On Friday we needed to get some supermarket things like milk and wine, so we decided not only to shop but to have lunch at the Super U, where the plat du jour on Fridays is always moules frites, one of my very favorites.
If I were an enterprising sort, I'd get back to the US and open up moules frites shacks all up and down the East Coast. It's a dish that's popular all over France. You can get the moules with a cream sauce, or with tomato sauce, or the ever-popular white wine with piles of garlic and parsley. Something about the flavor and texture of the moules goes perfectly with crispy salty frites. With a glass of rosé, you've really got something.
It has taken us awhile to break the habit of eating lunch quickly, usually standing up in the kitchen. When we first got here we were so greedily stuffing ourselves with bread and cheese and cornichons that we couldn't be bothered to sit down. But slowly the French habits are taking hold, so much so that we spend a leisurely lunch even in the supermarket, and grabbing a sandwich feels rushed and unfinished somehow.
I know it seems like I go on and on about the food, but it's also the habit of paying attention and taking your time that goes along with the food that I find so deeply appealing. We've just passed the halfway mark of our time here, and I admit it, I will be very, very sad to leave.
