Things We Learned in France

1. A baguette and wine bottle fit nicely into water bottle cages on your bikes.
2. It’s not a stereotype, the French love their bread.
3. If you don’t have an electronic chip in your credit card, you could easily run out of gas driving around the country.
4. Most grocery stores close between 12 and 2 in the afternoon.
5. Waiters are not rude, they just let you relax while you eat (you have to ask for the bill, they never force it on you).
6. Coffee tastes better there.
7. Coke and Diet Coke taste worse.
8. Rest stops on the Autoroutes are amazing and serve good hot, healthy meals.
9. People eat at restaurants at 9 or after in big cities, and pretty much between 7:30 and 8pm in the small towns (and if you try before or after, you may go hungry).
10. It stays light until almost 10:30 pm in the summer.
11. Language, conversations and cafes are an art form.
12. Drivers on the Autoroutes are very courteous and follow the rules of the road.
13. Drivers in Paris are crazy.
14. The French love their roundabouts.
15. Coffee is served after dessert not along with it.
16. Raw meat is not a scary thing.
17. All old French men wear black chapeaus and play boules.
18. Most houses have red roofs, not just Anne’s.
19. The French smoke too much.
20. The highway tolls are very expensive.
21. Crepes with Nuetella are heavenly (crepes with ham and cheese are messy).
22. They put restaurants and cafes literally anywhere, including on the top of Tourmalet and on the edge of lakes that can only be reached by long hikes.
23. When driving, never follow road numbers always follow town names.
24. You can never have enough tiny villages tucked into mountain valleys.
25. Animals in the mountains have “liberte” which means that at any time you may have to avoid, cows, sheep and llamas.
26. You can get crepes and paninis on the beach.
27. French people have a funny way of running (Anne confirmed it).
28. The country is beautiful and has every type of landscape imaginable.
29. Always keep your car windows rolled down in Provence to let in the smell of lavender fields.
30. Everything in the Alps and the Pyrenees are either UP or DOWN. There are no flat roads.
31. Orangina is underrated in the U.S.
32. French children are so much cuter.
33. Macaroons are a colorful delicacy.
34. Cycling is a religion.
35. Dave and I could live in the Pyrenees (or at least go back there a lot).
36. Not all of the French hate Lance Armstrong.
37. Quality is better than quantity.
38. Airport security is easier, but they also have military police with machine guns.
39. Little girls wear hats.
40. Fresh food tastes better.
41. Everything is more expensive, but you buy things anyway.
42. Radio stations play the same annoying pop music as the U.S.
43. The days are longer, but work days are shorter.
44. Food and conversation are important and there is no reason to hurry through either.
45. We’d go back in a heartbeat.