Since I arrived to this country and I learned there was a salon wholly dedicated to agriculture, and that it was here the most popular place for politicians to make an appearance, I understood part of the essence of its citizens. Here, producers have a special place in the community’s spirit. I knew it was big, and popular among the population, and that even cows, and horses were brought. However, it was completely different to arrive to the now well-known Exhibition Center at the Porte de Versailles and find a literally extremely diverse public. There were people of ALL ages since early in the morning to visit an expo fully dedicated to agriculture, to regional producers, to the jewels from far away; to the kindness of the land.
Once I joined my friend and having coffee and one of those particularly yummy pastries one craves in a Parisian morning, as well as a chat which was longer that we had expected, we set forth on the adventure of the day. When we arrived, our very punctual teuton classmate had already arrived and walked for a bit around the international pavilion. We walked, saw, and tasted a little bit of everything. Fondue, sausages, butter, and truffle pesto. There was Madagascar vanilla, couscous and baklawa, paella, and even what seemed to be a canteen from the American Wild West. We saw horses, cows, chicken, rabbits, to say the least…
True. We didn’t finish, but we ran out of time and energy. At the end, and while searching for exotic rums with VSOP denominations and their three distillations, we also drank the best coffee we could find. We wanted to visit once more, but lack of time, and the people flooding around the expo made it unthinkable. Plus, between you and I, I have to say I don’t agree with animals being here during 2 straight weeks… I will say no more, but honestly, it might just be enough to show the by-products, isn’t it?
