Ham and Cheese

So now Steve is sick again.

We both seem to be getting bad tummies a lot on this trip, and neither of us gets sick that often.

We have good hygiene and we're not eating anything strange, or at dodgy places, and we're drinking bottled water. It's very bizarre. And, to be honest, a bit disheartening.

It's hard to enjoy a trip when you're spending half your time in the can. I of course, wonder what I've done wrong, or if I'm being punished somehow.

The easiest thing to do, however, is to blame The French. It does feel to me that there's a bit of a hygiene issue here, and lack of basic health guidelines in restaurants. There are still bizarre toilet arrangements in some restaurants where the sink that everyone uses to wash their hands after using the bathroom is just opposite a urinal, with no doors for privacy.

Nothing that comes out of a refrigerator here seems to actually be cold, and just this morning, I went to a bakery to get a roll, and I asked the woman what the different kinds of breads and pastries were, and instead of just pointing to them as she described their contents, she touched them. All of them. And when I chose one, she ignored the tongs that were hanging right next to her and just grabbed it with her hand and shoved it in a bag.

This pastry of course is now known as The Hand Danish, and though I tried to not be Sterile American, I could only eat a few bites of it.

Don't even get me started on the girl at the sandwich counter in Paris who had her finger in her ear while taking my order. She, a least, used tongs, though God only knows where those had been.

And while I'm ranting, what is the deal with the fricking ham and cheese in this country??!! Every sandwich counter, every pizza, every meal, consists of some version of ham and cheese. Can they eat nothing else here??!!

If you want a sandwich from any of the millions of shops here, you can get ham, or ham and cheese, or cheese. Or a different variety of cheese with a different kind of ham. Maybe with a tomato. And butter. Always with butter. Which, I'm sorry, adds no flavor, only gobs of fat, which goodness knows you sure need because you're not getting enough with the ham and cheese!!! Have they never heard of mustard??!! Or turkey? What's wrong with turkey?

Although, now that I think about it, with the refrigeration here, or lack thereof, turkey would be a bad idea.

Maybe that's why all you can get is ham and cheese. Both of these items have already been aging at room temperature for years, so a bit longer sitting between two halves of a baguette isn't going to do any harm.

You just can't get away from those two items; crepes, croque monsieurs, even the special Alsatian pizzas all have some version of ham and cheese on them.

It's just too much. I think I can safely say, if Steve and I never see another ham and cheese sandwich again, it will be too soon!

As you probably can tell, we need to leave France.

Wine for Wondering Why

Why, France? Why must you do this to me? I have always defended you from the many people who insist that you are snobby, rude and lacking in deodorant. I have always loved you, have always thought that Paris is the most beautiful city in the world, I swoon over Rodin and Camille Claudel, think that the French language is music to my ears, and believe that nothing in the world can be wrong with a people who believe that a good breakfast is a hunk of break dunked in a bowl of hot chocolate, and who introduced me to Nutella, French Macaroons and the Croque Monsieur.

Why then, must you have so many wine regions with so many different vineyards and wine producers? Why must you have so many different appellations (classifications), that are different in every single region so that you essentially have to treat each region within France as if it is a different country from any other region in France? Why must you have names like Reuilly and Rully which are, in fact, completely different regions and wines, as are Pouilly Fume and Pouilly Fuisse? Why, damn you, why? How on earth is anyone supposed to keep track of it all?

Today we tasted seven different Burgundy wines. All of these wines were made from Pinot Noir except for one which was a Pinot Noir/Gamay blend. My favorite of the seven wines was a Nuits St. Georges Clos de L'Arlot 2006. It is a beautiful garnet color and has a lovely mellow nose of red cherry, wood-smoke, tobacco and smoldering leaf-pile, with flavors of the same. It has a medium body, and a nice long finish. All I could think about was drinking it with a Croque Monsieur or a bowl of beans and sausage. Just thinking about that almost made me forgive France. Almost...