Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Monsieur Potatohead

Those of us lazy bastards who have occasional recourse to the frozen food section of the local supermarket (or the local Picard store) figure out pretty quickly that the word "Parmentier" is code for "has delicious mashed potato topping", just as "Florentine" is code for "Popeye would enjoy this dish". This time around, I live just a stone's throw from the Avenue Parmentier, and this evening, instead of getting off at my regular stop, I got off the metro at the stop called "Parmentier". Where I stumbled across this delightful statue:


Apparently, Monsieur Parmentier is best-known for having been the person to introduce the idea of the potato as delicious food item to the Parisians. The statue presumably catches him in the act of doing just that.

He is buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery, and many visitors to the cemetery leave offerings of potatoes on his grave, by way of tribute. Something I hope to do myself before this trip is over.

Aren't you glad you asked?

1 comment:

  1. He looks like the Easter Bunny, though he at least has a ridiculous wig to cover his ridiculous ears.
    I'm glad I asked!

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