October 13, 2007

French Habits

Living in France has fulfilled one of my greatest dreams and although I complain endlessly about my seemingly endless bureaucratic hiccups, I love living here!

Alas, there are certain habits of the French that I will never pick up, nor understand.


I will never swoon over Johnny Hallyday.

I will never belly up to the bar for a glass of Pastis at 9:45 in the morning.

I will never hang my panties out to dry in front of our house.


I will never learn to appreciate Steak Tartare.

I will never understand why men often face the traffic when they pull over to pee on the side of the road.


Ah well, vive la différence! Pin It

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmm. the only one i could maybe see myself doing, depending on how bad my morning was going, is the Pastis one. i love Pastis! Johnny? oh no no. that is one grizzled old dude. even when he was younger i don't think he was all that great. i guess you have to be a French person of a certain generation.

Anonymous said...

I'm allright with your description,but all frenchies are not
like this .Look at me for example.
I don't like pastis
I hate Johnny Hallyday
and I don't pee often near the road or then I hide me,
But I'll try to learn you to appreciate the steak tartare,I know a fabulous recipe and I' d like you taste it,may be one of these days.
With love
JP

Jennifer said...

cara
can't do Pastis. I tried...

jean-pierre,
I knew you would see this and respond! Please don't make me eat steak tartare!! I can't!
Bisous mon ami. A demain!

Wendy Johnson said...

I never thought I'd be desperately in love with Sebastian Chabal!

Wendy
http://wendyfrenchhelpservices.blogspot.com/

The Late Bloomer said...

I totally agree with you on every single one -- EXCEPT the steak tartare. I LOVE it! You've got to give it a chance, especially when it's prepared with all the right fixins and the meat is of good quality. It's absolutely delicious, I promise!

But I do despise pastis -- it's so funny, my boyfriend and I were talking about this today, because we both dislike pastis in general (not to mention the slightest chance of us drinking it in the morning hours, no less!) and I also dislike anything anis-flavored. I had bought some "étoiles de badiane" to use in a recipe with duck tomorrow (along with oranges and some other spices, including cinnamon), and I didn't realize they were anis-flavored -- OH NO! I just hope they won't overwhelm the rest of the spices in the recipe...

wcs said...

Too funny. I'm not a big fan of pastis, but drinking early in the morning is something I've done. Champagne. Mmmm. And sometimes wine with breakfast (the right kind of breakfast, not Cap'n Crunch).

Johnny is alright in small doses.

I'm dying to try a good steak tartare.

Jennifer said...

wendy,
He's fantastic! There's a certain aura there...

Late Bloomer,
I'm not a big anise flavor lover either. Although I do cook with Pastis and find it mild enough when mixed with other flavors. I'm sure your duck dish will be amazing!

wcs,
Johnny...berk!
If you want a good steak tartare experience, our friend, Jean-Pierre (who posted above) is threatening to make it for me the next time we eat at his house. You should come along and you can have my portion!
:)
And of course I've had champagne in the morning. And Bloody Marys. Pastis just seems so strong for an early morning drink!