Bread

In light of my upcoming trip back home to the 'States to study & take the Internal Medicine Boards, Claire asked me yesterday what things I missed the most already from the United States. It's still rather early to embark upon a final analysis of United States versus France living (an issue I do intend to tackle on this blog, but after I've lived here for at least six months I think), but these were some of the glaring obvious things: American sports (I'm totally out of the loop concerning the pennant races in baseball as well as the pre-season hype for football), a wider selection of breakfast cereals, peanut butter, and a language which doesn't have 32,423 forms of verb conjugation in it.

The reverse question, what things do you think are superior in France compared to the United States, is also interesting. For the most part, my answer is for the current time being very food-centric. Most things do taste better here, even stuff you wouldn't necessarily think twice about like lunch meat. But perhaps the best French tradition that I've adopted so far is THE BREAD.

You know the stereotype of the Frenchman wandering down the street with baguette tucked underneath his arm? Well, it's completely true. There are boulangeries (bakeries) galore in Paris--we have the choice of about 7 during our 25-minute walk from our apartment to Hopital Necker where we work. And the bread is so wonderfully cheap(typically 80 euros for a full baguette) that it is very common to stop by the boulangerie every day to replenish the supply of fresh bread. True, it does involve an extra daily "errand" each day--but it's so easy (and yummy) that I'm totally sold on it already.