La Vraie France

La Vraie France:

Things you need to know about France not covered by Michelin.

1) it's hard to find a coffee to go in France unless you go to a MacDonalds (called "MacDo" by the French).

2) bread is served with all meals, but rarely with butter unless you ask.

3) the dollar has lost strength in recent months (I'm writing this December of 2006) but you can still have an incredible dinner for two with wine and desert for about $60! If you know where to look and choose carefully.

4) Hotels: I’m working on these notes while having a meal in an "ordinary" brasserie in France and I’m thinking, "why do I love France so much"? I love the feeling of being in an Impressionist painting, drinking red wine or coffee and watching the parade of beautiful French characters go by; listening to the incomparable rhythms of the language, eating meals that seem so harmonious and balanced. Finally, I start to realize how the differences between our culture and theirs can be simply stated in one word "size".

In America everything is big: our cars are big, out homes are big, our meals are big and our people are big (which could have something to do with the meals being big). In France, you’ll notice that things are not that way at all. Their cars are small, their people are small, their homes are small and their meals are small (by comparison). Why am I saying all this? To paint a picture that gives you realistic expectations. For example, when the French hoteliers say that they have a "grand lit" which means a big bed, by our standards it isn’t! It’s more like one of our doubles.

But like with most everything else in France, small and simple doesn’t mean not good. Quite the contrary. Their meals are small and simple, but are they ever indescribable! Their homes and cars are small, but so efficient and charming. Their hotel rooms may be smaller than ours (they are) but they are comfortable and clean. How’s that for painting a picture that will sell?

The French get a bad rap in their attitudes and behaviors in regard to us Americans- and don't deserve it. They're generally subdued compared to our ordinarily outgoing natures so there is a basic difference, but a difference that can be celebrated. They really love our clothing, movies and the regional cuisine of our culture (Tex-Mex restaurants are HUGE in France) but sometimes can be turned off when we come over there with an aggressive and over bearing attitude. Just come with a generous degree of humility at being visitors in this most incredibly romantic and poetic culture.

In the "post 9-11/ war in Iraq" world there has been great tension between the two countries. That has concerned me as I do bring Americans to France to share my love of the culture. Well, I discovered some important things. The French do not hate us. As a matter of fact I find that there are more Americans who feel hostility towards the French than the other way around. Further, I've found the French wanting to bend over backward to please us. They were very well aware of the nonsense that was going on here in America: spilling their wine in the streets, renaming French Fries to Freedom Fries, etc. That just seemed to make them want even more to please us! No one likes not being liked. Anyway, the bottom line is that they don't like some of our government officials but they really do still like us! A recent poll (as recent as October 2004) showed an overwhelming percentage of French saying that they do like us. This is being overwhelmingly confirmed by people in my workshops - and I like that!

I have recently come to realize that one of the reasons we're considered pushy and arrogant has to do with language. I find that the people in the groups I bring to France are unfamiliar with the language and are fearful of sounding stupid when they do try some of the words they know. So they don't say the simple words: merci and s'il vous plait. The French then take us for being rude and arrogant when we're only guilty of not feeling comfortable enough to use French words! One of the lessons I give people on their arrival to France is pronunciation of these two words. Merci is not pronounced like the English mercy. That hurts even my ears. It's pronounced more like: maih - sea, with the accent on the first part. S'il vous plait is pretty much pronounced the way you think it is: seal voo play. Say these words often as you can - that is the real key!

5) Animals/Pets: This is going to offend the cat lovers among us but in France the dog is king and the cat is relegated to second class animal citizenship. Dogs do their business in the streets and, unlike many American cities, it is not required for the owner to clean up afterwards. This means that you had better be careful walking the streets anywhere in France. Dogs are also welcome in restaurants and other places of business. News Flash!! The French are starting to make doggie pick-up bags available in Paris to dog owners. Wow! What a great joy it would be to walk around Paris without having to look down all the time!

6) Pharmacies: The difference between pharmacies in France and the USA are wide. In France you can go into any pharmacy and tell them what's bothering you and they will recommend some special treatment, medicine or drug. You don't need a prescription to access many of their drugs and they never fear being sued .You quickly learn that litigation is an American phenomenon. So if you have a back ache and go into a pharmacy you may well come out with a drug or medicine that would require a prescription back home. They also have equivalents to our medicines so that if you forget or lose your prescription medication it is possible you could go into a pharmacy and have them look up the French equivalent.

7) Reading glasses: What could you possibly need to know about this? Well, they cost 10 times as much in France as they do in your local supermarket or grocery store in the states. I usually bring two pair in case someone sits on one. news flash: the French have caught up with us. You can now buy reading glasses at prices competitive with those in the US. They are called "loupe de lecture".

8) You might already know this, but in France the tip is usually included in the price of the meal (service compris). I recently had some visitors from France at a restaurant in NYC and when the bill came they left only the amount of the bill - no tip. The waitress patiently explained to them that she was working primarily for tips. Now they can go back to France and write "American Facts" as part of their web sites.

Let me suggest something else regarding eating in France. Eating anywhere in France. Leave your guide books home and discover places on your own. That is the first commandment. Why do I say this? If you pick a restaurant rated highly by one of the guide books you're going to find that the rest of America is eating there too! Why the heck would you come to France to eat in that kind of environment? I feel that it's really hard to find a bad place to eat in France. I also find that the food is generally better dans les provinces - meaning outside of Paris. But that's another issue. If you trust your gut and have the spirit of discovery you will likely find a more profound enjoyment than if you follow the guide books.

When I go out to eat in Chinatown in NYC I look for the places where the Chinese are eating. I know it's going to be good. When I'm in France I look for neighborhood restaurants maybe slightly off the beaten path - and there are tons of them. For example, I've found an Asian restaurant in the 13th arrondissement that is in none of the guide books, called Nuits d'Asie. It totally knocks me out. The food is so great and the prices so low that you just want to tell all your friends. You won't find Americans in there often - just the French. And what a difference that makes as to feeling the total ambiance and immersion into this fabulous culture! So, leave your guide books home (or put them in the bottom of your valise in case you get too anxious) and hit the streets. Does that mean that you'll never have a bad eating experience? No, but the good ones will be the stuff of stories and the beginnings of your own personal guide book.

9) You will discover that you can buy art supplies that are manufactured in France in American stores for less than they cost in France! I believe this is because the French don't discount goods the way we do. So it's a good idea to bring as much of what you need with you. There are decent art supply stores in France but you will come to appreciate the great range of choice that we sometimes take for granted. Paint thinner is widely available in grocery stores, supermarkets and garages and goes by the name of "white spirit".

10) Wine: Time to talk a little bit about wine, but in no particular organized way: Wine consumption per capita in France is about 16 gallons a year compared to 6 in Germany, 3 in the US and 1/2 gallon in Japan. We export about $143 million of wine a year to Britain, $66 million to Japan and only $6.6 million to France (representing only 1% of our total wine exports).. You'll see as many varieties of California wines in France as you will see American made cars on the streets - not a hell of a lot! Yet California wines like Gallo are making slow inroads. Aha! I wrote this back in 2000. Now, it's early 2005 and the new statistics state that: the average Frenchman still downs 13.2 gallons of wine a year - half as much as in 1961! It was predicted that the USA will overtake France as the leading overall wine consumer by 2008 - although the French would still lead on a per capita basis...

We have such a powerful influence in the world that some countries make specific laws to limit the "intrusion" of our cultural products. For example there are committees in France that serve to limit the influx of American words into the French language. This is a big concern and I can certainly understand the pride the French feel about their language.

Back to wine: In the US we label our wines by the type of grape, i.e.: chardonnay; cabernet sauvignon, etc... In France the wine is labeled according to region where it is grown: Bordeaux, Bourgogne (Burgundy - which has absolutely nothing in common with the cheap American burgundies that you can buy), vins de pays d'oc, etc...Within the larger regional appellation like Bordeaux you will find progressively smaller and smaller categories or appellations of wine, i.e.: St. Emilion. The smaller and more specific the appellation the better - generally.

My personal favorites are the great wines of Burgundy. The great red wines are generally grown between the cities of Dijon and Beaune and the white wines grown south of Beaune (with exceptions of course). The names of the villages in between Dijon and Beaune, going north to south, are Marsannay, Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-Saint-George, Ladoix-Serrigny, Savigny-les-Beaune and Beaune. Driving through these villages still gives me the chills - the names are awesome as are the wines! South of Beaune you will find Meursault, Volnay, Pommard and Puligny-Montrachet.

The wines or appellations are, in order: the generic Bourgogne appellation controlée; the village appellations, such as Gevrey-Chambertin controlée,etc; the premier cru wines and then, at the top of the hierarchy, the grand crus. The pinot noir grape is the varietal of choice in red Burgundy wines. There is also a wine called Passetoutgrain, a Burgundy that is a mix of pinot noir and the gamay grape - a lighter wine. The gamay is used in the Beaujolais wines, which are lighter and less beefy. If you love the tannin in wines, some of the younger Burgundies are absolutely outrageous and magnificent. They say you should wait anywhere from 4 - 10 years on these wines. But the tannins exist in all their glorious flavor if you drink these wines younger. 1996 and 1999 were two of the special years in Burgundy wines in recent years. They say you should wait another 3 years minimum, before opening the 1999 wines. I beg to differ. Open that babe for me now. Sure, maybe it develops a deeper and richer quality over the years, but its the tannin that I love!

But it's a mistake to think that only the so-called 'great' years have produced the good wines. There are great wines to be had in ANY year, if you find the right grower (viticulteur - eleveur). Visiting the famous Clos de Vougeot and more specifically the Chateau de la Tour, I learned that there were MANY growers of that famous wine - Clos de Vougeot. Its just that there are many, many growers within the Clos (enclosure). Some of whom have very little production and some, like Chateau de la Tour, have lots of vines. I learned that wines grown next to each other can have different qualities depending on the genius and methods of the particular grower.

The one rule that seems to work is to drink as many different wines that you can and find your own favorites, no matter what Robert Parker has to say about it....

11) Laundry: If you're ever anywhere in France long enough to have to do your laundry its good to know some 'Laundry Facts". First, there Laundromats are three times the cost of ours. I don't like that too much. The upside is that most of them are operated by central computerized stations. That is, rather than put your money into an individual machine you put your coins in the central computer control and then select the machine you're using. Kind of high-tech. The washing machines generally run longer than ours, while the dryers dry faster - as a rule.

12) portable phones: There are a number of international cell phones you can buy into for trips of short duration. Not cheap, but not a bad idea to stay in touch with loved ones. If you're going to be in France for any extended length of time you might want to look into their system of cell phones.

They have some advantages over ours. You can receive unlimited calls from anywhere in the world and not pay a penny. You only pay for the outgoing calls. There are no roaming charges because each phone network covers the whole country - the advantage of being in a small country. You buy a card that has a 14 digit code. You uncover the code and punch it into the phone giving you a predetermined number of minutes.

There are two ways to handle this. One, you take a phone with a monthly fee for its use or you take a phone where you pay as you go, using the card with the 14 digit code mentioned above. In order to save money lots of French type in their messages on the keyboard and send them that way rather than making a call. Calls ARE expensive.