Top Ten Things I Love About France

10) Buildings: the new ones. When we pass new buildings, I am amazed to see that they still build them here like the old ones. Solid pieces of wood going across the beams for a roof. Cinder block structures under stucco. I haven't seen a single piece of particle board here. They still build houses to last. Very cool.

9) Flowers. Millions of them. Everywhere. In fact, I think that gardening and smoking cigarettes are tied for first for the national past time. Everyone has gardens here, and everyone has flowers. I've even seen flower and vegetable gardens in neutral areas and beside train tracks. People just pick a patch of earth if they don't own property and they grow flowers and veggies. I think it is easier to count yards without gardens but I can assure you, you have to look hard. Everyone here seems to grow food and flowers.

8) Market days: I LOVE walking through market on market day. The fresh meat and produce here is astounding. Seriously. You can also get clothes, shoes, flowers, and so much more on market day. Every town has a big market day and two little market days. *sigh* I am really going to miss market days:(

7) Pharmacies: I know what you are thinking. You are thinking we already have these. But you are so wrong! Here in France, if you are sick with something mild, or have a physical issue (liked cracked and bleeding heels) you just walk in and show the pharmacist and they give you a prescription med! How cool is that? No calling for an appointment with your GP and asking for a referral and then getting an appointment with the referral specialist who can see you in three months...no red tape! Very simple. Common sense and medicine combined. I love it:)

6) Pain au Chocolate or chocolate bread: Imagine a croissant meeting a Hershey's kiss and you are on the track to thinking about this wonderful breakfast food. Having warm chocolate bread for breakfast is comparable only to experiences best not discussed in the presence of minors.

5) Wine: their wine is famous for a reason. They don't even export some of their most popular wines because it would be too expensive in the states. I sure love drinking it here!

4) Walking: most of the places that we go, people mostly walk to get where they are going. This is so cool because their roads are narrower, there are bike and pedestrian lanes, and some streets are closed off to cars completely. There are cross walks everywhere and I am amazed at the way cars come to a screeching halt when you are in a cross walk. They take pedestrians seriously over here.

3) Trains: there are over eight hundred trains in France, for a country the size of Texas. It is so easy to hope on a train and a bus and be anywhere. It's easier to see the Loire Valley with a car, but other than that, we really haven't needed a car much. I love the mass transit in this country. We need to stop subsidizing roads, pay tolls to use them, and start using our tax dollars on some meaningful infrastructure change that brings us into the twenty-first century.

2) Historical buildings: I feel like we have done three months of history in two weeks. The ancient Roman ruins, the medieval castles, the Renaissance palaces. This country is freckled with history that you can tour, touch, and see. We saw archeological digs in some caves from the road. We saw remnants of medieval castles and towns from the road. I have finally come to terms with the fact that there is just too much too see. You would have to make it your life's work to see and categorize all of the historical structures that are here. There are castles, medieval walls, and Roman ruins everywhere.

1) Food: if you don't come to France for the food, you are here for the wrong reasons. I got fast food in an airport that was just as good as the take-out from Fresh Market or Whole Foods. I was in a grocery store last night and the country of origin for everything in the produce section was France except for one item from Spain (endives). We went to a Chinese buffet tonight and had the most delicious food, and most of it, I have never even seen in the states! The French take their food seriously, and if you are breathing and eating, you can't help but notice. We haven't had a bad meal yet. I think you have to overtly try to eat bad food here just to find some. Most of the food at the casual restaraunts here, is like the food you get at a really fancy place at home. Bon appetite!