based in Nantes. In the evenings, convene with us for craft talks over an apéritif.

Check out our website and Instagram for more information, and snag your spot before it’s too late!

After a first successful TERRE/MER long weekend, we're at it again! There are still a few questions up in the air: Will we opt for a shared house configuration or independent lodging? Will the weather allow for hikes along the calanques, or will we get cozy with cake and tea with local honey? But the most important is of course the big W: When. And to answer that, we need your help!

If you're interested in joining us for four days of ceramics, cheese tastings, and conviviality in southern La Ciotat, please consider filling out this poll to help us choose our next dates.

Where I’m Going

1. To Le Goncourt, which one of my regular dining buddies assures me is a new small plates place to cure me of my small plates melancholia.

2. To Saint Quentin market, which may be my local covered market, but which I've never visited in the evening, when there’s often live music and more.

3. To Le Royal Monceau, to discover a wine selection from new sommelier Gabriele Del Carlo and reinvented traditional Palace dishes from talented chefs Alessandra del Favero and Oliver Piras at Michelin-starred Il Carpaccio.

What I'm Writing

1. Meat expert Matt Moore talks his new cookbook, upping your grilling game and why it’s important to source from a good butcher. For InsideHook.

2. Bacon jam and blue cheese are the keys to this best-ever burger recipe from Boundary Stone Public House Chef David Bacot. For InsideHook.

3. From the archives: Picture this: you emerge fresh from the museum after an afternoon of enjoying everything from the Mona Lisa to Winged Victory or Monet’s Water Lilies, and all at once, you feel it: hunger. But where to go? Luckily, there are a few extremely worthwhile places within a stone’s throw from Paris’ most famous museums–and at pretty much every price point. Here’s my list for Fodor’s.

What I'm Saying

Faire son cinéma is to live in a dream world; arrête ton cinéma means stop being a drama queen. Manon Kerjean is the co-founder of Lost in Frenchlation, a program that screens French films with English subtitles in arthouse cinemas in Paris. She joining me on Navigating the French not only to share these idioms but also to discuss how essential cinéma is to French culture – and to foreign perceptions of France.

What I'm Reading

1. I love lemonade in all forms, whether day-go pink or freshly squeezed. So it was awesome to delve into the history of a drink that was once the poster child of the temperance movement – and oddly has not always been vegetarian. (Though I’d like to know which Parisian cafés are serving a citron pressé with simple syrup…) In Atlas Obscura.

2. The perfect Oreo cookie twist is scientifically impossible. (But isn’t that half the point?) In Food & Wine.

3. Merguez sausages have long been the “revolutionary tool” of Paris’ uprisings, the “Madeleine de Proust of the workers’ movement." In CNN.

A bientôt !