august in Paris

High summer in the square de la roquette, thick with flowers and american students using the wifi to skype home. Lots of shops and cafes are closed (getting good bread is becoming impossible in our quartier) which can lead to adventures - today I went for lunch in the cafe de la liberté - yellow walls with red trim, mirror behind the bar decorated with 'stop sarko' and 'vive la greve' stickers, patron/chef alternating between standing at the bar with a beer, smoking outside and talking to the customers on the terrace, and rushing into the kitchen to serve up the plat du jour - the only thing on the menu - which today was columbo du joue du porc au riz suavage. I ordered a plate. You get a huge helping of wild rice stacked with pigs cheeks slow cooked in a slightly piquant coconut sauce with plenty of vegetables. Your meal is punctuated by the patron rushing past while asking is it ok, apologising for giving you the first one of the day, asking if you need more sauce, did you get your coffee, etc. Lots of fun. The plat and the coffee came to 10 euros.