love/hate

Saturday we leave for the Greek islands!! This of course means I only have a little less than a week left in Strasbourg. With my time here coming to an end I thought I would share some things that I love about France and hate about France.

Dislike
1. The sirens, wherever I have been in France and I suppose Europe in general at night I hear sirens. All hours all pitches and all volumes it's obnoxious.
2. All the stores close early. I know that my "American obsessed consumer" side is to blame for this dislike, but really it's annoying. I get off work between 6:30 and 7. ALL the stores close somewhere between 7-8. Which means that when I want to grocery shop it has to be on Saturday when all of France is shopping because all the stores are closed on Sunday.
3. French red tape. I have had to deal with a ton of prefecture stuff the entire time I have been here. Getting my Carte de sejour was a nightmare, going to various tests, dealing with the French police, blah blah blah.
4. The air is filled with smoke, less so than it was a couple of years ago but it's still a lot more than home and it makes my eyes water and my throat itch.
5. Snobby French women.
6. French cat calls, pick up lines, once overs etc. I know that guys in the US are stupid when it comes to women but in my own personal experience they have nothing on French guys. I once had a guy come up to me in a restaurant while I was with E and the girls and tell me he loved my ass, just some average normal looking thirty yr old guy. He wasn't being egged on by friends or anything. Yuck, thank you American guys for keeping those thoughts to yourself.

Love
1. Pastries of any kind, fruit chocolate, nuts they are all amazing and they simply aren't made as good anywhere else in the world.
2. Croissants. Yes this is a separate category worthy of it's own praise. They are delicious inexpensive bites of heaven. Flaky, melt-in-your-mouth goodness.
3. Wearing white all year round and mixing blacks and browns. The French are famous for their fashion sense and I love looking at the outfits put together and dreaming that yes I could pull that off.
4. Public transportation is amazing here. I know in big cities in the US they have subways and all of that but they are nothing like here in Strasbourg at least. The tram is very clean relatively inexpensive and easily accessible. The bus system is all encompassing same price as the tram and everyone uses it. It negates the need for a car, which means no gas prices, no oil checks...although if it weren't for the kind yet constant watch of my mom and grandpa back home I would probably forget those as well.
5. From Strasbourg I have easy access to four different countries all within two hours away. Germany, I can walk to Germany from where I live. It is literally right across the river. An entirely different language, a different set of customs deriving from a unique cultural history ten minutes away from my home. Belgium and Luxembourg are easily accessible as well. I have been to both countries once an separate occasions. Switzerland is an hour away by train and the train ride there and back again is breathtaking. Majestic mountains protecting lazy rivers, exactly how one would picture Switzerland to be!
6. The easygoing mentality of the French. The work week is 35 hours as opposed to 40 back home. E and S arrive at work at 9 have a two hour lunch break from noon to 2 and leave the office at 6. They have five weeks of paid vacation every summer in addition to other holiday leave as well.