CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN

Writing about food requires much more than choosing just the right words.

It also means gazing at material culture both in and out of the kitchen.

Happily, summertime often provides the leisure for that type of gawking and gaping, touring and traveling, playing and pondering.

But staring at eye level or looking down means that you might pass by many remarkable sights, intent as you might be on that ice cream cone beckoning from around the corner.

Look up. Tilt your head back and be amazed at the odd and quirky carvings that you’ll see on churches and buildings.

Imagine the stonemasons, sitting under a colonnade or a large linden tree, eating bread and cheese and drinking mead or beer or wine.

The following pictures all portray masterpieces found in France.*

*A big “Thank you” to the photographers who took such fabulous pictures.