I believe it's time Americans stop eating fake food. Think of the space we could save if our massive grocery stores didn't need to carry all the processed stuff. Instead they would pack every aisle with rich, creamy, yummy whole food. We need more cream, cheese, butter, and sauce. We'd be happier, probably healthier and thinner if when we ate it gave us tremendous pleasure. I believe we're supposed to have flavors explode in our mouth so that eating is an experience instead of a quick grab for energy. Life is supposed to be tasty and we are being deprived.
As you can see, I've found french food. Last night I had butternut squash that probably had a half a stick of butter in its ingredients. The lemon chicken, with its crunchy skin still on, tasted marvelous drenched in lovely gravy. I have three more days in Paris and I'm wondering how I can eat as much as possible while still taking time to see more museums and sights. I might have to forgo viewing the city for food.
The real eating began as I visited Versailles Chateau outside of Paris. I sat at the center pools in the garden, watching the swans and boats move across the water as I ate a Nutella crepe. I love Nutella. (I know Nutella isn't French, only the Italians could make up something so sinful. I have a deep addiction to the chocolate hazelnut spread and I can only allow myself to eat it when I'm in Europe. Once I start I can't stop. It's a good thing I'm in Europe and I can eat as much as I want.) As I sat and ate, music from the Royal Philharmonic came from the palace. It was one of those perfect moments where all I could do was take in how amazed I was at having this experience.
As I looked at Versailles, I began to wonder if I wouldn't fit better in another era of time. I'm rather old fashion in many ways, especially when it comes to romance. I like being feminine and I enjoy being taken care of and allowing a man to take the lead. I can open a door on my own just fine, but do appreciate the chivalry of having one opened for me. I'm not one to rush into a physical relationship and maybe that's why my mind doesn't think that having a conversation, drinks, and dinner with a man I just met has either party thinking about sex. I love the clothing of the past, and I dress conservatively in many people's eyes, but I believe the beauty of a woman is in her class and the way she carries herself, not in flaunting her cleavage.
So as I walked through the inside of the palace with dreams of dancing in the great hall under fifty chandeliers. I honestly felt born into the wrong time. Then I came to the queen's apartments and a story gave me second thoughts.
Nineteen royal children were born in Versailles. The queens were forced to have public births to insure that they didn't fake their pregnancies. Now it's really cool that they got to live in a palace, and their kids were in line for the thrown, but their husbands could take as many mistresses as they fancied, house them next door to the queens' room, and they had to have witnesses to their sweating and screaming in the most intimate of moments. Now I know there are women in modern day who go on TLC to have their births documented, so maybe a public birth is no big deal, but no thanks.
I realized that I live at a time where though sometimes the feminine spirit is squashed, the whole world is open to me in a way that it's never been in the past.
It's still strange to many people that as a woman I travel alone. I get comments like, "But you're pretty. You're man let's you do this?" First off, I belong to me, and I don't need a man's permission to see the world. Second, what do my looks have to do with traveling, and third, what does being a woman have to do with going out into the world to explore? There are still so many stereotypes, but that's one of the reasons I'm making my journey public. I want women to see that it's amazing to travel the world solo, because there is nothing like being gluttonous and enjoying every morsel life can bring.
No comments:
Post a Comment