The most common answer was "Always in France"
except when you are dining at an outdoor cafe near the Louvre, when the answer was "Never in the Gardens!"
or when we were at one cafe, where the response was "Never at lunch"
or in St. Emilion after the waiter poured wine all over Erica, where the answer was "Only if you want!"
Poulpes do not taste like chicken
Stacy won the worst menu mistake in France award for ordering what she thought was a salad with some kind of chicken (the French word is poulet), since none of the dictionaries had a translation for poulpes. That should have been a clue! The salad came out, and instead of chicken, was covered with a bunch of baby octopus. Oops! (I tried a few, but could not get past the texture. It wasn't much different from squid, but I'm not a fan of squid either)
The tallest architect in France is 5"9"
Well, this may not be entirely true, but poor Jason, who is 6'7" had to duck through quite a few doorways and hunch in more than a few stairwells in order to avoid head injuries. Bathrooms and beds were also quite small compared to what we're used to in the states (although Stacy and Erica didn't mind having bathtubs instead of showers in a few of the hotels).
The only place in France Bacchus doesn't fit is at the Avis rental return at Charles de Gaul airport!
A bit of an oversight on Avis' part was allowing us to rent a car 2 meters high, when the barrier at the rental return at Terminal 1 of the airport (where we were supposed to return the car to catch our flight to Manchester) would only allow passage of vehicles 1.8meters or less! We did manage to find the Avis service center in the industrial part of the airport and they directed us to terminal 2, which meant we had to catch a train with all our luggage back to terminal 1. Good thing we got to the airport 5 hours early!
You cannot eat leftover pizza at a rest stop cafeteria even if you purchase something from the cafeteria to go with it, so don't even try!
If you stumble into a local hangout in Paris after a drunken bicycle tour and order appetizers, save room for a 4 course meal!
We made the mistake of asking for more bread to go with the wonderful spread of sausages and cheese that we thought was a solo appetizer. Little did we know that it would be followed by 1/2 a cow and a two course dessert!
Getting up early is worth it if it means beating a bus full of Asian tourists to the sight-seeing attractions.
It also means not being awakened by the maids who don't really care if you're in the room or not when they come to clean.
Mold on the walls is a good thing in wine country!
If it grows, the wine must be good! Seriously, many of the cellars we toured were covered in a velvety layer of black mold (but not the kind that makes you sick).
Don't be afraid to try new things.
Escargot doesn't taste like oysters.
Duck and lamb can be delicious if prepared by a French chef.
Never ask what's in the sausage--just try it!
Foie gras goes best with sweet bread.
Cheap wine can be better than Gran Crus.
Read the entry from our stay in Beaune
Watch where you step!
Erica learned the hard way. Dogs are like people in France, except that they don't use the toilet and their masters don't bother cleaning up after them! They are allowed in restaurants, department stores, grocery stores, and some cafes even have menu items just for their canine guests. The dogs are well-behaved for the most part, but they use the sidewalk for their bathroom.
Turn Left means go straight
(When seen on a sign at the right side of the road)
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