Our first trip to France

[pete ganz]

Thanks again Bux, since as I recall it was you who was the big proponent of Maisons de Bricourt. I'm pretty sure the autoroute speed limit is 130 km in good conditions, but absolutely no one but me paid attention to it. 90 year old guys in beat up Fiats were blowing by me. And I didn't see a cop on the highway, driving or clocking for speed, the entire week we had the car (and curiously no accidents). Just my observation.

[fresh_a]

All this freedom of speeding is about to change. France has now installed automatic, network-linked radar cameras alongside the most accident-prone highways and roads. In Paris there are 27, and there will be soon 450 or so in all of France, with more to come. These nifty devices catch you speeding, take your photo, and send off the ticket directly to your home address in less than 48 hours. Great!

[tommy]

All this freedom of speeding is about to change. France has now installed automatic, network-linked radar cameras alongside the most accident-prone highways and roads. In Paris there are 27, and there will be soon 450 or so in all of France, with more to come. These nifty devices catch you speeding, take your photo, and send off the ticket directly to your home address in less than 48 hours. Great!

toll booths in NJ have had these for some time now.

[fresh_a]

Shame on them!

[admajoremgloriam]

For amazing comté (and cheese in general) try Marie Anne Cantin, rue du champ de mars, 7th arrondissement, (www.cantin.fr) and ask for the older one, which is generally hidden behind.

[menton1]

The whole country seems to have a "do whatever you want as long as you're not causing any trouble" kind of vibe.

One thing you notice right away is that the French have a lot more patience than Americans do. Here, if we wait more than 90 seconds, either on a line or at a store, we go bonkers.

We have often been amazed while on a long queue at a supermarket where the patron starts a long, personal conversation with the cashier, holding up the line; we get edgy, but all the people on line just stand there, no fidgeting, patiently waiting!!

This is also probably a factor in the high longevity figures in France

Edited October 7, 2003 by menton1 (log)

[Busboy]

For amazing comté (and cheese in general) try Marie Anne Cantin, rue du champ de mars, 7th arrondissement,  (www.cantin.fr) and ask for the older one, which is generally hidden behind.

This is an amazing cheese shop, just around the corner from Marche Rue Claire, which - if not fabulous -- is worth a drop by if you need a few other items to go with the cheese to make your picnic complete. There's an artisanla bread make not far from there, but the name and address escape me.

I wandered into Marie Anne Cantin on my way back to the hotel after a morning exploring the catacombs -- not pretty. The local matron who was at the counter out looked at me with the same expression the French usually reserve for American "Camembert" or some other abomination, and positively recoiled when I noticed her staring and said "bonjour." Nonetheless, the staff was delightful, offering samples and suggestions in perfection fromagerie Franglais ("you weel find thees one....tres fort"). I remeber walking out with what would have been a week's worth of cheese for about 20 euros and thinking "god, I love this country."

[admajoremgloriam]

The great boulangerie you're talking about has to be Poujauran, rue Jean Nicot, a few minutes away from Cantin. On good days, you can go from Poujauran to Cantin and then walk to the Champ de Mars and eat them in front of the Eiffel tower: it's worth many restaurants!

[Louisa Chu]

Yes, worth many restaurants! Bread, cheese - and wine - the holy trinity of French food. Actually the artisanal boulangerie's Pain d'Epis - it right up the street from Marie-Anne Cantin. And yes, Poujauran's good - but don't get me started on Poujauran - I have a love/hate relationship with them - part of our long-running neighborhood feud.

And Marie-Anne Cantin's just amazing - beautiful, elegant, rustic window display. And yah, the staff can seem a little cold at first, but always really patient, and usually warm up and get nice with strangers. I'm always begging them to teach a cheese day at the shop - but they say they're just too busy.