Bonjour!
I'm still in Normandy, going to a French dinner and party of sorts tonight at my host family's friend's home. It is a beautiful, very relaxed area. There is not much to do, but in a lot of ways, that is good. My host mother, Marie, compared leaving Paris on the weekends for the French to New Yorkers going to the Hamptons during the summer months. In a lot of ways, she is right. Everyone who can afford to leave the city on the weekends when tourists flock and the temperature rises does so for a country house either in France or in a neighboring country, such as Belgium or parts of Western Germany. It's very easy to drive to these places because the European Union is a passport free zone for all European citizens, so the state boundaries melt by barely recognized...that is, until the language on nearby road signs becomes apparently different.
The French countryside is just as it has been painted for centuries. There are shoots of grass, plants, and trees everywhere. Livestock, including cows, horses, chickens, goats, etc. roam around, most of them fenced in but sometimes not. Everyone here goes to the market on the weekend, and often once or twice a week, to get just the food supplies that they will need, completely fresh, for that day or the following one.
Everything tastes better when it is fresh, I have noticed. While this makes complete sense, it is interesting to really taste the difference between what can be purchased at a French market and what can be purchased at an American grocery store. The value of preservatives in American culture is much more significant than their value here. Eggs are given to the neighbors from working farms, cheese and bread are picked up and eaten that day, and strawberries, raspberries, pears, and any kind of vegetable you can imagine is picked from a homegrown garden. The way of life is entirely different, but that isn't to say I prefer it more.
Prefering one over the other would be too difficult-the countryside to the cityscape presents entirely alternate realities. Each has its pros and cons, and both can easily be appreciated.
Au revoir for now! I have some reading to do for my classes on Monday.
I'm still in Normandy, going to a French dinner and party of sorts tonight at my host family's friend's home. It is a beautiful, very relaxed area. There is not much to do, but in a lot of ways, that is good. My host mother, Marie, compared leaving Paris on the weekends for the French to New Yorkers going to the Hamptons during the summer months. In a lot of ways, she is right. Everyone who can afford to leave the city on the weekends when tourists flock and the temperature rises does so for a country house either in France or in a neighboring country, such as Belgium or parts of Western Germany. It's very easy to drive to these places because the European Union is a passport free zone for all European citizens, so the state boundaries melt by barely recognized...that is, until the language on nearby road signs becomes apparently different.
The French countryside is just as it has been painted for centuries. There are shoots of grass, plants, and trees everywhere. Livestock, including cows, horses, chickens, goats, etc. roam around, most of them fenced in but sometimes not. Everyone here goes to the market on the weekend, and often once or twice a week, to get just the food supplies that they will need, completely fresh, for that day or the following one.
Everything tastes better when it is fresh, I have noticed. While this makes complete sense, it is interesting to really taste the difference between what can be purchased at a French market and what can be purchased at an American grocery store. The value of preservatives in American culture is much more significant than their value here. Eggs are given to the neighbors from working farms, cheese and bread are picked up and eaten that day, and strawberries, raspberries, pears, and any kind of vegetable you can imagine is picked from a homegrown garden. The way of life is entirely different, but that isn't to say I prefer it more.
Prefering one over the other would be too difficult-the countryside to the cityscape presents entirely alternate realities. Each has its pros and cons, and both can easily be appreciated.
Au revoir for now! I have some reading to do for my classes on Monday.
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