[Tyson]

I've been there a bunch of times now, and the difference in culture between them and us (the USA), is quite interesting.  Where we have Sam's Clubs full or large packages of sh!t, they are what I would call a "gourmet society".  In other words, they have lots of small shops of people hand-crafting food (and everything else), with a degree of pride and passion not seen here.  You go into a candy shop and the guy (or gal) that owns it also hand-crafts all the chocolates and candies in the store.  And they are AWESOME.  But they also cost $7 each.  So, you get the best chocolate you've ever had, but you can't afford to get 3 dozen of them.

Basically it's a culture of very fine quality, and at a price you generally cannot afford to gorge yourself.  It also supports my theory about why french people are generally hot.  Not too many fat people there.

[low.pfile]

Where in France were you Tyson?

I've only gone once, and it was to Paris. Being on a budget, I mostly ate in cafes or had the great street food. In the few restaurants I went to, I observed that their portions were much smaller than America. I didn't go to any gourmet or elite places ( I eat at fancier places in SF) The french pastries were amazing of course. And I found the french people to be friendly (at least to this American), which is differerent than the stereotype.  I happened to be there on Sept 11, 2001.

Ed

[Tyson]

I've been to Paris, and it was quite nice (much better than London!), but the Alsace region is where I've spent the most time.  Alsace is an area that's been perpetually contested between France and Germany throughout history.  However, IMO, it's clearly a french region.  Crossing the border turns up a marked difference in design, history, even ethnicity of the people, and certainly in the culinary area.  Wine is also quite different (some say Alsace is the best kept secret in winery). 

So, clearly I am biased toward the eastern part of France, but a friend of mine goes on a yearly trip from Maryland to France (in his own yacht) and then does a wine/cheese trip throughout west and south france and we're in constant contention around which is the better region.

[sts9fan]

When I rented a house in the south near the spanish boarder we did shop for food at a large walmartesque store called SuperU. Then we bought produce and cheese straight from the farmers. So this is not an abdolute one way or the other.

[BradJudy]

I would say that the culture of smaller quantities of higher quality goods in smaller, locally-owned shops is much broader than France.  France may be in the tops for sheer quality of hand-crafted food, but those attributes are pretty common to Western Europe at least.  Depending on your definition of "quality", much of the world works in this way - local resources sold in small, local shops and/or locally crafted into other products.  The French certainly don't have a monopoly on pride and passion for such things.  (Not to take away from the fact that France produces some of the most universally praised forms of food in the world.)

[konut]

In 1995 I went for 8 days, far to short a time to get a "sense" of the places I went. The first 2 days I spent wandering about Paris, trying to deal with the deliberately incorrect directions the locals gave me. Then I joined the purpose of my visit. I met up with fellow members of The Bread Bakers Guild of America. Annually they sponsored a 6 day seminar held at the l’Ecole Française de Boulangerie d’Aurillac in Aurillac,
 http://www.maisondugout.com/accueil.htm
Cantal region, in south central France. We met at the airport and boarded a bus for the 7 hour ride to our destination. For lunch, we stopped at a truck stop. There is absolutely no resemblance between a truck stop in the US and one in France. The cafeteria style food provided was absolutely superb. Once reaching our destination, we were treated with respect and deference. They even held a small parade in our honor! During the war, this area of France had been active in the resistance with the Partisans fighting along side Americans so there was a genuinely warm feeling toward our group.
      We were given 4 days of intense, hands on, instruction in artisan hearth bread baking techniques. An absolutely fabulous time!!

[Syrah]

That sounds great Konut, I can hear the cracking of crust now - mmm.  I've been trying to make a decent baguette with my 5 year old son for some time now, we need to get the timing right.

I lived in Paris for 3 years, my wife is from Brittany (north west) and we go back every year.  I know it well!

There's definitely a difference between Paris and everywhere else in France.  Like New York and everywhere else in the U.S.  Some better, some worse, but very different.

[jimdgoulding]

Had some sweetbreads in a saffron creme in a cafe in Paris near the opera house.  Made a believer out a me!!!  Catch some live music in the St. Germain du Pres section on the left bank.

[Demarche]

I spent a bit of time there in the early to mid 90's, living/working in the Paris area and loved it . I would agree with sts9fan, it's not an absolute. You can find the SuperU or Carrefour and you have the local shops. What I came away with was that the culture put more value on quality and not quantity, People would shop several times a week and buy fresh ingredients and not buy 3 months worth of something just because it was slightly cheaper. Of course, most of the people living in cities don't have the space to dedicate to storage of 3 months of anything. They also put a higher value on the meal itself. Dinner was never quick nor was it meant to be. It was a time to get together with friends and family. I also got to see Elliott Murphy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cyS6TOE_SM at New Morning , so that was pretty cool too .

[TheChairGuy]

I went many times from 1991 thru 2001 (Ed/low.pfile..I, too, was stuck there on 9/11).  When the dollar reigned supreme and the Franc was trivial, vacations were cheap there (cheaper than flying to CA or HI for vacations from the East Coast where I lived back then)

Brilliant country.....but if you only see Paris, you are missing out on the brilliant other 90% of the country. 

John

[Zheeeem]

I lived there for 9 years between 1995-2004 in a small town in the suburbs of Geneva Switzerland (where I worked).  I go back, mainly to Paris, 2-3 times a year.

Great place to live.  High quality of life.  Friendly and gregarious natives.  Spectacular food.  We settled in fairly quickly to the routine of a daily baguette, and bought our cheeses, charcuterie, fruits and vegetables and seasonal oddities at a local marche.

As it turns out, there are several things we cannot easily live without now that we've returned to the states.  These I bring back from my regular trips, or in some cases we stocked up before our return.  Fleurs de sel du Geurande, foie gras, decent cheeses, herbes de provence.  With patience, I have learned to bake a passable baguette.  I have also tracked down some american artesanal cheese producers.  I do miss ready access to some excellent mushrooms, and the better french cheeses like beaufort d'alpage, comte and tomme de savoie (all local to where I was living) as well as fresh brebis.  But some french cheeses - like chevre and roquefort travel reasonably well and so I'll eat the imports.  But for the most part, american cheesemongers just have no idea how to properly care fore their cheeses.  I also miss the variety of birds to eat  One of my favourites is pigeon - impossible to find here, as well as quail.  In the supermarket you could generally count on finding 8-10 different varieties of chicken.

All is not perfect, of course.  French beef is still not so good.  And seafood can be impossibly expensive.

The food culture, however, is immensely more favourable than here in the states.  Eating in a resto is generally a pleasant and leisurely 2+ hour experience.  We would eat on the patio during the summers, which tended to span closer to 3 hours, since the sun doesn't set till nearly 10 PM.  And when we would eat christmas dinner with our neighbours, we would start eating at 11 AM and end at about 5 PM.  (The french, of course, would take a nap and resume eating by 7 PM, but my wife and I would be nearly dead by that point.)

[sts9fan]

MUSHROOMS!!

I nearly fell over when I saw cepes for 13 euro/kg.  We ate LOTS of them.  Fantastic!

[PhilNYC]

Most of the people I've met from France cannot stand NYC-styled delis...without exception, they say that American sandwiches have way too much meat on them (eg. one pastrami sandwich from Carnegie Deli could feed a family of 4 for a week in France...!)

[CSI]

I travel to Europe a couple of times a year on business. I'm no rabid Europhile and sometimes bite my tongue to keep from responding to some of the mindless anti-Americanism I encounter. Last year, our French colleagues took us to a small neighborhood restaurant in Paris (the kind everyone writes home about). Was it overrated? It would be impossible to do so! It was the finest meal, and one of the most pleasant evenings, I've every experienced. Vive La France!

[jqp]

Years ago I ate dinner with a French family near Grenoble. A young lady I met had been an exhange student with them. It was a good meal with salad at the end! Cheeses and salamis were featured and can't remember everything else.

The rest of my French experience is from eating in cafe's and restaurants in Paris, with some food from the supermarkets. Not typical. I think I did eat at 'the least expensive restaurant in Europe' in France.

In general I see the French and several other nationalities as taking the 'everything in moderation' approach. They value good food and save their money for good food instead of being rabid consumers like Americans often are. The drinking that they do in France tends to be in modertion as well in general. England, Germany, Sweeden, Finland are not known for their moderation when it comes to drinking. In fact the Sweedes seemed to go nuts when traveling from my experience. Also I think of the 'Mediterranean diet' which many Europeans tend to eat. Of course there are lots of unhealthy Europeans who smoke and do not exercise much. But not being gluttons sure can prevent health problems I would guess. I guess Europeans have learned some lessons over many centuries compared to our few centuries. However I think that Americans have mostly become rabid consumers and gluttons in the last few decades.

At the same time in the U.S. we have a restaurant business model which attempts to maximize profits on every little ingredient in a meal (the same goes for food products). This is not conducive to quality meals.

Also when someone does have an excellent restaurant, due to following the principles we have been discussing, either the chef leaves and is replaced by someone who doesn't have the vision, or someone buys out the owner to try to make some money, and the restaurant goes downhill. I would say I can count on 1 hand the restaurants in Charlotte that have provided consistent quality for more than a year or two. Most fairly good restaurants don't make it a year here. And we have Johnson and Wales University...

I hope to get back to France and the rest of Europe soon.

[Levi]

I have travelled to many different parts of Europe, Asia and Caribs.  They are all different in their own ways and customs.  I agree, France is beautiful.  Unique in it's own ways.



One of the best sausages in the world! 

[some young guy]

My wife and I used to strap on the back-pax and go every other year... before we had kids.

We've been around a little... Paris, Lyon, Provence, Alsace, Champagne, Loir, Burgundy, Marseille etc. Some of the finest edibles of my life were consumed there. From Poulet Brisse and foie gras at Paul Bocuse to salami and butter on a baguette from a street vendor; artisan raised and crafted food from France is legendary for a reason.



Thinking of Bocuse... another part of the French culture seems to be the lack of change. Every time we returned, things were always the same. On a visit to this amazing culinary treasure, I noticed that even most of the cooks and chefs in the kitchen (in '97) were the same people I had seen so many times in a book that I have (published in '78). While in the US, we try to evolve constantly and most cooks don't stay anywhere for more than a year, maybe two.

I think often about retiring to a small apartment on the left bank... probably in the 5th AR. The Latin quarter has nice mellow pace and lots of good eats. A favorite activity of mine is to bring a small knife and have a "lunch walk". You can buy a demi-baguette at the boulangerie, some mustard at a small stand, a sausage and some charcute garni at the open market and you're eatin'! Stop in for a big beer, maybe some cheese and it's an afternoon.









I can also highly recomend L'as Du Fallafel in Paris. The best I've ever had. If you go on Sunday, they have the special eggplant. Get that too... and when you're done with that, cross the small street and get the best ice cream ever, at Bertillon.



And for those who are still building/improving their kitchens... E. Dehillerin is a wonderland.



Every region of France that we spent time in was full of history, generosity, tradition, beauty and outstanding food and drink! I miss our European travels and very much look forward to resuming them in the future. Travel always adds greatly to one's perspective on life and the things that help make it worth living.

[konut]

And for those who are still building/improving their kitchens... E. Dehillerin is a wonderland.


 

+1!   Got some baking supplies there available nowhere else, to my knowledge.

[TheChairGuy]

I think often about retiring to a small apartment on the left bank... probably in the 5th AR. The Latin quarter has nice mellow pace and lots of good eats. A favorite activity of mine is to bring a small knife and have a "lunch walk". You can buy a demi-baguette at the boulangerie, some mustard at a small stand, a sausage and some charcute garni at the open market and you're eatin'! Stop in for a big beer, maybe some cheese and it's an afternoon.

Sounds delicious...but, a recipe for colon cancer .  Don't veggies ever parse your lips? (ha)

Kidding aside....I still salivate thinking about the Croque Monsieur (grilled ham sandwich...but the French term for it sounds and is more special) you can buy in any area of any Arrondissemont in Paris.  Good gawd the soups there (I last visited in a rainy April timeframe) are heavenly in the Cafe's.

I had read or watched recently that hundreds of cafe's going out of business due to this worldwide recession and pace of change in France itself....folks eating more at home and on-the-run

John

[Philistine]

I've been to Paris, and it was quite nice (much better than London!), but the Alsace region is where I've spent the most time.  Alsace is an area that's been perpetually contested between France and Germany throughout history.  However, IMO, it's clearly a french region.  Crossing the border turns up a marked difference in design, history, even ethnicity of the people, and certainly in the culinary area.  Wine is also quite different (some say Alsace is the best kept secret in winery). 

So, clearly I am biased toward the eastern part of France, but a friend of mine goes on a yearly trip from Maryland to France (in his own yacht) and then does a wine/cheese trip throughout west and south france and we're in constant contention around which is the better region.

I used to live 2 hours from Strasbourg (Alsace), the German side unfortunately.  It's interesting that, as the border has changed backwards and forwards over the centuries, that village names would be translated from French into German and back to French.  The second time around the French name would be completely different to the original French name.  When you cross the Rhine, separating the two countries, it's fascinating to see the change.  The German side is well manicured, organized and scrupulously clean whereas the French side is more relaxed, colorful and people enjoy life more.  We used to have Saturday shopping trips just to buy food and soak in the culture.