I had a thought this morning as I ate my petit déjeuner, squealing with delight over my simple little slice of GF toast with French butter and Bonne Maman…
French Butter - Could it, in fact, be the answer to world peace? There I sat, savoring every bite of my fried eggs and toast with creamy, salty butter and strawberry jam, giddy with love and excitement and ready to hug the next person I saw walking down the street. I mean, if everyone felt this way, wouldn’t the world just be a happier place?
Okay, so maybe my ideas for world peace are a little far-fetched, but I can’t help but hope that everyone gets to taste French butter, or French dairy in general for that matter, at some point in their lifetime. I do believe it would make the world a happier place.
I thought I’d share a bit about my love affair with not just the butter here, but France in general. A lot of you asked what the heck I’m actually doing in Paris. So, here we go…
I’m living her for about 4 and a half months (got here January 5th and will stay until mid May) and am taking a full load of courses through an honor’s program with my university. I’m taking classes about Modern French Culture (I could rattle off the events of French history from 1890 to now…that will come in really handy in my future, I’m sure), Food, Gender and Globalization, Public Relations and Advertising in France, and Photography.
I speak terrible French. It’s more like a blend of French and English. We’ll call it Frenglish. Yah, Frenglish. I understand almost all of what I hear (so long as the person is parles-ing doucement! See…there I go with that Frenglish) but actually speaking is a different matter. I think it’s a confidence thing. Luckily my roommate speaks French wonderfully so we practice together all the time. We also have what we call Café Français once a week where several people from the program get together to have coffee, cookies and conversation. No English allowed, of course.
I actually took French for four years in high school. And now I wish I had been a much more attentive student! I forgot so much, but I’m trying not to beat myself up about it. It’s been four years since I’ve used it!
My vocabulary has increased dramatically since I’ve been here and I learn new words everyday. Some really important ones like “En Français, s’il vous plaît. Je pratique.” That comes in handy when they spot my crappy French accent. Vous êtes américain? Gotta love that. I’ve also learned some less important words. But I’m gonna keep it clean. You know, for the kids.
I’d love to travel around Europe while I’m here, but it’s very expensive and my schedule is very tight with school. I’ve sort of come to terms with the fact that this trip is going to be all things France, and that down the line I will return to explore all the places I want to go like Ireland, Italy, Spain and Greece.
We are traveling a lot around France though. We took a trip to northern France to visit Normandy and other towns around there, and will be spending a week in the south of France in April – Nice and Provence are on the agenda. Oh la la!
My time here has already opened up my world and taught me so much…especially on the food front. There’s no such thing as PAM here, and Coffee-Mate would be an insult to French dairy products. Yep, I’m finally used to drinking my coffee with a blend of lait entier and crème liquide. That’s all. Just cream and coffee. Imagine that! 
There’s also such an emphasis on fresh, local and seasonal produce here like I’ve never seen. It’s like it just comes naturally. I love the local markets and watching all of the people interact – there’s always something to watch and learn there.
Oh and one more thing – Did you know that stevia is actually illegal here?
I know! I was rather shocked when I found out too! It’s a controlled substance and is illegal to use here, mostly because there isn’t extensive data into the health pros and cons since it’s a relatively new mainstream product. Don’t worry though. It’s apparently going to be legal very soon since Coca-Cola just decided to start using stevia in some of it’s products as well.
I’ll be doing many more posts about France in the future and the differences in daily life (mostly food related, of course) between here and back home, so stay tuned. We have several foodie adventures planned in the near future including a lecture visit to Le Cordon Bleu and a food-themed walk to all the best epiceries and must see food stops in Paris. In the meantime you can check out my Paris page for some of my favorite posts and memories so far.
Well, until next time! Au revoir!
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I think we can learn so much from the French style of eating. Eating high quality foods means you only need small amounts and wholesome, natural ingredients mean your body is actually capable of processing them! I loved the book FWDGF — has totally changed my perception of being healthy.
I’m actually lactose intolerant but when in France I always make a tiny exception, even if it means a little bit of bloat (TMI)!! Although it never seems to affect me as badly in France.
Also there is always goat cheese and butter instead :D
Coucou, you have just about nailed what France means to me. It’s wonderful and amazing and oh so very captivating in so many ways and I’m loving watching you experience it all. There’s more than one way to live a full life, you know, and I don’t think you can really understand the extent of that until you travel. Bon journée!
Oh my gosh, after seeing Julie & Julia I want to try french butter SO badly! I have been to Italy a few times, spent 5 1/2 weeks there once and I wish so badly that I blogged during that time! The markets are similar, they don’t need to label things “organic” because they don’t use hormones anyways it’s all so natural and fresh. Gosh, I wish somethings were the same here as they were in Europe.
I LOVE your blog, It’s one of my favorites. You’re writing and pictures are beautiful as are you! :)
ha! Ici au Cameroon, we call the blend of French & English : franglais. :) I am quite the master at franglais aussi.
I remember when I came back from studying abroad in France and all my friends cared about was the curse words I had learned…ah, college.
Savor the moments!
I had a similar experience when I studied in Berlin- I didn’t travel a ton because I had, umm, school! A lot of the Erasmus students didn’t understand it, because their classes just transfer back as credits without grades, so they just needed to pass, but the rest of the Amis (Americans) knew what the problem was.
I’ve never had French butter, but I might have to interject on your world peace theory, because I’m pretty sure the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet would also cause world peace. Who could plot evil things while watching puppies play tag and run around?
The only french I could rock while we were in Paris for our honeymoon was “bonjour, bon soir, au revoir, s’il vous plait.” It was pitiful – but even my modest attempts were appreciated. Have an amazing time! Take advantage of the experience – my one regret from college was not going abroad.
I love reading about your culinary adventures in Paris…c’est magnifique :) I’m reading a book right now called ‘The Taste of Sweet’ and there’s a chapter on Guilty Pleasures in which they do some comparisons between different cultures’ attitudes to food (especially dessert). For example, the French generally associate words such as ice cream, chocolate cake, and heavy cream with ‘delicious’, ‘celebration’, and ‘whipped’, respectively. In contrast, American women chose the words ‘fattening’, ‘guilt’, and ‘unhealthy’. It’s up to us to change this methinks…hooray for the enjoyment of food :)
I love regular butter and jam on toast . . . so I could not IMAGINE!
I loved reading this post! I discovered your blog when you were already in France, and I’ve fallen in love with the way you present French food! Their dairy is amazing, I agree. I’m not usually a cheese lover, but something about theirs is just out of this world!
Aaah, yes, la beurre francais. I agree with you, there is nothing like French butter. All the different kinds. Whenever I go to France,I end up smuggling some back. There is a restaurant in Paris (sorry, forgot the name, but it is one of those verrry expensive types) that actually has a butter CART, sort of like the cheese cart. You can select whatever strikes your fancy. Wonder if it is possible to just order le pain et la beurre :-)
I agree that the world WOULD be a happier place if we all ate high quality foods. And in fact, there’s been quite a bit of research tying nutrient dense food to emotional health. So rock on with that high quality butter.
BODA weight loss
oh, i am so jealous you’re going to visit Le Cordon Bleu! I totally couldn’t afford to go to the one in Paris, but I’ve considered moving back to Dallas for a bit just to attend!
And yes, French butter would very likely solve world peace!
I took French in high school and loved it. I really should have continued on in university, but I decided to take German instead. I find French is easier to navigate than German, that’s for sure.
I wish I didn’t have such a bad relationship with fats or I would love to use salty butter … I agree that it’s just divine! And full-fat dairy … once in a while these things aren’t bad, but I’d hate to fall too in love with them. :-) I don’t have the luxury of getting to WALK everywhere, living in the country.
K
Wow, what an awesome experience you are having. It’s so interesting to learn about other countries and cultures. So thanks for sharing! I would love to have some of that butter right now.
I studied abroad in France and lived with a host fam. SAME experience as you…I came with very little French in my vocab and improved tremendously, but my best advice to you is to keep it up when you go home. It is so easy to get wrapped up in real life, and I’m hoping to take some courses or find a conversation partner when I get more settled. Also–I was really bummed when I was there because I too had no time to travel outside of France. But you’ve got it down…so few people who study abroad actually experience the country they are in. My bf and I went back to Europe this summer and visited all those countries I wanted to as a junior, but we had a lot more time and were not rushed. It was the best! Hope you have an incredible time…it goes by too fast!
PS Their butter is the BEST. And I have lots of faith that our food systems are changing towards that ;)
Thanks for sharing your adventures once again! It has to be an amazing experience to have your world opened up so richly and so deliciously! I truly enjoy watching it through your eyes!
You have mentioned you are an”A” type personality…I will just assume your french is probably better than you think! Bravo for have the outtings and living the “French” lifestyle! Can’t wait to hear about Le Cordon Bleu!
Yeah…for the real food!
Love your writing and the pictures!
It sounds so magical! I am currently re-reading “French Women Don’t Get Fat”. I think we could all learn something about eating locally, naturally and pleasurably, in moderation from the french!
xo
K
awesome post chica :)
can’t believe Stevia is illegal… that is so random!
Frenglish…love it! I was in French immersion and in my class we called in Franglais! Unfortunatly I haven’t used my french in three years and I am sure that if I tried to speak it now I would definitely be speaking Franglais (or Frenglish) :)
I have a ridiculously expensive pot of French butter in my fridge from my boyfriend (he won major brownie points on that one). Every time I cover a freshly baked good with thick layers of it I hear angels sing. Butter is really misunderstood in North American culture and deserves to be loved and respected in all it’s beauty! World peace could use a little help from our friend butter no doubt.