France is growing on me

Posted by Jul on 2 March 2007

I never used to be a big fan of France. I wasn’t out renaming fried potato products just to spite its citizens or anything like that – I just wasn’t that into it. The language sounds ridiculous to me. The food is meaty. The trains… well, you know about the trains.

But my last couple trips there have turned out to be quite enjoyable. I just returned from a couple days in the Alsace region, and they were downright fun. The towns were adorable, the people were friendly and helpful, and I even managed to find a little bit of decent vegetarian food. And a lot of decent wine. And only one of my trains was late. Pictures and trip report coming soon…

Oh, and did you hear that Switzerland invaded Liechtenstein this week? Maybe that will liven the place up…

Tags: France, travel

Comments (6)

• 
  That Queer Expatriate

  March 3rd, 2007

  To retaliate, Liechtenstein should dump the Swiss Franc and switch to the Euro.

  Just Kidding — an amusing story.

  As for France, I’ve been to Strasburg and CDG, and that’s it. France has never really appealed to me, for whatever reason.

• 
  The Big Finn

  March 3rd, 2007

  Strange. I love France, but I’ve never been a big fan of Germany. However, Germany is growing on me a bit after last weekend’s surprisingly fun trip to Berlin.

  We are the world!

• 
  Jul

  March 3rd, 2007

  I think Liechtenstein should retaliate by sending fat shirtless suspenders man to walk around Switzerland.

  Also, I love that the invasion article is #1 on the NY Times most emailed list: http://www.nytimes.com/gst/mostemailed.html

• 
  Mark Reynolds

  March 3rd, 2007

  Glad you had fun – some of the smaller villages here are quite fun and friendly, especially in the off season and away from the wine route. If you ever make it up as far as Strasbourg, drop me a line. Also, I have a family of vegetarians visiting this week, and I’ve no idea how to find restaurants for them. Can you email me with some of the places you found?

• 
  zandria

  March 3rd, 2007

  I did hear about that! Too funny. It reminded me of when my Swiss friend told me about his mandatory military service. I hope he wasn’t part of that group.

• 
  Jul

  March 3rd, 2007

  Hey Mark – we were actually in Strasbourg. I was kicking myself the whole time for not contacting you before we went. There was a yummy-looking vegetarian restaurant there, but unfortunately they were closed for vacation this week.

  In a pinch, try Italian, Indian, Chinese, or other non-French restaurants to easily feed vegetarians. The Weinstuben in Strasbourg seemed to serve exactly one vegetarian dish – something with melted white cheese and fried potatoes. Didn’t try it, but I imagine it would be fun to eat, oh, no more than once.