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Eating, drinking, and breathing in France
On our previous trip to France, in 2002, we ended up eating almost every meal at an outdoor table, even if it was windy or rainy, because indoors was full of cigarette smoke, and outdoors there was at least a chance that the wind would blow it away so we could taste our food.
I think the laws have changed since then: there are ashtrays on the outdoor tables, but not indoors, so we're eating indoors even when the weather is gorgeous, in order to avoid the cigarette smoke and taste our food. It's an improvement, I guess.
On our previous trip I noted that "water and soda, by volume, are almost as expensive as wine." Presumably because of the number of American tourists, every place we've eaten has been willing to serve us plain water, usually chilled, usually in a carafe or large bottle, and usually gratis. We usually order Orangina or Fanta or the like as well, so they're still making some money on drinks.
Another odd daily-life thing I noticed: we've had high temperatures in the 60's Fahrenheit basically every day, and we've been wearing long-sleeved shirts, sometimes a light sweater, while the locals are all wearing coats, fleece jackets, down jackets, etc.
I think the laws have changed since then: there are ashtrays on the outdoor tables, but not indoors, so we're eating indoors even when the weather is gorgeous, in order to avoid the cigarette smoke and taste our food. It's an improvement, I guess.
On our previous trip I noted that "water and soda, by volume, are almost as expensive as wine." Presumably because of the number of American tourists, every place we've eaten has been willing to serve us plain water, usually chilled, usually in a carafe or large bottle, and usually gratis. We usually order Orangina or Fanta or the like as well, so they're still making some money on drinks.
Another odd daily-life thing I noticed: we've had high temperatures in the 60's Fahrenheit basically every day, and we've been wearing long-sleeved shirts, sometimes a light sweater, while the locals are all wearing coats, fleece jackets, down jackets, etc.