Comparing Life Here and There
I realized recently that sometimes my posts sound as if I think everything here in France is better than what I left back in the States. That would be a wrong assumption to make; so I've decided to talk about some comparisons of various things in the two places.
First, let's talk about food. Certainly there ARE foods in the U.S. that I look on with fondness. It's not a question of being better or worse, just being different. For example, as I've often mentioned, Chinese food here is not at all the same as Chinese food in the U.S. But, then again, Chinese food in California is not the same as Chinese food in Philadelphia or New York!
We've recently found a terrific new "Chinese" restaurant in Laroque. Although, as is often the case here, it's more Vietnamese, and in this particular case, Thai than what we would normally think of as Chinese. It's excellent and I'm glad we found it, but it is not quite the same as some of our favorite L.A. places.
Clearly though, in the main, food here comes out ahead of food in the States. But that's mostly because food is really a cultural thing here as opposed to just stuff that you eat.
There are some non-food, weird things that I find vastly superior in the U.S. to what is available here. Now, don't laugh, but I far prefer household items such as aluminum foil, plastic wrap, plastic storage bags, paper towels, kleenex, etc., from the States. It's odd that such simple items can be so different. I'm sure it's what you get used to, but Reynold's Wrap is just superior to anything that I've found here. Okay, I know, I'm weird to even think about it.
Clothing. In the U.S. you have a far, far greater selection of inexpensive clothing than I've found here. Now, part of that may be because we're really not in a big shopping area. It would probably be different if we were to go to stores in Paris or even Toulouse. But I haven't found anyplace (so far) with the selection you find at most U.S. department stores or even Target. I DO find a lot of things that are better quality than what was available at Target, but you pay for it.
Another problem that I have, but this is probably just me, is finding clothing that is long enough! I'm taller than the average Frenchwoman, and clothing lengths reflect that. Sometimes, with things like pants leg length, it's a bit of a challenge.
Then, there are shoes. I find decent shoes to be really expensive here. And, again, probably because of where we live, it is difficult for me to find really comfortable shoes. Yes, there are some decent things at the Gamm Vert, but overall I have not been lucky in the shoe department.
So, you can see that I'm not jingoistic about France. I do love it here and don't consider any of the above differences to be major hurdles. But they are things that have struck me. I'm sure there are many more little things I've noticed, but that will do for today.
Ciao for now.
Randy
First, let's talk about food. Certainly there ARE foods in the U.S. that I look on with fondness. It's not a question of being better or worse, just being different. For example, as I've often mentioned, Chinese food here is not at all the same as Chinese food in the U.S. But, then again, Chinese food in California is not the same as Chinese food in Philadelphia or New York!
We've recently found a terrific new "Chinese" restaurant in Laroque. Although, as is often the case here, it's more Vietnamese, and in this particular case, Thai than what we would normally think of as Chinese. It's excellent and I'm glad we found it, but it is not quite the same as some of our favorite L.A. places.
Clearly though, in the main, food here comes out ahead of food in the States. But that's mostly because food is really a cultural thing here as opposed to just stuff that you eat.
There are some non-food, weird things that I find vastly superior in the U.S. to what is available here. Now, don't laugh, but I far prefer household items such as aluminum foil, plastic wrap, plastic storage bags, paper towels, kleenex, etc., from the States. It's odd that such simple items can be so different. I'm sure it's what you get used to, but Reynold's Wrap is just superior to anything that I've found here. Okay, I know, I'm weird to even think about it.
Clothing. In the U.S. you have a far, far greater selection of inexpensive clothing than I've found here. Now, part of that may be because we're really not in a big shopping area. It would probably be different if we were to go to stores in Paris or even Toulouse. But I haven't found anyplace (so far) with the selection you find at most U.S. department stores or even Target. I DO find a lot of things that are better quality than what was available at Target, but you pay for it.
Another problem that I have, but this is probably just me, is finding clothing that is long enough! I'm taller than the average Frenchwoman, and clothing lengths reflect that. Sometimes, with things like pants leg length, it's a bit of a challenge.
Then, there are shoes. I find decent shoes to be really expensive here. And, again, probably because of where we live, it is difficult for me to find really comfortable shoes. Yes, there are some decent things at the Gamm Vert, but overall I have not been lucky in the shoe department.
So, you can see that I'm not jingoistic about France. I do love it here and don't consider any of the above differences to be major hurdles. But they are things that have struck me. I'm sure there are many more little things I've noticed, but that will do for today.
Ciao for now.
Randy
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