Cuisine Française

Living with a French family for a week allowed me the opportunity to see what French food is like, beyond the frogs' legs and escargot stereotype.

The first day there we went to an Hypermarché (pronounced 'ipermarshay), which in American terms is like a SuperWalmart or in Australian terms is like a Big W and a Woolies combined. Most of the stuff seemed pretty normal. There was plenty of Nestlé chocolate, which is hard to find in the USA, and Cindy was able to stock up on Kinder; Milka seemed to be the most popular but there was none of that disgusting Hersheys. It was the fresh produce section that was significantly different. Snails, horse meat, and the moldiest most disgusting cheeses I have ever seen.

Cheese really is a big thing in France; there's always a cheese course for any large meal. Mostly the large meals are in the middle of the day. And just about every restaurant offers set menus so that you get an entrée, main and then either cheese or dessert. (In Italy, too, there's a lot of set menus with pasta for first course then a meatier main.) And there's always a small, strong black coffee after lunch (but never after dinner). Yet coffee at breakfast time is always weak and milky - café au lait. The weirdest thing is the way they eat breakfast. Yes, a continental breakfast is coffee and pastries but at home they eat in in a funny way. They serve the coffee (or hot chocolate) in a bowl and then dip their croissants, brioche or toasted baguette into it. And Cindy's father, after he's had enough bread, he adds muesli to the remainder of his coffee!

I got to try tons of typical French dishes: various cheeses, traditional crêpes and galettes (a savoury buckwheat crêpe), ratatouille, pastis, cheval and foie gras. That last one was probably the only scary one. They just cut this whole lump of foie gras into quaters for everyone to have a great chunk. I only tried a little bit (partly because it's typically French, partly because it's becoming illegal in many parts of the US), not wanting to force myself to eat something so expensive that someone else would actually enjoy. It was a little better than normal pâté, which I don't like, but not much.

Back in Paris

Back in Paris I got to see some more of the French lifestyle. Somehow I lost the photos I had taken earier of the Notre Dame Cathedral so Cindy and I went back briefly. I noticed that there were a lot of gendarmes in a different uniform, wearing a soldier's cap instead of their usual képis. Then we saw that there was a demonstration in progress. Didn't think much of it, seemed rather peaceful being in the centre of town and all. But later when we came out of a shop we saw clouds of black smoke and decided that we should walk in the opposite direction. Cindy said that they probably hadn't overturned any cars yet, that they were probably just burning a few old tyres (as you do) but it seemed better to steer clear all the same.

Where the king goes to be alone

Of the four places Cindy and I stayed in Italy, three (in Florence, Rome and Naples) had bidets in the bathroom. I felt a little like Crocodile Dundee! And no, I didn't do as the Romans do, I used the paper.

While we're on the subject, I've been meaning to mention to those who haven't travelled that toilet paper varies between countries. I first noticed when I came to America: whereas the sheets are arranged portrait on an Australian roll, they are landscape in America. Italy is like Australia. But in France, some families use loose-leaf paper; that is, sheets folded in half and interlaced like tissues, stacked in a dispenser. Très exotique!

Driving in Italy

From Venice Cindy and I hired a car to drive through Bologna, Florence, Pisa and then down the coast to Rome. We paid for the smallest possible (which in Europe means microscopic) but hey gave us something slightly larger, a Renault Megane. That is, a nice little 5-door 6-speed [sic.] diesel.

Even more interesting than a sixth gear was the fact that it had no key; you insert a card and push a button.

In Italy (as in France) the top highway speed is 130 km/h. Unfortunately there were a lot of traffic jams so I only got a to enjoy that speed some of the time.

We left the car at Fiumicino airport, on the outskirts of Rome (at the ancient port of Ostia, for you history buffs), because neither of us wanted to risk driving into the city. But when we got in there the traffic really wasn't so bad; we were able to cross streets without too much trouble. The same can't be said for Naples! The traffic there was absolutely insane! (Much, much worse than Bali.) Never mind the fingersmiths, just crossing the street in Naples means taking your life into your hands.

I must also mention how many of these little three wheel utes I saw in Italy. I vaguely remember having to learn the word for this vehicle in Mrs Pipio's Italian class but I can't for the life of me remember. (Baden, Wade? Anyone?) But we never realised how small they are - they only take a single person who drives with motorbike handlebars. Whatever it's called I want one. I can just see myself driving around Indiana in one of those!

Rome

Rome was a little more difficult than other places. After we left the car at the airport, we went to catch a train into the city. The directions for our hotel said that it was directly opposite a Metro station, so I tried to get combined tickets to that station. Now, the guy wasn't as rude as New York subway staff, but he wasn't too helpful. Fortunately there was a nice Englishman just in front of me who heard where we wanted to go and informed me that that station (Manzoni) had been closed (for two years!) and that I should get off at San Giovanni. Easier said than done: that whole Metro line was closed for late night repairs so we just walked from the central station.

Despite all that the hotel was great. We managed to find a Best Western in our price range. It even included a huge buffet breakfast. I think it was aimed at Americans judging by the breakfast sausages and the presence of Tabasco sauce and even catsup next to the scrambled eggs. But there was plenty of pastries too and a cappucino machine, so I had a little of everything. That was a good way to start the day!

Pisa

Pisa was really just a lunch stop with a great landmark. You're allowed to go up the tower now (they must have succeeded in stopping it from leaning any further) but there just wasn't time. It's a shame; I would have liked to drop two balls of different weights off the side to see if one hit the ground before the other.

Florence

We left Venice the next morning and drove through Bologna (where we had Tagliatelli Bolognese, not spaghetti, for lunch) to Florence. After a bit of searching we were able to find our hotel without a map.

There was still a few hours of daylight left so we went into the town to see the sights.

Florence is a lovely city but doesn't have many tourist attractions, just the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo and Michaelangelo's David. We stayed only one night.

Venice

So Cindy and I flew from Paris (actually, from Beauvais, a little town outside Paris' suburbs with an airport that serves Paris) down to Venice on a cheap little Irish airline. We caught a bus from the airport into Venice itself and, after asking about five locals for directions, we found our hotel. The next day we did a lot of walking around the tourist district centred on la Piazza San Marco. Bought a lot of souvenirs and tried to communicate with waiters in Italian.

The smattering of Italian that I've remembered after studying the language for five years at high school is actually quite helpful. But speaking certainly doesn't come as naturally as reading.

Parc Astérix

Today Cindy and I went to Parc Astérix with a couple of her friends. The roller coasters were small but intense. And we got to meet Astérix and Obélix!

Paris

So now I've really seen Paris. Today Cindy and I went up the Eiffel Tower. (We also saw the Sacré Coeur Basilica and Moulin Rouge but those photos don't include berets.)

We're not in Kanzas anymore

Well, I've arrived in Paris safely. The 9 hour leg from Detroit to Paris was bad but not nearly as bad as that 14 hour flight from LA to Sydney.

Got in just before noon so I didn't do anything much but go to the supermarket [in a stupour] and try to understand the things Cindy's parents are trying to say to me in French.

I'll definitely take lots of photos in the next two weeks. I'll try to post a lot of the, because it's much easier than typing on a French keyboard!

En route à Paris

I'm leaving for Paris this evening. I've been packing this morning and printing off all the documents I need. I have my travel insurance, I've checked in online and I think I'm ready to go!

I have a layover in Detroit then a 9 hour flight to Paris. I'll arrive midday Friday, their time. I'll let you know once I'm there safe and sound.

Another one bites the dust

I've just had a hard disk crash today. The second in just over a year. (At least this time I didn't have a paper due just a few hours later.) Luckily I have hard copies of everything that's due for my French class and back ups of most other vital things. Except I'll lose quite a bit of what I've downloaded and all the music that's not on my iPod.

C'est la vie!

Addendum - 2007/6/11
I've now resurrected the internal hard disk. Although I no longer trust it, I'll continue to boot off that volume but will keep all my important things on the 250GB external disk I've bought (only US$80, not bad).

The good news is that I had backed up 99% of a homework task for my French class that I thought I had lost as well as 3/4 of a translation I was working on.