Allez hop, on mange!!!

FOOD!!! Miam miam!!! How could I come to France, write a blog, and not talk about food? Well, I can't; I couldn't!!! It's physically impossible.

Needless to say, the food here in France is DELICIOUS! I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back home... I will say, however, that it's a little bit harder to find vegetarian food. I don't quite understand that. You'd think the French would have caught on by now. Well, I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too. In their defense, however, I will say that they go to great lengths to maintain the integrity of their food. You can go to open-air markets, or to the local grocery store for your produce. They make sure (unlike in the U.S.) that the food has not been genetically engineered (if it has, they seller has to mark it as such), and that's awesome in and of itself. They also have organic food (biologique ou bio) which is even more delicious!!! The French really take pride in their food!!!

I've mentioned this in another blog, but I eat with a French family four times a week. They live a little outside the centre ville, so it's always a fun, albeit cold walk to dinner. Nonetheless, I love the opportunity to eat with a French family because I learn so much about the culture from people who really live it everyday. The mother of the family serves us traditional French foods, and special foods from the region as well- it's great. But what I love the most about the entire thing (the reason I keep going back) is the fact that dinner in the French family is an art form. From the presentation of the food to the conversations we have; everything is controlled and, most importantly, thoroughly enjoyed.

• Appetizer: we usually talk about our day. How our classes went, and what we learned. They'll make a comment or two on how our French is improving, or maybe through in a new vocab word that we will take note of for future reference. At the beginning, we talked about our family and the kinds of things that we liked to do at home to pass the time. Now, we talk about how we continue these activities while in France. It's nice.
• Main course: This is where we lose all pretense and really go for it. We talk about religion, politics, and all those things that I was raised never to mention at the table. We've talked about the inauguration and what that means for the United States, we've covered the growing Chinese economy and how they will soon dominate the world market, we've talked about tragedies at American universities and in other countries. We leave no stone unturned and every opinion is welcomed (as long as it can be thoroughly defended!).
• Salad and cheese: We usually continue with the main course conversation, but start to bring it down a little bit. We make our final points, and hope that we haven't stepped on too many toes; although, that would be a necessary casualty of getting our point across.
• Dessert: This is where we move into safe territory. We talk about our homework, our plans for the night, our plans for the weekend, or anything that comes to mind really. It's a good way to make sure there are no hard feelings. They even give us chocolate to make sure that we keep coming back- haha.

And, yes, we do eat four course meals four times a week- and they think the Americans eat a lot!!!

But as you can see, dinner is more than just a time to eat. It's a chance to express yourself, and this self-expression usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half. It's never rushed, and we always leave feeling like we've had a wonderful time.

The least you need to know:

1. French food is GREAT!!! DUH!!!
2. Dinner table conversaiton is like a dance- intricate, beautiful, and entertaining.
3. Yes, four courses!!! Count 'em!!!