Ah, the French paradox
FRANCE | Friday, 11 June 2010 | Views [216]
We have begun our eating tour of France very slowly. So
far we have been happy with eating in our apartment - the baguettes are
of course amazing and only require butter. The butter is special, I
think because it is saltier than ours. Now, if you are on a low salt,
low fat diet, neither of these items will be of interest. Perhaps you
would enjoy the small French lentils which are made with onion and some
kind of white sauce. We have no idea what is in it, but why question
when it tastes so good?
Our apartment has three glass walls which is interesting because it
is said that to the French happiness is a high wall around their home.
Two of our glass walls face our private courtyard. As you may know, I
love to live with lots of light. The kitchen is extremely convenient.
While sitting at the table I can reach the first shelve of our dish
cabinet, I can reach in the fridge to get more butter, put away dirty
dishes in the sink and scrape leftovers into the trash. It is a step
saver par excellence. A space saving device has been invented here
too. Our glass stove top has a build-in oven (just like home) and
dishwasher all-in-one combination (not like home). That is, half of
the space of an oven is an oven, the other half is a dishwasher - just
so you can picture this. It is the strangest contraption and to no
surprise, the oven, for one, does not work. You might recall that last
year we rented an apartment with a washer/dryer combination which we
could neither make wash nor dry. Tomorrow a team of two handy
Frenchmen and one Frenchwoman will return to persuade the oven to work.
Really, it is quite entertaining. It does make me wonder though what
strangers find funny in our country. Surely we do some very weird
things too? Any ideas?
When we inquired about the oven and they found it not to be
working, they offered us a micro. I wondered what handy place in the
kitchen we might put it on and they said - on the kitchen table. What
joy, to think that on our small table we would be joined by a micro
which I could easily operate while squeezed unto an ever shrinking
corner of the table. I declined the offer, taking a quick inventory of
the small appliances lining the living room floor because the kitchen
has no electrical receptacles. For instance I'm toasting on the living
room floor, making coffee there and also joined here, under the desk is
my electric toothbrush - yes, right, because the bathroom has a
receptacle so high that the brush would hang suspended in mid-air.
You can be sure that whatever happens in France does not stay here, not as long as I have time on my hands to share it with you.
We
do have a workable iron and ironing board - and that is why the French
look so very chic on the street. I am in love with the stroll on Lyon
streets that leads past store windows. Wow, it is impressive what
creative fashions can be bought here. This is pure delight. My
sneakered feet have not entered a store, but the temptation index is
rising.
My sneakered feet have walked in the park and into the toilet of same. I must say that it is amazing that in this high-fashion country there are still - straddle and squat toilets. I was glad not to have succumbed to any of the fab fashions from the boutique.
I hope this day finds you well and happy and if you have time to drop me a line I will be happy to receive your news and your reactions.
Kisses a la Français
Tags: when in france...
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