Through the back door

One of the first things I noticed living here in the land of bread and wine is people have style. The women accessorize with scarves, tasteful necklaces, and classic bags. You won’t ever catch a french man wearing jeans and a tee shirt at the same time. A tee shirt with khakis? Sure. Jeans with a button up dress shirt? Obviously (The exception to this rule seems to be on game day when everyone wears their team’s jersey). The women are also always feminine. A trip to the grocery store requires designer ballet flats, a cropped jacket, and white or neutral capris in summer. I’m certainly not in upstate New York anymore… a trip to the shops downtown is in store.

On another note, the cultural stereotype of everything in Europe being smaller is generally quite true. They drive like race car drivers in cars that could fit in my bedroom. I have yet to meet a French person over five foot seven. A truck would never make it down the streets of Toulouse without taking out both sidewalks. And yet even this stereotype has an exception, they like their meals big and their coffee strong. Crepes too, as I think I have mentioned, don’t come smaller than the standard flatscreen tv. Ahh and the cheese aisle in the supermarche could feed all of Collegetown for two weeks. Yes, I think I’ve found heaven.