A list

Here are some things I eat or consume on a regular basis here:

- plain yogurt-stuff called fromage blanc. this stuff is not to be confused with creme fraiche, which looks similar but tastes like butter and turns into a very fattening delight when mixed with anything sweet. I made the mistake only once, without much regret.

-bread, usually a baguette cereal (wheat baguette) or a tradition (artisanal baguette, prettier). The thing about bread here is it's so cheap and so good. For the nicer stuff, you pay about 1.20€, which lasts a couple days depending on appetite and the presence of things to dip in.

-eggplant, which I usually just sauté and add to pasta or couscous. It adds a nice meaty texture, and, if I cook it well enough, slices become little flavor explosions of olive oil, basil, garlic, etc.

-tomatoes. Back over there I grew to like tomatoes, but I never liked to cook with them for some reason. They've now replaced both onions and bell peppers, which I've found don't taste as good here. The tomatoes are super yummy, and they are a fairly cheap item I can add to about any meal I eat.

-jam, or confiture (we know that word in the US, right?). Bonne Maman brand seems like something expensive and snobby and French back home, but here it's the cheapest. Comes in all sorts of flavors, though I keep hovering back to rhubarb, because, no matter how used to it I become, it always strikes me as new and worth trying (again). I mix this with fromage blanc (on Mom's suggestion) for an excuse to spoon this stuff into my mouth.

-cheese, duh. Also so much cheaper over here (wine is too, though I don't consume it as frequently as these other things). I eat a lot of goat cheese, camembert (stinky brie), emmental (basically swiss, but a little sweeter maybe), and comté. Though I really should, I'm too nervous to go to the cheese store around the corner, of a whole foreign vocabulary world that would lead me into spending 50€ on a cheese that literally writhes and farts the Marseillaise and then Gainsbourg's 'Requiem pour un con' and evacuates my building. On a side note, one thing I've noticed about stinky cheese is that the good taste never exactly makes up for the stink or makes it go away, but somehow renders it pleasant and deep and true.

That's the list right now, I'll add more as they come to me. It may be expanded at some point. I'll try to do another similar thing with people I see in Neuilly (such as, old woman in massive fur coat watches dog shiver and clench a spectacular turd [extremely regular sighting]).