Way to go, France!

For those of you who think that I'm just loafing around here in France, giving double-cheeked kisses and eating baguettes ... you're absolutely right! Although I do work a grueling twelve hours per week, I have had a few moments to enjoy explore what France has to offer, and I feel that it is part of my duty, through this blog, to dispel any stereotypes you might have had about French culture.

1. Do people walk down the streets carrying baguettes?
YES. Every day, I pass throngs of people with fresh baguettes tucked under their arms, headed home for lunch or dinner. Sometimes they're wearing berets, too.

2. Do people really give each other kisses every time they meet?
OH yes. This is big here. Even the teenage students at Lycée Colbert give each other kisses when they run into one another in the hallways. I often see a student approach a group of his friends, and it takes five whole minutes merely for him to make the kissing rounds.

3. Do people take their dogs with them everywhere?
You know those stereotypical pictures of French women coddling their French poodles? True, true, true. For your benefit, I've included two photos as proof. The one of the poodle walking down the street is obvious; in the other one, you can just see the head of the poodle as it sits sipping a cup of café-au-lait with its owner. I had to be very discreet when taking these photos.

There are more stereotypes I could address: Are there pastry shops on every corner? Do people ride old bicycles everywhere? Are French men overconfident in their charm, falsely believing themselves to be irresistibly romantic? etc., etc.

But who really buys into these blatant generalizations, anyway?