I am very happy with my apartment, but it's not perfect. For instance, it doesn't have an oven, so I can't make any of the daring French recipes that I was intending to try (easing into cooking with a croque monsieur to start, and finally attempting beef bourguignon once I felt confident, and sure that my fire alarm worked). At the moment, I'm a little peeved that I have to wait for the dishwasher to finish before I can have any tea or hot chocolate, the perfect company for this rainy French afternoon. I didn't know whether I should be annoyed that I only had two mugs, or elated that I had a dishwasher.
As compensation, I turned to one of my remaining papillotes:
Papillotes are well-known candies that are eaten all over France during the holiday season, although they're actually a specialty originating from here in Lyon, the gastronomic capital of the world (All of the leading restaurants in France are located in Lyon, including Paul Bocuse, so it definitely deserves the title). One of my teachers was nice enough to give me a whole bag for Noel, which I've slowly whittled down over the months to just a handful of remaining chocolates. Each one has a wrapper with a message inside, and mine read:
« Et quand on n’a pas ce qu’on aime, il faut bien aimer ce qu’on a, » by Corneille.
Roughly translated by a lowly UCSB French minor, it says "And when you don't have what you love, you must love what you have."
French food in Lyon is so good, it not only tastes delicious, but gives wise, well-timed, and eerily appropriate advice.
[Completely Unrelated Editor's Note: whenever I think of the word "dessert," I always immediately remember this comic:]
[Completely Unrelated Editor's Note: whenever I think of the word "dessert," I always immediately remember this comic:]
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