Paris Insights - The Blog

The city of Paris hosted its 51st International Agriculture Show this year from February 22 to March 2. I showed up on the mornings of the third and fourth days with camera in hand to see what would be interesting to photograph. And I found a lot!

Joël from Guadeloupe
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.

I met Joël from Guadeloupe who was selling spirits at the stand that was promoting alcoholic beverages from that French overseas department.

Raymond Displaying a Bottle of Darboussier Rum from Guadeloupe
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Nearby, I purchased a bottle of Darboussier – Rhum Vieux – Hors d’Ages from Raymond. My wife loves rum and her birthday was coming up, so I thought that this would be the ideal time to buy something special. Hors d’ages is a blend of very old rums that have been aged in oak casks.

Thierry Elie and His Staff
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

I was lucky to arrive at the cooking stand just as Thierry Elie, president of Les Toques Blanches de Martinique and his staff were posing for a photograph. I didn’t get a chance to taste the food that they were preparing, though, because I wanted to keep moving from stand to stand.

Guillaume – Dany – Yannis
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Giovanni Lauret
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

I walked over to the Reunion Island stand where I met four young men from that far-away land, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. The three men in the top picture were there to give information about the plant extracts (essential oils) that were on display. Giovanni, in the bottom picture, was there to promote tourism. He told me that there are lots of attractive women on the beaches of Reunion Island, one of the top reasons for going there in my mind.

Janick Ancete – La Bonne Crêpe
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

My most memorable experience was at La Bonne Crêpe stand where Chef Janick Ancete whipped up a rum and banana crêpe for me. The crêpe is a traditional pancake from Brittany, but here at La Bonne Crêpe Chef Janick gives a Martinican twist by making them with banana flour. He uses Clement rum from Martinique on his rum-flavored crêpes. Delicious! In fact, so delicious that I decided to order a second crêpe, this time made with Elot chocolate (a locally-produced chocolate). Delicious again!

Grégory Langeron and Janick Ancete
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Chef Janick’s partner is his cousin Grégory Langeron. Their crêpe stand was recommended to me by two different sources that day, so when I showed up, I knew that I was in for a treat.

I left the agricultural fair with good memories of the people I met and the products that I tasted there. I look forward to returning next year!

The city of Paris hosted its 51st International Agriculture Show this year from February 22 to March 2. I showed up on the mornings of the third and fourth days with camera in hand to see what would be interesting to photograph. And I found a lot!

Aurelia – Paoline – Gwen
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Florence and Christ-Laur
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

I met five lovely ladies at two different stands that represented French Guiana, a French overseas department located on the north Atlantic coast of South America. All five women hail from Guiana and live in Paris.

Marie-Hélène
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Marie-Hélène, from New Caledonia, represented that French territory, which is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean east of Australia. She is currently a student in the town of Limoges in central France.

Naoilou Yahaya
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Naoilou Yahaya is manager of fruit promotion at the Chamber of Agriculture in Mayotte, a French overseas department located in the Indian Ocean between the African continent and Madagascar.

Thierry Elie and Babette de Rozières
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

And over at the cooking stand, Thierry Elie, president of Les Toques Blanches de Martinique, and Babette de Rozières, popular television chef and author of several cookbooks, were engaged in animated conversation about the dishes that Chef Elie and his staff were preparing. Chef Elie hails from Martinique and Babette, who moved to Paris at the age of 17, from Guadeloupe.

To be continued…

The city of Paris hosted its 51st International Agriculture Show this year from February 22 to March 2. I showed up on the mornings of the third and fourth days with camera in hand to see what would be interesting to photograph. And I found a lot!

I initially thought that I would go from pavilion to pavilion and take pictures of this and that, but when I arrived, I realized from the immensity of the show that it would take days to explore. There were farm animals of all kinds, including cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, and chickens, as well as domestic cats and dogs. Then there was also an immense vegetable exhibit. What to do?

I made my way up to the second floor of Pavilion 7, where the agricultural products of France, region by region, were on display. I reckoned that there would be tasty things to try and that people from the regions would be on hand to explain their products to me. Even then, remembering that France has twenty-six regions, I realized that it would be impossible to explore all that was there. I decided to devote my time exploring one of the regions that I had a little familiarity with, the French Overseas Departments.

France has five overseas departments, and I found all of them there: Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion Island, and Mayotte. I also found New Caledonia, a French overseas territory.

Janine Salomon of Panier des Iles
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Bouquet of Tropical Flowers
Photography by www.DiscoverParis.net

One of the first persons I met was Janine Salomon who had flown in from Martinique to display her beautiful flowers. I purchased a bouquet and took them home to present to my wife, Monique, in advance of her birthday. Madame Salomon has a flower shop in the town of Ducos in Martinique called Panier des Iles.

Daniel Ambroise of Tropicales Fleurs
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Nearby was a stand called Tropicales Fleurs, attended by Daniel Ambroise from Guadeloupe. He looked quite dapper the way he was dressed, so I asked if I could take his photo. I later searched through the Web site of the salon to try to find the name of his shop. I wanted to post information about it, but couldn’t find any listing. The big frustration at this agricultural show is the map that is distributed to attendees and posted on the walls of the pavilions—it is practically useless for finding anything. The search function on the agriculture show’s Web site is almost as useless, but with diligence I was able to find information about other exhibitors.

Anne-Sophie and Joan from Guadeloupe
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

At a stand touting the benefits of bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique, I met Anne-Sophie and Joan.  They are both from Guadeloupe and live in Paris. Note the image of a banana to the right of Joan—it’s sporting a beret! Yes, Guadeloupe and Martinique are part of France, just as Hawaii is part of the U.S.

To be continued…