2020 here we come
The French know how to live: No one who's been to Paris could disagree. They live life, and they enjoy it. Food isn't perfunctory, it's savored with laughter, conversation, and style...Et mais bien sûr, they ring in New Year's with oysters. It's tradition.
Dear cult: we wish you bonne chance (good luck), la paix (peace), and l'amour (love) in the new year. We'll be with you in spirit: imbibing oysters and champagne and dancing in the moonlight. 2020 here we come 🍾🍾 🍾
Setting the scene à Paris
Eleanor Beardsley from NPR talks with a French oyster farmer.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY: In the heart of Paris's Montparnasse neighborhood, Francis Dubourg(ph) stands behind the bar in his restaurant, La Cabane a Huitres, or the Oyster Shack, shucking oysters and greeting customers. The 62-year-old fourth-generation Oysterman farms his oysters in the Bay of Arcachon off France's Atlantic Coast and brings them to Paris where he serves them up four days a week. Dobourg says he is one of the last growers to raise oysters in the traditional way.
FRANCIS DOBOURG: (Through translator) My oysters are raised directly on the sand, the way it was done in the old days. They lie flat. They are not hanging bunch in bags. And this is very important because an oyster takes it properties from the sand.
BEARDSLEY: At a dozen simple tables in this small wood-paneled room that smells like the sea, Dobourg's patrons enjoy his bountiful harvest. For Jean Gouse(ph) say, eating the sacred sea fruit is all about French culture.
JEAN GOUSE: We are having oysters for Christmas and for New Year's Eve. The tradition is that you have to eat oysters for feast. So if there are no oysters for New Year's Eve, for instance, something is missing.
PC: The Daily Beast
