Now, this attitude about food does not translate well to McDonalds. There are several here in Paris and they seem to do good business. There's even one in the food court outside of the Louvre, which seems a little criminal to me. I don't know about you, but when I go to McDonalds I expect to drown the stresses of my day in greasy, salty French fries and a burger that tastes entirely of ketchup, pickles and onion. This is not to be found here, though.
I had the P'tit Moutarde (even French is not immune to the McDonald's menu) and fries. The fries actually tasted like potatoes, and the mustard on my little burger was pretty tasty. But in spite of the novelty, and the sugary fry sauce, I still had the feeling that I always do after eating at McDonalds: I'm not really sure that it's actually food. When you take away the salt and grease, McFake Food just doesn't do for me what I want it to.
Paris also has some great international food to offer. Everyone in our program went out to a Moroccan/Arabic couscous place the other day, which was fantastic. I didn't always know what I was eating, but it was all really good. We've also enjoyed a Lebanese stand at the market here on Bvd Richard Lenoir, where again I didn't know exactly what I was eating. It tasted great, though, and I'm still alive and well. There is also a Tibetan place I want to try, as well as Jewish bakeries in Marais and even a Tex Mex café (called Indiana) down the street. Here's what I eat on a typical day:
Petit Déjeuner (Breakfast): This meal is pretty much the same every day. Madame gives us pain grillé avec de confiture (toast with jam); jus d'orange (orange juice); and chocolat (hot chocolate).
Déjeuner (Lunch): This depends on where I am and what I'm doing around lunch time, which varies quite a bit day to day. I drink Orangina (imagine tangy, pulpy, carbonated orange juice) every chance I get. Sometimes I pick up a pastry, baguette, or crêpe (with Nutella of course). Other times I a sandwich (always on crusty baguette) or a panini. If I'm at home I eat yogurt too, and let me tell you, I will miss French yogurt badly when I leave.
Diner (dinner): Madame cooks for us three nights a week. Those are really good nights. We eat at about 8, which has taken some getting used to since my American stomach is used to eating much earlier. The main course consists of a meat dish and lots of vegetables. Once we finish that we have a little salad with vinaigrette, then she passes around a plate of cheese. There's a basket of bread on the table throughout the entire meal. We finish off the meal with a light dessert, usually a piece of fruit like an orange or pear. Once we had baked apples that were just to die for.
Tonight was particularly exciting, since Madame made RATATOUILLE! I had asked her about the movie a few days ago, so she made some for us tonight, maybe just to laugh at my horrible pronunciation. I really struggle to say ratatouille right. Shejust says "je pense que ce mot est difficile pour toi" (i think this word is difficult for you). However you pronounce it, ratatouille is delicious and it was very nice of her to make it for us.
p.s. I'm taking hundreds of pictures, literally, and I can only put a few on the blog. If you want to see more follow the links in the sidebar.
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