May I Have this Carrot without the French Fry Please?

Today I spent 15E or about $18 at McDo's for lunch. That would be McDonalds here in France. Like Starbucks, you can find one on almost every commercial street. I just could not help it. I am kind of sick of street food and eating for one in a sit down place is a lonely long ordeal coupled with getting someone to wait on you - I have tried it. Women eating alone are left to ponder their aloneness. Ok, a woman with two dogs sitting on chairs is left alone to ponder their aloneness (not everyone enjoys the chiens).

So the reason I spent so much money on McD's is because I cannot speak as much food french as I thought, and the person taking my order was, well, working at McDonalds. I had enough lunch for me as well as L&P for at least a week. But not to waste anything, we all munched on french fries until no one, not even the dogs, would voluntarily eat any more.

Later we all fell into the saturated fat slumber and tossed and turned. At one point P woke up and walked all over L and me until she was satisfied that we both were still asleep and then settled once again.

Why, you ask, did we eat at McD's when there are so many other choices here in the land of good food? Because. Sometimes too much good food is too much. Croissants are gone by lunch time and here they do not make or sell croissant sandwiches or croissants stuffed with ham and cheese. Two kinds - plain and au chocolate. And don't ask for them after 11. You will get the look. And I bet you have never ventured into a McD's that has an open facade with glass cases full of hearty healthy carrots in vases before. Hundreds of them. So how bad could the food actually be? There isn't much salt on anything, unlike their twin in the US. And it does not smell greasy until you get it back somewhere, say, your itty bitty apt. and then be glad the windows open wide. Yes, I will not have to return there. I learned my lesson. And now at least P will pass over the french fries on the street.

At all of the brasseries with outside windows one can pick up a quick crepe (sometimes so quick, they are not cooked) or sandwich for lunch. One item that I noticed was a giant hot dog in a long roll, not a bun, with melted cheese. For those of you reading this who have not eaten (lunch, dinner, whatever) you may stop salivating. I can tell you now with certainty that they look more intriguing than they taste. First, they zap it in the microwave for you while you pay. And you know what happens to bread once it has been zapped. Yes indeed, bread-rock heaven. Break a tooth bread-rock. The hot dog is about 68 inches long and it tastes an awful lot like sausage. The cheese stinks to high heaven so I have no idea what kind it is, and it is tasteless. The bread, well, you know that story. The dogs, once again, troopers that they are, helped finish the hot dog. P chewed and chewed like she was evaluating the flavor. L just ate it all in one bite and I know because she has been farting hot dogs for two days now. It is stuck somewhere.

I was just trying to take a break from the ubiquitous salad composed of jambon (ham and more ham) cheese, hard boiled egg and lots of lettuce and maybe a tomato. Depending on where you get the salad you might find hidden in there a potato, some corn, a bit of bacon (with ham???) or nuts and sometimes a cucumber. There are very few salads that do not contain jambon. It is the first french food word I memorized because it was on so many menu items. Jambon is very very popular in Paris.

I do need to go in search of better food for lunch. It is a long time until dinner and lunch is very important. We eat dinner at 8:30 or 9PM (my daughters are laughing right now). Frankly, that seems rather civilized since we start drinking wine about 7:30PM. Food is a good idea sometime after that.

Dinner deserves its own post.

L&P would rate McDo's a fair 4 because the french fries were hot to start with. P rates the hotdog a 6 and L has nothing to say about it. And we all know why. Momo rates any salad with jambon in it a big fat 2. Mon dieu.