Vignettes and vinagrettes

Le pain de la France

is a complicated subject. There are rules involving bread, and you had better not screw it up. At the beginning of the meal you are given bread, and you place it on the table, not on your plate. You may eat your bread, by tearing off chunks, with your appetizer but not your soup (in southern France--in northern France, you tear off chunks of bread and float them in your soup, or place slices of stale bread in th bottom of your bowl before serving the soup) as well as your main course. Between appetizer and main course, and between the main course an the cheese, however, you are not to eat your bread, because that would signal to your host that you haven't had enough to eat. You eat bread again with your cheese. In Northern France you also mop your plate with your bread after each course until it is clean.

Vocablary list of the day:

le livre de recettes (recipe book)
la cuisinière (stove)
la casserole, la marmite (pot)
le micronde (microwave)
l'evier (sink)
le robinet (faucet)
le dessus (countertop)
le four (oven)
le frigidaire (fridge)
le tiroir (drawer)
le placard (cabinets)
la porte (door)
la table (table)
la poignet (handle)
le feu (burner)
le bouton (control)
lq passor (collander)
le lateau (tray)
le panier (breadbasket)
le balaï pour ballier (broom to sweep)
la pelle (dustpan)
la boîte (box; container)
le presse de jus (juice press)

Things I like about France:
1. The food. Mmm. I must have eaten 8 kilos of cheese by now...
2. The people
3. Eating in separate courses
4. Roundabouts
5. French language
6. Bakeries and fromageries
7. Drinking tea or coffee from a bowl
8. The historical sites and places
9. The ocean
10. The temperature in S. France
11. Gardens
12. The metro
13. The style
14. Watching people make glass
15. Walks on the beach or by the sea


Things I don't like so much
1. French driving
2. French motorways
3. Toll roads
4. Lack of bike lanes
5. Crazy motorcyclists
6. The price of fruits and vegetables
7. Not speaking French very well
8. All of the people living on the Cote d'Azur
9. The tourists (what, who, me? Are you kidding? I'm no tourist)
10. The odd parking restrictions

You may notice a theme: food=good, sea=good, traffic=bad

Things I want to cook when I get back:
1. Beignets d'aubergines ou de fleurs de couragette
2. Asperges au vinagrette
3. Graitn de pommes de terre
4. Vinagrette
5. Champignons a l'ail