Q&A: Do the French Drink All of the Time?

There are still random amusing things that happen during day-to-day life here, even when I'm mostly stuck at home with an injury.  For example, it took PB four weeks of me not driving before it occurred to him to ask how I was managing to keep food in my pantry.  Fortunately, he's not the main person in France who I turn to for help anymore or I *might* have starved.😂

I really have great co-workers in general though.  L’américaine provided work transportation most days, took me to pick up groceries and out to a few social activities.  PB provided the rest of my work transportation, plus took me for groceries & to the pharmacy; YV drove me to the doctor; SB called the doctor and nurses several times because the secretaries often don't speak English (even if the doctors or nurses do) and CB would have taken me to work every day this week, but my knee was finally healed enough to drive short distances!

And Alexis remains a great (and reliable) friend - I'm lucky to have met him.

Q&A on French Drinking
Since life with a knee injury hasn't been very exciting, I thought I'd post another Q&A.  I've been asked by several people if the French drink "all of the time" or a lot more than Americans.

The best I can say about total consumption is that I read something somewhere (really precise, right?) that said the French drink about the same amount as Americans, but spread out through the whole week, whereas Americans tend to drink their full consumption as "binge drinking" on Friday and Saturday night.

And again, when there aren't particular photos, you get examples of great French food.  Note: there technically *is* wine in the upper right corner.

From personal experience, here are the main differences that I've noticed:

• It is not a big deal to drink during lunch on a workday.  Most tables seem to have a bottle to share (4+ people) or a glass each.  My company seems to be a little more conservative, so the managers who eat out for lunch typically only drink on Fridays.  L’américaine and I have adopted this habit and we have a pineau per week on "fancy lunch" Fridays.
• It is nearly impossible to discipline or fire somebody for drinking, unless they are injured on the job or there is some other major incident that can be attributed to their drinking.  You can (and possibly will) have at least one co-worker who smells like they bathed in a bottle of booze, but if they're a functional alcoholic, nothing can be done about it.
• Most of the French I know do not drink every day.  If they do, it is a glass of wine with lunch or dinner.  The only time I've seen them have multiple drinks in one sitting is at a nice dinner out (pre-dinner cocktail, wine with the starter and wine with the meal usually) or a nice dinner at home with friends (same 2-3 drinks).
• Beer seems to be consumed only on rare occasions and not often with a meal, usually it's a pre-dinner drink or completely separate from eating.
• Hard liquor is also consumed much less than in the US.  Most of the stronger alcohol is consumed as a pre- or post-dinner drink, one small serving only and not as a mixed drink.  It is something like a pineau (local specialty), cognac or a good whiskey.  I don't recall seeing a French person have a mixed drink the entire time that I've been here (this is not to say that they don't drink them, just that it is uncommon in my experience).
• The French seem to be very conscientious about drinking and driving.  Too many people joke about it in the US and don't seem to take it seriously (unless they get caught).  Here, my French friends and colleagues very clearly drink less when they are the driver than if they are at home or not driving.

French vs. American Healthcare

Advantages of the French Medical System:

• There doesn't seem to be any cost-benefit analysis done.  If there is a risk, even minor, that you could die of a blood clot, they will treat you.  Update: they also do not wait for you to have a life-threatening reaction before prescribing an EpiPen equivalent.  If you have a food allergy that causes respiratory issues, they prescribe it - as the doctor noted, the reactions are often progressive and you could easily die before medical services reached you.
• Even uninsured medical costs are so low that I mistakenly thought they were my post-insurance rate.  Twice.  23 Euro for an uninsured doctor's visit?  88 Euro for DAILY injections at home by a nurse for two weeks?  Oh right - attending university is free here, so they don't need to pay college-educated people crazy high salaries just to afford their student loans . . . that's one way to keep the gap between "rich" and "poor" narrower for sure.  There is a premium paid for college-educated people (you still invest your time after all), but it isn't nearly as large as in the US.  This is also NOT a for-profit system, so every level of the medical industry doesn't need to carve out their profit at levels that satisfy shareholders.
• While I pay A LOT of taxes, the overall percentage for somebody like me is not actually that much different from what I paid in the US, plus my health care premiums, plus the FSA to be certain I could always foot the 20% that my insurance didn't cover, plus the higher amount I needed to save for retirement because health care costs are one of the big spend categories for US retirees . . . basically, the difference in France is that many people pay a little more in taxes, but then everyone is also covered if the worst happens.  You aren't likely to lose your house here because you get sick or injured.
• They prioritize your health.  I could have easily chosen to spend the last 3 weeks off work with nearly full pay.  Except, I didn't really feel it was necessary with my job and it would have hurt my plant to go through close and year-end adjustments without their only local finance person.
• The doctors actually explain stuff to you.  They tell you not only that they've determined you injured a ligament, then later, probably tore the meniscus, but also that it was this particular test where they moved your leg in this or that way which told them what the problem was.  It inspires a certain level of confidence in the diagnosis when the doctor openly tells you how they drew that conclusion.
• If you tell a French person that you're calling on Wednesday for an appointment the following Monday, they will be shocked because you're calling so EARLY.  Apparently, there must be a much better per-capita number of doctors here than the US if a few days notice gives you your choice of appointment times.
• Doctors will make house calls, if necessary.
• If you can't drive, there is an "ambulance" service that is made up of normal cars to provide medical transportation.  I will be using one of these for my trip to Poitiers for the IRM (MRI).  Or not - I decided to take the train and save a few Euro.

There are really no pictures that go with this post, so you get random French food.  This is a super tasty tartiflette

Disadvantages of the French Medical System:

• Daily injections?  Really?  This isn't really a "con" of the system, but I loathe needles and this was a special kind of torture for me.
• While I understand that there can be issues with people abusing painkillers, pain management is kind of important.  When somebody has torn a ligament, a week's worth of narcotics is not that big of an issue.  Especially when it eventually turns out to be a torn ligament and meniscus.
• Even though most French people aren't paying for them, I'm not sure what the point is in prescribing a full box of medication instead of just the number prescribed.  I guess the upside is that I can tally up my prior leftovers before filling a prescription, just to be sure I actually need it!  It also saves time at the pharmacy - they just grab the boxes and send you on your way.
• Again, probably because there is virtually no cost to the individual (and the gov pays either way), you are required to see a doctor if you miss even a single day of work.  Otherwise, you're taking vacation pay for it.  It comes across like your employer doesn't trust you, but actually the government won't reimburse their share without proof you were ill/injured.
• Due to the house call issue, your doctor really needs to be in your town.  You can't just pick the person in a town 20 minutes away who your friend recommended.
• There can be a little wait for certain non-emergency procedures.  Like, my MRI can't be done until February 28.  But, I've had to wait in the US for non-emergency MRIs also . . . and there is certainly a long wait for many specialists in the US.  It was over a month both for a dermatologist and a hand surgeon.

And . . . well, that's about it (other than dealing with CPAM initially).  Honestly, the disadvantages are more just nitpicky stuff and I can see why it is rated one of the best healthcare systems in the world.  Due to the low medical costs, I've still paid more in taxes than my medical treatment has cost, so it's still a net win for France, but I'm feeling pretty happy about the medical side of the experience.  There are certain specialties here with a wait due to too few doctors, but that's true in the US also (see above).

Update on my Knee:
For those who are interested, as mentioned above, it appears that I tore the meniscus.  I was allowed to try walking without the splint if I could tolerate the pain, but unfortunately it took less than two days of trying to walk around at work without it before my whole lower leg and foot swelled back up and every step was painful again . . . so I'm back in the splint until after the MRI and treatment is determined.

Of course, I had my own comedy routine on Monday and there really should have been video.  I had asked the doctor if I could drive with the splint off and she said, "if you can?"  I thought this was like the walking and referred to my pain level, so I was determined to tough it out and have my freedom back!  So, I tried to sit in the car and realized that I had to move the seat back.  I was quite proud of myself when I was in, foot on the gas pedal and ready to go . . . except I was so far back that I couldn't fully clutch.  "Ok, so I'll scoot the seat forward a bit. Yep, I can fully clutch now!"  Pushed the clutch in and went to press the brake to start the car.  And learned the doctor literally meant if I was actually physically CAPABLE of driving when I can only bend my knee unaided to the position shown below.

It's enough to sit my foot on the gas, but I tried, and failed, to bend my knee enough to actually raise it off the gas and onto the brake.  I yanked on my pant leg, moved my leg to the brake by hand and went to start the car before the less-stubborn, more-logical part of my brain suggested that perhaps it was not wise to drive, especially a manual, when I'd just had to use my HAND to transfer my foot from the gas to the brake.  This was proven quite true when an attempt to transfer my foot back over unaided resulted in my foot half on both peddles and a bit wedged between them.

So, there will be no driving for me through Feb 28.  Hopefully, there will be good news then and I'll only need a few weeks of physical therapy!  If not, I'll be facing surgery in a foreign country.  The period of time since I injured my knee is the first extended period when I've wanted to return to the US - at home, I know how to take care of myself.  Here, the forms are in French, the instructions are in French, many of the people only speak French.  Naturally, I'm in France, but it adds a level of complication that is really unpleasant when you're already hurt.

The Hunt for an Open Restaurant on a Monday Night in Rural France

Upon moving to rural France, you quickly become accustomed to the fact that you cannot count on things being open at all hours like in the US.  Most stores close by 7:30 PM each night and are closed all day on Sunday (or only open until 12:30 PM).  Same with the pharmacies, except there will be a sign indicating the rotating schedule for which pharmacy in the area has extended hours.

This also extends to restaurants.  While virtually every restaurant is open for weekday lunches, most of them are closed all day on Sunday.  Several restaurants will also close all day for one week day and, as I learned this week, very often that day is Monday.  Since Alexis has been helping me a lot, I offered to treat him to dinner (since I'm not really up to cooking).  This is sort of the American way, at least in my region - if somebody helps you move, assemble furniture, etc., you offer food and/or drink in return.  The last time he was over, he both assembled furniture AND provided the food, so it was certainly my turn to do something nice.  Of course, I offered to treat him to dinner on Monday . . . without a full realization of precisely what I had done.

Thus began the great search for an open restaurant.  As it turns out, the place that is reliably open for dinner is NOT open for dinner on Mondays (O'Napoli - picture above is a burger from there).  The other restaurant that I had in mind is only open for dinner Friday and Saturday (O City'ven - see picture below).  A quick search of the internet and a few phone calls established that virtually all restaurants in the area are closed for dinner on Mondays.  It also established that, during the winter, many of them are closed all day Sunday-Tuesday, many are open only for lunch during the week and many have random days they are closed.  One restaurant advertised a new take-out menu of 6 dishes "tout les jours" (all the days), but when I called, I was told that "all the days" apparently does not include Monday. 😒

This is not accounting for the fact that you either have to follow local places on Facebook, check their website (if they have one) or eat there weekly to learn when they will be closed for a week or two for their vacations, to completely revise the menu or to remodel.  In short, you become accustomed to the idea that you may want to make a reservation for lunch or dinner every time, just to be sure that the place will be open when you show up!

Finally, I checked one of my other favorite restaurants, Relais Pays de Civrasian.  I was in luck because their closing days are Wednesday night and all day Thursday!  I do think that I'm introducing Alexis to bad habits because the big social meal in France is normally lunch, but here I am dragging him out for dinners . . . and twice in one week at that!  You do realize why the restaurants aren't really open for dinner outside of the weekends though because they will be packed at lunch, but only two or three groups will come in for dinner - and both nights it was virtually all British people.

Once you're here for awhile, you also start to realize why they all have days they are closed and limited hours though - the people cooking and serving are usually the owners; several restaurants in the area are actually owned and operated by a married couple.  Due to some of France's laws, it can be cost-prohibitive or a regulatory nightmare to hire additional staff, so the owners have to limit the hours they are open, and have some days they are closed, simply to have a break!  Having said that, I think it is smart to be the only place in town open on a particular night . . . however, in my search for a restaurant open on Monday nights, I saw several Brits in my area with the same question, so it seems that the restaurant could have a lot more Monday night business if they got the word out that they are open!

Actually, you've heard it here folks - if you are looking for a restaurant in the Civray/Ruffec area that is open on Monday for dinner, Relais Pays de Civrasian is your place!  They have a menu of the day that is available for dinner, not just lunch, plus other fixed price menus. And the owners (and staff) have always been very nice to us, even with our awful French!

A Serious Injury in France - Part 2 and Great Friends

The differences in France and the US when it comes to healthcare are a little surprising.  I don't think that I've ever heard of somebody with an immobilized limb getting daily injections to prevent blood clots in the US, but PB has asked me multiple times about this and was acting like I was in grave danger of imminent "death by blood clot" because I went the whole first week without the injection (largely due to difficulty finding a nurse).  It's also weird that they just hand you these boxes of injections, so PB had a valid threat when he said if I didn't find a nurse, I would force him to inject them himself.

By the way, if I do die tragically from a blood clot - PB, you were right.  As always.  Postulate #1. 😁

Frankly, I would probably have went ahead and gotten the injections (why take an unnecessary risk, no matter how small?), except for two small problems.  The first is that I tried to register my social number and it wasn't valid - apparently, a "temporary number" is basically useless.  It wasn't until January 30th that I finally received a valid social number . . . which I registered and my information was promptly sent out.  To my old address.  Apparently, my HR folks forgot to update the address with CPAM (although the prefecture has my correct address).  Of course, governmental departments don't really share information in the US either, so this is no different.  Everything seems to be working smoothly now with my certificate of rights, even without the Carte Vitale.

The second problem is that, despite a large British ex-pat community in the area, I have had serious issues finding English-speaking medical care.  The doctor that I saw in the neighboring town won't drive to my town.  Unlike the US, you may not be able to call your doctor when they've, say, given you a prescription that you're allergic to - the doctor is too busy to return calls.  But they'll make a freaking house call . . . as long as you live in the same town basically.  So, no more doctor in the neighboring town (the nurse that was recommended in the same town also won't drive here for my injections).

So, I started the great quest to find more English-speaking medical people.  The next nurse I called also told me that their group is too far away and gave me the number of two groups that are closer.  I postponed calling the new places because I was a little concerned about daily nurse visits without confirmed insurance.  Once it was confirmed, the nurse's group in my area had inconsistent English ability, so PB gave them his number as my contact person.  He was thus able to arrange for my daily torture, which is probably good because I would have quit after the first two!  Check out the bruise from the first one - can you blame me for wanting to skip them!  The second one left a smaller bruise, about the size of a penny . . . and the third looks like it might be the best of all.  Which is good, because I was beginning to wonder how they'd possibly find room for 14 (let alone 21) of these.😱

I have to say that I'm happy I live in an area with a large British ex-pat community at the moment because they really came through on medical suggestions!  I now have the name of an English-speaking doctor and dentist, plus the nurses.  I'm only missing an eye doctor.  My new doctor is great, but sadly leaving the area in July.  She'll at least be able to get me through the rest of my knee treatment - at the one week mark, she determined I'd actually injured TWO ligaments and that the swelling was not down as much as it should have been.  I was lectured on being less active, but persuaded her that I could still work AND be less active.  PB persists in refusing to fetch my coffee though, which really undermines his assertion that he's become my highly-paid assistant.😂

In addition to PB looking after my medical care (and occasional transportation), l'américaine has been super helpful with driving me back and forth to work most days, taking me to get lunch and buying some of my groceries.  I'm super lucky that I picked a place that is close to work, so it's not SUPER inconvenient for people.  It is still a hassle though because they have to consider my schedule, such as me needing to eat in order to take my medication . . . so I have to be home by a certain time.  Another woman, YV, volunteered to drive me to my doctor's appointment, which was also really nice and a third co-worker has offered various forms of help too.  My team takes good care of me during the week, but I was a little concerned about the weekend.  It was pure luck that Alexis' knee had healed up and he'd arrived back in town the weekend before (I was actually getting him from Poitiers when I hurt myself), so he offered to come by on Saturday.  He ended up looking after me nearly the whole day and assembled my shelves, table and chairs for me (and cleaned up the packaging).  Plus, he took me to get groceries, helped unpack some of my stuff, hung my curtains, washed my dishes and cooked us dinner.  Yep, I've been very, very fortunate to meet some really great people in France!!!

A Serious Injury, CPAM and the French Medical System

One of those things that I worried about, but hoped would never happen, came to pass this week.  I have a partial tear of a ligament in my knee, which means I'm in a thigh-to-calf splint for the next 3 weeks (potentially a month and a half . . . or an additional month and a half?  There was a small language difficulty).  The worst part - I live in small rural town and I cannot drive.

Well, the pain may actually be the worst part because it doesn't appear to be customary to prescribe strong painkillers the first visit, even for a serious injury (not even Tramadol, which is what I prefer because it isn't as strong and is an opioid, but non-narcotic).  This would potentially be ok, since I was given a prescription dose of a painkiller similar to Tylenol, a prescription dose of Naproxen Sodium and a pain relieving cream . . . except I'm allergic to soy, which I told the doctor (in French), yet I was prescribed a soy-containing pain cream.  Unlike in the US, you apparently cannot just call your doctor and tell them that there's a problem with your prescription or that your pain is not even remotely well-controlled.  You can try, but you'll be told by the receptionist that the doctor is too busy to return a call and you'll have to make an appointment.  Are. You. Freaking. Kidding. Me?!?!  The doctors here will make a house visit to ensure you have your required note for missing a day of work, even for a cold, but not return a phone call.  Not even to correct their own mistake.  Incredible.

Now that I know that, I've changed my mind about continuing to see a doctor in the town 20 minutes away who speaks the best English because, as I also learned, they won't make a 20 minute drive for the house calls.  I learned this when I tried to contact the recommended nurse for my DAILY injection.  This is another interesting difference from the US.  I've had limbs splinted or immobilized before and never had an injection required.  After having it prescribed in France, I looked up why this might be.  It's because they've studied the risk of a clot and it's near zero if you don't have at least 3 risk factors (I don't), so it's been determined that prophylactic treatment is not recommended.  The French all took it as gospel that I would need this treatment (but of course you need the injection!) and joked that Americans are simply content to let natural selection take its course for the poor tiny percentage of the population that could be impacted by this.

I'm guessing it also has something to do with the fact that a daily house visit from the nurse isn't so objectionable when the combination of your socialized health care and extra mutuelle coverage is footing the bill.  Can you imagine the cost of a nurse coming to your home for three weeks to administer a daily injection in the US? 😨  Not only would people not agree to pay for it, the for-profit insurance in the US would surely refuse.

So, outside of the apparent reluctance to prescribe anything remotely suitable for the pain caused by a torn ligament, French doctors have no qualms about prescribing you the entire remainder of the pharmacy stock.  This is what I left the pharmacy with:

There's also no need for silly bottles.  If you were prescribed 14 pills, they just sell you the full box of 16.  Presumably nobody cares since they're not paying out-of-pocket.  Of course, if you're not French, then you've probably also encountered the most incompetent branch of the French government well before you've needed any medical care.

In direct contrast to my experience of getting my work permit issued in a week and my visa arriving promptly, plus the prefecture finding me an appointment before my visa expiration, CPAM seems to delight in it's ability to be completely dysfunctional.  First, they incorrectly told my human resources department that I was not eligible for a social number (or Carte Vitale) until I'd been in the country for 3 months.  My immigration attorneys assured me that this was not true with the visa type that I have, plus they sent the link to the French government website that proved this.

It's unclear whether the next problem was CPAM or my co-worker, but somehow this issue never progressed further until I complained to PB that I'd been in the country for nearly 3 months, paying high social taxes and for a mutuelle policy that I couldn't use, with no Carte Vitale to show for it.  He followed up with my co-worker, who possibly never tried to clarify with CPAM about my visa type.  My dossier was finally sent over and, several weeks later, PB followed up again.  CPAM informed us that they'd received no such dossier.  My co-worker forwarded the proof that we'd filed.  CPAM then miraculously found my file, which had been assigned to somebody who was out on leave of some sort.  It seems that CPAM was content to leave my file waiting on a desk until whenever the person returned, but they were finally persuaded to do something with it.

PB laughed a bit while telling me that I was having my first experience with TRUE French bureaucracy.  Apparently, the French just accept this as the way things are here, which could be why so many of them are in favor of politicians who want to fire a significant number of civil servants!  Finally, in early January, I was issued my "temporary" social number and told that a bill of rights would be mailed to me.  The mutuelle insisted that my temporary number could not be used for registering with them.  Fine, I'll continue to wait.

Well, this became a problem when I injured my knee.  Even though I should have been covered from the day I arrived, because my human resources folks didn't persist and file until December, I'm told I have coverage as of December 22.  But, without a Carte Vitale, I have to pay upfront and hope that the French government will actually reimburse me.

The cost in France for an uninsured "urgent care" visit to a doctor?  Twenty-three Euro.  Yes, that's the entire cost.  The pharmacy, on the other hand, set me back over two hundred Euro, but that was for the entire stack of medication and the knee splint.

So, financially, the lack of proof of insurance has not been so terrible.  Of course, I have no idea where to send my "factures" or invoices, in order to be reimbursed.  The CPAM has quit responding to my employer when an update is requested as well (I should have pushed for my US HQ to include this in the services that the immigration attorneys were hired for - they seem able to persuade the government to actually do its job).  I will say that PB has made it his personal mission this week to resolve the issue and has our HR staff working on it studiously.  My understanding is that they will help me get reimbursed and to register with the mutuelle, regardless of my lack of Carte Vitale.

My fears before this experience centered more around what I would do if I were seriously injured in a country where I don't have any long-term friendships yet and no family to call on.  As it turns out, I was worried about something that hasn't really happened yet.  Le Américaine has helped a lot with buying my groceries for the week, driving me to the doctor and taking me back and forth to work.  Alexis, who is back in the area, brought me an ice pack and is going to help with my furniture assembly.  Another co-worker has also offered to pick up groceries for me or help with any other errands.  A new friend offered to accompany me if I needed surgery, so I'd have an interpreter.  On the other hand, PB had a brief moment of acting like I'd injured myself during the WORST POSSIBLE TIME (our CEO visited this week) just to inconvenience him, but then he recalled that I just received a large set of knives as my 5 year service gift 😈 . . . er, I mean he recalled that he generally likes me and should be more concerned that I'm injured than about the poor timing of the injury.

I have learned that there are a lot of things that are a bit of a challenge when you can't bend one knee.  Like getting up from any sitting position without something to grab on to.  On the other hand, my left leg is going to have quads of steel and I'll be able to swing my lower body around using my arms like a gymnast!  My poor right quad is having a time of it though as I pulled it trying to swing my sock around and catch my foot in it like a net.  You know, socks are overrated anyway.  As are shoes.  I posed this question on my FB, but fuzzy blue slippers are proper work attire, right?

To my relief (and surely that of PB), I managed to wrangle a sock and (untied) shoe onto my foot prior to our CEO's arrival and have not yet had to wear fuzzy slippers in public.  Which I'm pretty sure a French person would view as sufficient public humiliation to justify a home visit and a doctor's note to skip work.😊

More French and Seasonal Eating (aka 100 Varieties of Soup)!

So, learning French is hard.  Like, "my brain is going to explode" hard.  First, you have to get used to the fact that "the" is in front of everything.  As in, "I am studying the French" meaning the language and NOT the people.  Except, not always.  Because my colleagues don't speak "in the English" to me.  They just speak "in English."  Oh, and languages are not capitalized in "the French."

And, when you think you're managing to remember "le français" and you mention "le France," a polite French person tells you it's la France.  Because the country is female, but the language is male.  Clearly. 😨

I've realized that I have to keep studying daily though.  If you think you'll learn a language through osmosis by just living in the country, you're wrong.  You will pick up on things here and there, but it isn't super easy to meet French people (generally) and my co-workers speak English to me, so I'm only becoming really good at the things I have to do often, like order food, ask where something is, etc.  For those forced into using the language more often, I'm sure the learning comes more quickly.  I could be a little hard on myself though because the new French exchange people I've met have all been surprised that I've only lived here 6 months total with 15 hours of tutoring and my only other learning has been online . . . well, until they try my SPOKEN French.  Then, they realize that I write well because I have time to think about what I'm going to say and how to phrase it using words I know (and look up ones that I don't). 😀

Winter Soup
One of my absolute favorite things about France is that you never really have an opportunity to become bored with the menu options.  There are always two things and, outside of a restaurant where one of the two is always the same beef steak with fries & salad, I don't think I've had a full meal (starter and main dish or main dish and dessert) that was completely the same.  I don't eat out like I used to - when my co-worker mentioned having salad on Mondays, I'd made a face; however, the salads aren't basic.  There are a few with all lettuce, plenty of ham, peppers and mozzarella, etc, which I like, but my favorites are half lettuce and half pasta with either chicken and eggs or French ham and mozzarella.  There's  a tuna option and crab option, but I've taken a pass on those and any with a non-vinaigrette dressing - the French do a REALLY good vinaigrette!  I frequently have salad two to three days a week now, but always with either a starter (galette or quiche) or a dessert (apple crumble, rice pudding, etc) since lunch is my bigger meal.

Speaking of the variety of foods, one of the reasons is that they take full advantage of both what's in season and the time of year.  Winter is soup time!  And the sheer variety of soups is incredible (incroyable in French).  From a basic carrot soup (above) to a lentil soup served with a cold poached egg in the middle (didn't get a pic of that one), if it's growing this time of year, the French have probably made a soup out of it!

And the texture is completely varied.  You can have totally smooth soups (first one) or a soup that is a little more coarsely blended (second) with celery and carrots.  I also enjoy the veggies that aren't so common in the US.  We eat pumpkin pie, but the French have pumpkin soup!  I've already missed out on soup one day though because they have so many different words for it.  There's the basic "la soupe," but a thicker soup is "le potage."  The one that means a creamier soup (and I never remember is a soup) is "le velouté."

Soup is a big enough thing here that I think there are probably 3-4 other names for different TYPES of soup.  I am a little sad that chèvre chaud salad was EVERYWHERE in the spring, but doesn't seem to be as popular in the winter; however, this gives me something to look forward to come spring!  See, never a chance to get bored!  Of course, there are veggies that seem to be ubiquitous in French cuisine throughout the year and are used in 100 different ways, such as the leek.  There is even leek soup.

I have always been one of those people who hated vegetables and viewed it as a monumental sacrifice (that I made for my health) to force myself to eat them, but in France, they are served up in so many tasty different ways and varieties, that I find it easy to eat my veggies.  It's just one of many reasons that I love living in France!

Learning French, McDo's and How the French Diet Turns US Advice on Its Head

My last two weeks of work have been busy with year-end and my weekends have been mostly spent doing highly exciting things, like assembling furniture and unpacking boxes.  The upside is that I have a complete living room, guest bath and kitchen now (pictures to come soon)!  The guest room is also usable, although the furniture isn't refinished yet.

Only a dining room set, coat closet, bedroom armoire, utility room stand, upstairs bathroom cabinet and office furniture to go! 😐  I finally caved and hired people with power tools to help with the kitchen because EVERY thing had to be assembled, including the drawers, and it both required power tools AND more than two hands.

Since there isn't a lot to report, I thought I'd share a few cultural gems with you!

Learning French
French culture comes through even in a textbook to learn French.  First, the list of annoyances, where a husband who is always absent AND an American boyfriend both make the list.  Why only have one man to annoy you when you can have two! 😂

Also, all nouns are either male or female in French, which I've been exposed to with Spanish, so it wasn't a big surprise for me.  I did find this example of "male" and "female" nouns funny though - remember folks, "the problem" is male and "the solution" is female!  I will say that I doubt I'll forget that "eme" is a male ending and "tion" is female now, so this was a clever choice!

While I really enjoy the text that I'm learning from, I'm glad that PB is supportive of me taking more actual French lessons because I find that I can read quite a bit of French, but I'm uncomfortable speaking French because I'm not quite sure on the pronunciation.  Of course, Alexis is back this weekend, so reading with him again will help, and I have a few new people I met through a conversation exchange site who are helping me with my French in exchange for help with English.  

There are varying degrees of help that you get through the conversational partners though.  Some of them seem content to only correct me if what I've said cannot be understood.  Most of them start off correcting everything, but as the conversation starts to flow, they switch to only asking or correcting when they don't understand.  I only have one person who has continued to correct everything, which is what I need!  There are seven total people that I started talking with, but the first woman only replies about once a week, which isn't enough for me to really build on my French.  One other woman and one of the men have sent a sentence here and there, also not really helpful.  I do have consistent daily conversations with four people now, who vary in age from 21 to 43; however, the consistent writers are all men.  One of them lets me use my very limited spoken French to practice speaking on calls and another leaves messages in slow French with the translation in English.  I then respond in as much French as I can, mixed with English when I don't know the word.  And he then replies with the correct French, so that's helping as well!  It seems like you could potentially make friends in this way, so it's a little disappointing that the women haven't been more responsive. 😩

McDo's

I discovered shortly after returning to France that it doesn't seem like I'm allergic to cow dairy anymore.  My docs had said it is an allergy that people can "grow out of," but I didn't have high hopes (even though I'm no longer allergic to eggs).  Since dairy is not a life-threatening allergy for me, I'd occasionally try something to see.  I tried something small here and nothing happened.  So, I tried something with a higher amount of dairy - nothing.  Time for a full-on dairy meal - cheese in salad, butter in potatoes and dessert was ice cream with whipped cream on top (and fruit).  Still absolutely nothing.  In the past, I would have felt like I had food poisoning.  I've cautiously eaten dairy since then with no issues still after several months.  Of course, after not eating it for so long, I no longer have a taste for many dairy products.  I prefer coconut milk, many types of chèvre and sorbet still (especially dark chocolate); however, I am thoroughly enjoying real French butter, soft mild cheeses (like brie) and cream-based sauces!

Given that I can eat cheese again, the other day I decided to eat something I haven't had in over 5 years - a BigMac.  While the McChicken tastes different here (better I think), the BigMac tastes the same as I remember.  I don't eat McDo's often - usually only a couple of times per month and primarily only when I get busy and realize I've missed the dedicated French lunch hour (good luck finding a restaurant that will serve you after 1-1:30 PM) or I have no food at home on a Sunday (when stores & normal restaurants are also closed).  I have occasionally stopped in there when I was feeling particularly challenged with French as well - even though I order from the French menu now, it's a touch screen and I don't have to speak French, just read it!

On another random McDo's trip, I tried a chèvre burger because I find the local touches interesting (same reason I tried a McDos special in Switzerland, where you can design your own burger - bacon avocado in my case).  The chèvre burger  wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either.  The beef isn't greasy, like at home, nor is it drowning in sauce, so if the bread isn't "same day" fresh, the McDos burgers can be a little drier than I prefer.

In addition to the normal local offerings, McDos appears to experiment here more than I recall occurring in the US.  They temporarily replaced the potato wedges, that I love, with "New York style" chips shortly before I left France.  Right after I returned, the wedges were again replaced with thick herb fries, which I also liked.  I don't care for the regular fries here though - they aren't like the US.  It isn't just the potatoes they experiment with; currently, the special offer is a burger with ketchup and ranch or mustard and ranch or a fish sandwich with ketchup and ranch.  To the best of my knowledge, ranch is not popular in France, so this seems like a strange offering!

While I'm a little embarrassed that I eat McDos while living in France, it's clearly not hurting me (nor is my weekly pineau and random glass or two of wine) because I've lost 15 lbs in 3 1/2 months of living in France.  And that's with working 10-12 hour days nearly every Monday-Thursday (9ish hours on Fridays) and no real exercise, outside of walking on the weekends.

Update on the French Diet

It's interesting because the French diet throws everything you're taught in the US about "how to lose weight" out the window, yet I lose weight here without really trying and it was a constant struggle to avoid gaining weight during the three months that I was back in the US.

It really makes one question the wisdom of the US diet industry.  Whereas the current advice is to eat 5-6 small meals per day (for blood sugar, metabolism, etc), the French do not snack generally.  While this is not true of EVERYONE, the majority of the French that I know eat a small breakfast (piece of baguette with jam, croissant, pain au chocolat, etc) and/or fruit with coffee.  Lunch is a large meal with 2-3 courses, unless dinner is expected to be large, then the lunch and dinner meal will be switched.  If lunch is 3 courses, dinner will often be just soup or fruit or a similar small thing; however, I choose to do a 2 course lunch and have a 1 course "plat" (main dish) dinner at home.

The primary difference between how I was eating in the US and here ALSO goes against common diet advice in the US.  I consistently eat more carbs in France.  My breakfast is basically just carbs and fat, no protein (pain au chocolat or with raisins or a croissant with jam) and coffee, whereas I used to eat primarily protein (eggs).  My lunch is usually a slice or two of baguette with a starter that varies from veggie soup to quiche to a meat pâté or terrine - so, sometimes good protein and sometimes not.  The main dish is typically about half carbs (couscous, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc) with a small amount of salad (think 5 leaves of lettuce) in vinaigrette and the other half of the main dish is about half meat and half veggies, often with a sauce of some sort.  Again, less protein than my typical US lunch, although a lot more veggies (and carbs).  Along with less protein, the protein source is different because red meat is less common here and there are a lot more turkey, duck and rabbit dishes.  If you have dessert, it's also basically carbs and fat (usually with fruit), but lunch is always followed by hot coffee.  And most of my dinners have also evolved to about half carbs, half veggies & meat.  I still eat red meat at home with about the same frequency as in the US though.  In total, my lunches are bigger and my dinners smaller, but I was never super hungry between meals when I first moved here, so I've never had the feeling that I'm eating less.

The other change is one that I made in the US, then slacked off on, and have now re-established here.  I traded out artificial sweeteners for sugar in the US, yet I lost weight.  Again, contrary to the "more calories=more weight" mantra.  I continued to do so in France because artificial sweeteners are almost non-existent here, especially in restaurants.  More recently, I replaced all added sugar in my coffee and tea with honey at work and at home, so the only sugar cubes I'm using are 2-4 times per week when I have coffee at a restaurant.  The honey usage is a personal thing, not French, but again, they use sugar here, not artificial sweeteners.  

And while not all French people are thin, they have much lower rates of obesity than the US and the rest of the European Union.  It really makes you question the health advice in the US and what we've done to our food to make maintaining a healthy weight so challenging!  I just started an regular "30 minutes a day" exercise routine, so the contrast won't be as clear going forward.