france 6

I will have been in France for a year come this August ... the followingare signs that say I have adapted to the Parisian way of life: * I know exactly how fast I have to run to catch the metro when Ihear the final BEEEEP. * I can drive 100 mph on the Autoroute, drinking a coke andlooking at the map. * I eat cheese, blue moldy stuff that all normal Americans wouldtoss out. I have at least 6 kinds of cheese in the refrigerator and Ifrequently eat cheese with bread for lunch. * Forget girl shoes ... and my shoes only come in black. * Anything goes on a pizza ... raw eggs, salmon, canned corn. OK,I am no longer shocked but I still don't eat it. Maybe next year. * I am absolutely picky about my bread. Anything over 6 hours oldis considered only good for soup. Anything beyond a day and it's fishfood. And you do need bread with EVERY dinner and lunch. * The strikes no longer phase me. Oh the Louve is on strike forthe day? My plane can't land? You say the pilots aren't flying becausethey are supporting the ship workers? Well, that's so nice. * A 700 square foot apartment is now spacious. And I have givenup on the stains in the cheap white carpet ... everyone who has carpethas all the same stuff. * The phone is useless. Even if you have the phone number, howexactly are you going to speak to someone? In person is the only way togo. * Sunday night coming into Paris is always a major traffic jam.Plan an extra hour or so ... just bring extra tapes and you will befine. * Yes, it does really cost about tripple for gas ... and thenthere's the tolls. You can just take what you paid for a car in the USand multiply by about 5. A car is a luxury item. Good thing we don'tneed 2 of them cause we couldn't find any place to park them. * Walking 15 miles in a day is totally normal. Take the car tothe grocery store? I don't even think about it any more. Althoughlugging home cat litter is the pits. I keep promising I am going to buya cart with wheels. * You really can communicate with about 15 words in your Frenchvocabulary. So you point a lot... * Merci, Bon Jour are just natural parts of my speach...I getconfused when I am outside of France. * If you are out in Paris, you better leave about 5 minutes beforemidnight. If you don't, you will never get home. The metro is closedand good luck getting a taxi. * I have given up on bottled water and bottled soda. It's tooheavy to carry ... the brown stuff out of the tap is just ok. * Dinner out for anything less than $30 is a real bargain. * Any fast food besides Mc Donald's is a welcomed treat. * Service? Oh, did you want service? You are in the wrongcountry for that. * Dinner is an all night adventure. * I no longer expect any remote predictability with the grocerystores ... or choice. Who needs more than one kind of spaghetti sauce.Be happy you found the oatmeal ... so it doesn't have any flavor. Andreally, what's wrong with just Diet Coke with caffine for the choice ofsugar free sodas. All that choice in the US just clouds the brain. * With bills, don't even try ... you won't figure it out. And ifyou do, you can't fix it anyway. * Double this for my pay check. Who knows... Well, that's life in France ...