The summer before my senior year I spent 2 weeks in Europe. While exploring the little provincial towns of France, cities of Paris and Amsterdam, and streets of Belgium I experienced food in a whole new way. Bike baskets were filled with baguettes as women pedaled home from the local bakery.
Europeans like to live life at a leisurely pace, and as slow as they please. People stay for hours at a single restaurant just enjoying themselves with no place to go.
The picture to the left is a desert crepe I ordered at a cafe in the French Alps.
Bakeries, also called Pâtisseries in France or Belgium, appeared on almost every street. The locals would show up bright and early to claim their usual desert or baguette for the day.
Bread and wine are staples in European cooking. I found that mostly all dishes contain some sort of bread, which is accompanied by wine. The official drinking age in France is 18, but it is common and accepted for 16 and 17 year
olds to have a glass of wine with a meal.
Not knowing French impacted me more than I thought it would, especially when trying to order food. We didn't stay in big cities like Paris the whole trip where English was widely spoken AND they had English menus upon request.
As we ventured out into the country, the language barrier became more prominent. Most times I would just point to something on a menu and hope for the best. Using broken key words and Google Translate I once ended up with an apple and bacon pancake which was surprisingly tasty.
Another common food/desert is the macaroon. There were shops that sold hundreds of varieties and flavors of macaroons. Some were colorful and vibrant and others were more plain
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