I guess this is made up for by the fact that France has some of the best pastries, breads, and meats. They also import oranges from Spain that are the best I have ever tasted, and you can buy a dozen for around 2€. The lack of peanut butter has also led me to try Nutella, which I regret living the last 20 years of my life without. Nutella over here is practically a religion, every household has a jar and street vendors will sell fresh made paninis, crêpes, and gaufres (waffles) with Nutella at street corners even late into the night.
This leads me full circle to getting my café. I have been having a cup of tea as my morning breakfast of choice (in a mug, sorry Dad) even though this isn't very French. Today, however, is my last day in Cergy and I have been trying to run out of all my food by today and did a pretty good job, including the last of my tea. Luckily I came over 3,000 miles to a foreign country and the closest restaurant to me is a McDonalds. (Side Note: Pulp Fiction fans, they do acutally serve beer and a quarter-pounder is indeed called a royal). They also let their customers order via a touch screen (just like at Sheetz, you can imagine my excitement). Today, however I ran into the problem of my American credit card not working again and paid with a 2€ coin. I find it interesting that even though it is an American chain, the restaurant still has some French quirks. In fact, one doesn't pronounce any letters after the 'o', leading it to be pronounced like it was spelled McDeaux. I suppose this is because the 'nalds' sound doesn't exist in French, but it is a source of slight amusement for my fellow American students whenever its mentioned in conversation. Another note is that the portion sizes are much smaller, like in every other French restaurant. This is the coffee that I ordered:
Of course, a Frenchman would have a café or espresso this size with every meal, so I guess its not that different.
So I guess this is it for a while. As of today I am officially on February break, for a whole two weeks. Fortunately it has just started to warm up in Europe. The past few weeks were quite cold, up to this Monday temperatures were below freezing from the day I arrived. We even had snow on the ground for several days, and all this for a climate that stays in the low 40s during winter! I have heard that it is just the opposite in Buffalo, with mild temperatures just turning cold again. After I submit this I will just have to pack up my backpack and get ready to leave tomorrow. I'm going to be backpacking across Ireland and England. Tomorrow I'm starting in Cork, then working my way to Galway, Dublin, across the Channel to Liverpool, Manchester, London, and Canterbury before getting back to Cergy just in time for my class Monday afternoon. It will be nice to be able to speak in my native language for a change! I'll be sure to get a few photos to share. Take care back in the US.
-Adam
Edit: Sorry about the random font changes. Blogger is being less than cooperative right now...
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