13 Things I Love About France

I should have saved this post for July, I suppose, since the only time I've ever spent in France was on our Honeymoon, way back in July of 1993. But for some reason, I'm thinking of it now, so we'll do 13 things I love about France today, and see what comes up in July. :)

1. La Perouse. Without question the best meal of my life.
   
   
2. They eat whatever they want. (Although I find this book to be a bit disingenuous, since it talks about how French women don't diet, don't need to because they don't overeat, they just enjoy their food...and then it talks about how to start off your new eating plan with a 3 day leek soup 'diet'...which is it? A diet, or not a diet?)
   
   
3. They opposed the war in Iraq. Not looking so dumb right about now, are they? Want some 'freedom fries' with your royale avec fromage?
   
   
4. They saved our butts in the Revolutionary War. If it weren't for France, we might still be part of England. (One could argue that without the US, France might be part of Germany, but that's another subject entirely!)
   
   
5. The wine. You can get a pretty decent bottle of wine to drink with your roast canard for about the price of a soda or two. Really. The soda is EXPENSIVE, and the wine isn't. Oh, and the Champagne...it's the BEST, Jerry, the BEST.
   
   
6. The French language is truly a language of love. It sounds so pretty, even if it's just the gendarme telling you where the Bastille Day parade went, how you missed it by sleeping in, and you honestly don't understand a word he's saying.
   
   
7. The clothes. French fashion rocks.
   
   
8. Their idea of good makeup is a much more natural look than in America. I suspect that the majority of real Americans agree with the French, rather than with Hollywood about how much makeup to wear.
   
   
9. The shops along the Rue de Rivoli. Stop for some canard (roasted duck), some wine, and some fruit, and voila, a very affordable meal.
   
   
10. The museums. We went to the Louvre and the Picasso Museum, which was in his house (looks like it moved?). That was VERY cool. Perhaps even cooler than the Louvre. Certainly less crowded.
    
    
11. The chinese food. I know, that's a weird thing to mention, but it was the best Chinese food I've ever had. Really yummy sweet and sour fish.
    
    
12. The countryside, at least what we saw from the train we took, was beautiful. Next time I go to France, I want to get out into the countryside, maybe see Versailles and some small villages.
    
    
13. The chocolate. I'm truly not much of a chocolate eater, but if you're gonna eat the stuff, you should probably go for the best, and they have it. My friend 'P' brought some for a taste test, and we compared French with Belgian chocolate. French won. Tres bon. See how small the portions are? That's part of how they stay thin. ;)

So, that's my Thursday 13 all about France. I probably could have done another 13 on the food alone (I know, a lot of these were already about food...but they have pretty darned good food!), and another on the architecture, and the culture, and so on. It's such a beautiful country. And, contrary to American folklore, the people are friendly, especially if you at least attempt to speak French to them. Bonjour.