Monsieur Poulet
Every day a new town, every day a new farmer's market and every day a new DUDE SELLING THE BEST ROASTED CHICKEN ON THE PLANET.
As there is a bounty of produce in southern France, even late in the season, and as we had a kitchen, and as we love to try the food that locals eat wherever we go, a major highlight of our trip was stopping at the farmer's market in whatever town we were in that day and picking up whatever looked best.
One day we sautéed zucchini, another we made salad with fresh escarole, another with endive and avocado. And almost every day we had another lovely poulet rôti, or roasted chicken.
Each town did it a little bit differently than the next. In Nîmes it was stuffed with a kind of tapenade, which added an earthy saltiness. In Avignon, they used lots of herbs. In Alès it was just simply roasted. In all cases the lovely bird came with a pile of potatoes that were roasted in the chicken drippings and, just to make sure we got the point, doused in several scoops of those same drippings just before the bag was closed.
Avec jus?" the man selling the chicken would say... "Oui, bien sûr!" came our reply.
I don't remember how, but we quickly settled on a nickname for the gentlemen selling these tasty chickens - Monsieur Poulet. In every market in every town we had to find Monsieur Poulet. Eventually we just started referring to the bird itself as Monsieur Poulet, as in: "Could I please have a bit more of Monsieur Poulet?" or "Mmm... Monsieur Poulet sure is tasty!"
Monsieur Poulet had become our friend. It was as if he were the fifth member of our little clique. The tastiest member by far.
The following week, we were walking the gray streets of Paris. It was chilly out, we were hungry and it wasn't yet lunchtime. I don't know what the rest of the group was doing, but I was reminiscing over that sweet, juicy bird. Suddenly, right before our eyes was a funky little shop, and the sign in the window made me stop in my tracks: Monsieur Poulet!
Instead of juicy birds and sinful potatoes, this boutique sells T-shirts with custom designs that are submitted and voted on by people all over the world via the company's Web site. The winning designs are printed in limited editions and are very, very cool. We each bought one.
Anyone can submit a design, and I think you should. I would, if I had that kind of talent. They focus on free-trade, ethical production and some of their shirts have politically satirical designs. Mine, modeled here, uses a jeu de mots (play on words) to protest arms trafficking. Proceeds from my shirt went to Amnesty International.
Discovering the different preferences for similar foods in centuries-old towns that are merely an hour or two (by car) apart. Tasting the differences in the wines from place to place within a region. Taking pictures of vats of olives in a market because they are as beautiful as the nearby ruins. Finding a shop that sells cutting-edge designs around the world via the very latest in technology and marketing. These are good examples of why I love to travel.
Hmm... I wonder where we will find the next "Monsieur Poulet"?
