The American Dream

Pulp Fiction was right: At McDonalds in Paris, the quarter pounder is officially called "Royal cheese." And it's delicious.

Alex has decided that the official American dream is simply: Free Refills. And he's right. Europe has not jumped on board as we might like as we go about our trek.

Cynthia, you were right. Europe does not take to peanut butter quite like we do in America. The concept is strange to most people we've met. The other day we had the pleasure of being on an American military base. Alex and I are now the proud owners of some delicious Reese's Peanut Butter cups and Reese's Pieces.

Still no Taco Bell to be found though. However, last night I dreamt I was at home, craving Taco Bell. Then I realized, "Wait a minute, I'm at home! I can have Taco Bell anytime!" I hop in the car, and start to drive to the nearest one. I'm almost there, and I wake up. Bummer. But speaking of food, last night with our wonderful host, Matt, (who is eccentric and creative, he collects penguins, is a big Tim Burton fan, profoundly hospitable, and authentically French), we were exposed to a delicious combination of French bread, cheese, and wine. Whether it's bread and cheese or tortillas and queso, I'm a big fan. 

The French keyboard is similar enough to ours that it's usable, but different enough that it takes an eternity to type something that formerly took me under two minutes to hammer out.
1) Shift is required to type a number, and the period.
2) M is where the comma should be, and vice versa.
3) Q is where A should be, and vice versa.
4) Z is where W should be, and vice versa.
Don't even get me started on the apostrophe, the parenthesis, and quotations.

By the way, what we call "French Fries" aren't actually French at all. They originated in Belgium, where they are referred to as "friets."

So far, the French have been nice and helpful. We had a full French conversation today too:
Stephanie: "Bonjour! Où est le catacombs?"
(He points to the building we're just across the street from, and smiles.)
Us: "Merci beaucoup!"

Yep, we're proud of us too. :)