In Search of Dessert

It is nearly November, and yet it’s a pleasant seventy degrees outside. Children clogged the tiny streets of Saint Blaise today at noon, profiting from the sun before they rushed back to the grade school at the edge of the village. When the streets were quiet again I heard the village whispering, "Come take my picture." Zora and her dusty roads will have to wait, the sky is blue, I’m out in the pristine streets of Saint Blaise.

 Home: Everytime that I have a bad mood, I am cheered by the sight of our apartment building, which to me, has the face of an animated character in Beauty and the Beast. In the small room on the first floor, you see a barrel. This is a tasting room for wine, which the landlady opens on Saturdays for neighbors and friends.

Leaving the building you turn right, walk down the main road: Chemin de Creuze. Immediately you find the church on your right, at the heart of the village.

 With the church at your right, you are at the center of the village. The bottom floors of every building are small businesses, — the owners live above. There are kiosks for buying cigarettes and the paper; bakeries; a pharmacy; restaurants (Thai, Italian, Swiss); and a smattering of odd businesses that seem out of place. For example, I had wanted to photograph the African Knick Knack store, just around the corner from the church, but when I passed by today all the things had been boxed. A sign read: A Louer. It was open yesterday, gone today. Such is the fate of the small businesses in this small village.

Despite the existence of a fantastic Italian restaurant, and a genuine Thai restaurant, the Kebab stand in the center is the most popular eatery. If you were to follow these children (taking a left at the T) you would arrive at the police station and the children’s elementary school, where you would then exit the village and be on the main road. Instead, you turn right. On your way, another restaurant.