French Bread, Cheese and Wine
Although France is rightly proud of its traditional bread, I think that you need to be weaned onto and brought up with the baguette if you’re to find it essential twice a day. When I arrived to live in France many years ago, I soon become fed up with the relentless baguette diet and was forced by my teenaged children to learn to make “proper wholemeal loaves”. Today, there’s a huge variety of breads available in every boulangerie (and regional variations make for pleasant discoveries) and I’ve happily given up baking!Cheese is a natural accompaniment to that bread, and apart from the world famous French cheeses like Brie, Roquefort and Camembert, there are over four hundred others to choose from. These encompass all sorts of milks and processes to produce something for all tastes. An intergral part of French Life.French wine is not only an important export item, but is also a normal part of French social and family life. Visiting the vineyard areas of France is very interesting and many producers offer tours and explanations about the growth and processing of grapes. They may also offer tastings and sales! Most French people have some degree of interest in wine and the exact bottles to be used at Christmas, New Year and at family celebrations can be the subject of long debate.
