Baguettes

Ode to French food:

J'aime pain au chocolate.
A lot.

Un Sandwich au baguette
Is the best yet.

Quiche Lorraine
Is nowhere near plain.

Beacoup de choses sont délicieux et savourex.
A propos de rien do I say "eh."

Chere nourriture Francaise, Je t'adore.
Je veux more.

Alright, enough silliness. You get the idea. I am eating and eating and eating here. I can't help it. Yet somehow every time I put on a pair of pants, they feel bigger. My belt has run out of holes to use. My bras are too big. It's kind of awesome. I have been running here and there and doing some other exercising, but besides those there are two reason I think I am losing weight.

First, I walk everywhere. I probably walk 2-3 miles a day, and on weekends it's more like 5 or 6 miles a day. But more importantly, I think it's the quality of the food I'm eating. I may be eating a lot of bread and cheese and butter (in the form of croissants), but the stuff I'm eating is fresh - no preservatives. All ingredients are fresh, never frozen or put in a can. I'm eating a lot of fruit and the stuff I'm eating is simple. There's not a lot of salt or fat. But somehow it tastes fantastic.

I remember feeling this way last time I came to France too. Things I normally didn't like I was eating on a daily basis - like cantaloupe. I love it here. In the US it's bland and watery. I have discovered that the stuff here is a little different, and isn't shipped to the US, because it wouldn't make the trip. So that explains that. But also in France I like cheeses I don't normally eat, and I eat fruits and vegetables I don't normally love.

I'm not going to sit here and claim that everything I'm eating is perfect. The pain au chocolate is divine, and I eat it every few days. I have also eaten at McDonald's here. It's really good - it tastes like real meat here! But the fries taste the same. Plus there are these kabob places that sell shwarma that are divine. But on the whole, I'm eating healthy and wholesome. And cheaply - that's the main thing I love. I am going to try to eat this way in the US when I get back, but I'm not sure I can. I'm not sure Vons sells the same type of yummy baguettes.

As far as what I've been up to besides eating, there hasn't been a whole lot. I took last weekend pretty easy. I had a paper due on Monday for my music law class, so I worked on that. We went to a public swimming pool on Sunday because it was super hot. When we got there, the boys couldn't go in the pool, because there is a rule that boys have to wear tight bathing suits. Trunks and board shorts are not allowed. So if they want to go back, they have to buy tight European bathing suits. I felt bad. The other rule is that anyone who wants to go in has to wear a swim cap. It's kind of irritating, but I understand that rule at least. It felt nice to get in the water. I may go back this weekend.

Monday night there was a big potluck dinner at Professor Peeler's place. It was great. There was so much good food. A group of us pitched in and made enchiladas - Mexican food in France. They were a hit.

Tuesday (yesterday) was Bastille Day - the French equivalent of the 4th of July. Nothing was open - including school, so we had classes in Professor Peeler's living room. Luckily there were plenty of leftovers from the potluck (but no enchiladas), so we ate lunch there. Then we took naps in preparation for the evening's activities. We got up and went to Debbie and Dale's apartment to have a little celebration, because it was Debbie's birthday yesterday. Then we grabbed some food on the way to meet one of our French classmates who had the scoop on the evening's festivities.

She took us to a bar that looked like a pirate ship inside. It was decorated with pirate flags, stuffed parrots, nets, shells and various other nautical items. They were playing Bob Marley and they sold a bunch of different rums. You could get rum in any flavor you could think of. Instead of getting a shot of rum, I pitched in with a couple and we got a bottle of some delicious rum concoction. I think it was rum, mango juice and cinnamon - those were the main flavors anyway. It was delicious.

After the bar, we made our way to the city center where there was a huge concert going on. We got there just in time to see the fireworks. It was really cool. There were sooo many people there. Miraculously we ran into Professor Peeler and some friends there. The fireworks were pretty good. I posted the last minute or so of them down below. The grand finale was pretty good, but nothing like the grand finale in Rock Springs, Wyoming. You think I'm being funny, but I'm not. Rock Springs has a really good fireworks show.

Today after class we had a tour and lecture at the Labor Court here in Toulouse. It was full of fun facts like this: there is no at-will employment in France. Every job has a monthly salary and an employment contract. Fascinating. The guy who spoke to us was really nice, and I managed to appear interested the whole time.

Tomorrow we're taking a 2 hour bus ride to some medieval city, and we'll get the chance to take a boat ride on an underground lake. I'm really looking forward to that. My camera battery is charging.

Teresa is making her famous fried rice tonight. I can't wait. For now I think I'll finish reading my book (my pleasure book - do you really think I'm reading for class?), and then it will be supper time. And I bet home-made fried rice in France will taste better than it would in the US - I could lie and say it's because of the ingredients, but really it's just because I'm in France. Everything tastes better in France.