Guest Blogger Kirsty on what she loves about France

Kirsty is sharing the love!

A very special event happened back in March, Aidan organized a Blogapalooza where a number of us anglophone bloggers met up for lunch in Aix-en-Provence. One of those bloggers was Kirsty at You Had Me At Bonjour. Her profile says,"An Australian mother of three and lucky wife to the mister, this is my record of our life in southern France." Kirsty is quite the quilter and photographer. She has a wicked sense of humor and a wonderfully original regard on France and all things French. I always have a good laugh when I read her blog.

So, here is what Kirsty has to say about France. Enjoy!

Thank you Charley for inviting me to write a guest post on what I love about France. All I can say is where do I start? 

- The postman delivers six days a week here in France. Coming from a mail-only-on-weekdays country, I find this awesome. He still only rings once though. 

- Duckfat. It's so bad, but so good. 

- The Luberon Valley

Fruit trees in blossom in the Luberon, Provence

- France's love of food and the ritual of the meal. The rest of the Western world could learn a lot from the French here - food isn't just fuel, it is one of life's most satisfying pleasures and should be given the attention and time it deserves. This love of food is encouraged from a young age, both in the family home and at school. Here is one of the daily menus from my kids' school, where they enjoy a four-course lunch every day:

For those not well versed in français:

~ Starter: Diced vegetables with a Provençal dressing ~

~Main: Provençal braised beef casserole served with penne pasta and organic, butter-glazed carrots ~

~ Cheese course: Pont l'Eveque cheese (similar to brie or camembert) served on baguette ~

~Dessert: French pound cake ~

May I stress that the maternelle school system starts at age three. Yes, three year olds are eating this meal. It's enough to make me cry into my Vegemite sandwich. 

- the French kiss. No, not the slobbery one, but rather the European tradition of kissing on both cheeks when greeting/parting, which my very young children refer innocently to as a French kiss. This isn't a cliché - everyone does it, everywhere. The police officer who mans the pedestrian crossing at school greets the parents he knows in this way (while standing in the middle of the road). Male teenagers with butt-cracks hanging out of their undies (which are respectively hanging out of their jeans) will hold their cigarettes aside to kiss their male friends. It's different to anything I've ever seen and I love it - any custom that encourages the breakdown of stereotypical macho culture is A-OK with me. 

Thanks Kirsty!! For anyone interested in being a guest blogger, the rules are simple: you have to have a blog and be able to write on something you love about France. Feel free to send me an email.

Oh, and, Aidan, when are we doing the next Blogapalooza?? :-)

Gros bisous of sharing the love et a bientôt!