PARMENTIER

This post is for all my Parmenter relatives.  Today we had some hours to kill before going to the airport.  I had noticed that there was a Metro stop called "Parmentier" nearby and we had some unused tickets so off we went.

I surmise that this is a very old subway line as we kept going further and further underground.

But all the stairs were worth it when we got off at our stop.

The subway stop had a whole history of Antoine Parmentier who was quite a guy and is most known for convincing the French that the potato was a food source for people, not just animals.

Parmentier giving seed potatoes to a peasant

Parmentier had been an army pharmacist under Napoleon when he was captured and imprisioned by the Prussians.  While in captivity he was fed potatoes and realized his country was missing a nutrition source by only feeding them to animals.  When he was released he went on an educational campaign to change people's perceptions.

He even served potatoes to Benjamin Franklin.

Parmentier studied nutrition, encouraged vaccinations against smallpox and was an all around renaissance man.

Not only is the subway stop named for him

but the street as well.

Even the local fire station has his name.

I don't know if he is our ancestor but I want to believe, and with the potato connection it would make so much sense.

Audrey