french guide: edition 1.

After being in france for a total of One Week, i think its time for me to share some lil things I've learned about the wonderful country of france.

oh and by the way this is a pic of kate and i looking silly beside this huge painted chicken in the middle of the street. hahahaa.

so here it goes.

zee french guide: edition 1:

1. the BREAD is amazing. and cheap! Mmmmm today I bought a decious, crispy, fresh baguette for 0.6 euros. Thats a little less than a dollar. Cheese and wine - equally cheap (i bought amazing goat cheese for 1.3 euro), and delicious.
2. Shampoo and soap are ridiculously expensive! I guess the french are known for having a tendency to be a bit stinky, haha, but everyone i've met has smelled fine so far...
3. Paper products are also really expensive. The cheapest notebook i could find was 5 euros. Thats over $7! and it definitely wasnt anything special. Maybe because there isnt a lot of unsettled land with abundant tress to cut down and make into paper like we have in america?
4. Bathrooms. the toilet is in a completely separate room from the bathtub. In my house, theyre on opposite sides of the house!
5. Litter on the streets is basically inexistent. A couple times we've seen poop on the sidewalks (dog i hope?) but almost never any trash.
6. And i was told that the french dont excercise, but this is false! they do! actually theres a really sweet running path that goes right along the Rhone river, through one of the busiest parts of town. Its great, and lots of people run there, not just americans. Though you can tell which ones are european because they wear these sleek little jogging outfits. haha.
7. As in most big cities, nobody looks at you or acknowledges your presence on the sidewalks. BUT on the designated running paths apparently its okay to stare people down. Or maybe I just look weird in my shorts and tshirt. Or maybe its because i was running on the right side instead of the left. ha, who knows.
8. un cafe = a shot of expresso. not an 8 ounce cup. for those who know coffee lingo, a cafe americano is when you take an expresso shot and add water to it. its called that because thats exactly what american coffee is, expresso shot toned down with some water. so basically here, all the coffee is REALLY STRONG. really strong. not that i mind that, haha, but it is. And they drink coffee throughout the day, my host family even has it after dinner (about 9pm).
9. reduced fat milk isnt really very popular. everything is made with whole. yummmmmmmmyyyy. this i like. yet it seems like all the french people are skinny. hmm, guess all the walking evens it out. yay for real food. :-)