Reasons why I love France

This whole past week I have been walking around the city thinking to myself how happy I am here and how much I love this place.  France in general and Strasbourg specifically.  Therefore I decided to start writing down my reasons.  The following reasons are in no order, I am just going to write them down as I think of them.  So here we go!

Reason why I love France #1:  The pastries
I think I will never get enough of the quantity of pastries here.  I mean even if I had one every day (which would neither be good for my wallet nor my waist...) I could never taste all of the pastries.  Well I guess that goes for everything, including but not limited to the wine, beer, and cheese!! Ever since seeing a documentary on pastries I want to eat more so I can try ALL so I have begun again (slowly) my quest of tasting all the goodness I can. :-)

  
Reason why I love France #2: Wine tasting in supermarkets
Even though I have been here for awhile now and I am pretty accustomed to most things that the French do differently than us over in America, I am happy to say I can still be surprised.  Last week I went to a supermarket on a search for a turkey (a story for another time...) and was very surprised to find a man handing out wine samples in the  grocery store.  Given that it was the day of the New Beaujolais wine, it is not that surprising if I think about it, but something like that would never happen in the US!!! Also, despite what you may think, I unfortunately did not partake in this wine tasting.  I had tasted the Beaujolais Nouveau the evening before and was not in the mood for wine at 3pm...

Reason why I love France #3: Walking home past really old monuments and looking up and seeing the cathedral and realizing how old it is and how insignificant I am in this tiny slice of time
It really is amazing when I walk around the city.  If I don't think about what I am walking past, it is just a normal walk home along the river, past the downtown clothing shops and bakeries.  However, if I look around and think about all the things I pass just from my walk from school to my house it is insane!  I pass Place de la République which includes the palace where the emperor used to stay in Strasbourg and the National Theater of France (only one of which exists outside of Paris).  I also pass the Palace of Justice and the Opera as well as so many old buildings which are now apartments and stores.  I can also look up from many places along the walk and see the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg.  Construction on the Cathedral started in 1170 and took 300 years to build.  It is a beautiful Cathedral if you ever get a chance to come.  But it is just crazy to think about how many people have passed by that Cathedral on their way to work, taking their children to school or even going to war. 

Ok those are all the reasons I will put for today, though there are of course many more. :-P