Before long, a bowl of piping hot onion soup, covered with toasted bread and an enormous amount of cheese, appeared in front of Jasmine, as well as a dish of snails in their shells. The soup was delicious and the heavy amount of garlic and butter in which the escargots were served was enough to compensate for her initial squeamishness about eating the gelatinous creatures.
Behind its steamy windows, the café was crowded. To Jasmine’s surprise she saw a group of fashionably dressed socialites there, as well as several students and assorted night owls, all mingling with market traders. The latter were seizing a break before the frenzy when buyers arrived at around four in the morning: sturdily-built women as well as men, the women in headscarves and overalls as well as woollen coats, and th
