The fat, the starving, and the French

Day 3

So, this is finally the first time Ive had a chance to post. Disclaimer- If there are a bunch of mispells and bad puntcuation(sp) on this, its not my fault totally, as these keyboards are different from American ones.

Anyway, being allergic to fish in America sucks. Being allergic to fish in a country where theres a language barrier and youre not exactly sure what is in everything (sauces, etc.) sucks a ton more. So basically, its bread, these long bagette sandwiches with ham, maybe cheese, and butter. Im not sure who thought it would be a good match for ham and butter, but everyone agreed on it. So in Paris and Lyon I can eat another thing, something only Americas soft empire could deliver, McDonalds.

Jane and I walked into a McDonalds around 10 or 11 the first night I got here. It was kinda by the Arc de Triumph, and it was packed. At night it was almost all French kids, but as my fear of dying in France wont go away, Ive freqeunted other fine establishments, other times of the day its older people. The French loving McDonalds isnt a youth thing, its everyone. And speaking of fine establishments, the McDonalds here resemble more of a cool lounge than the place you and I are accustomed. Nice wood chairs, flat screens, music videos, oh yeah, and Mc Cafes selling pastries(seriously). Another exciting thing about traveling 6,000 miles to eat at a place also everywhere in America, they have 4 special "Road to America" sandwiches. I knew I would like high French cuisine.

Other than that, saw the big sights in Paris, grabbed an old French guy and his wife from getting hit by a backing up van. I wish I could have done a post for Paris and a post for Lyon, both are cool. Met a Protestant, American missionary in Lyon that explained to us the subway wasnt working and gave us tips on the city. He said he had lived there for 19 years, now thats some serious commentment to bringing down the Universal Church. So yeah, every day we've walked atleast a few miles, and adding on 4 travel books, 3 Arabic, 2 dictionaries plus all my other crap walking for a few hours gets old quick. On the upside, my new, stronger back and shoulders should give me just the edge I need to be able to totally dominate croquet when I get back. Only 4 more hours for a Paris-Rome train. Rome should be fun, cuase apparentlyn everyone is headed there.

After a long day in Lyon Jane we tried to eat at a real French cafe', Jane ordered the sausage. The sausage was made of tripe, not blended tripe, big chunks of it. Hilarious!