France: my official review

So today I leave France and I just want to record all of the things I love and hate about my experiences here.

LOVE

1. COFFEE- served in tiny cups with saucers or bowls the size of my head. No in between.
2. Wine- people here understand me. Enough said.
3. BREAD- baguettes with every meal and between meals. Sometimes the baguette IS the meal.
4. BUTTER- I haven’t seen a single option of anything but pure whole butter. No need for calorie counting here. 
5. The way everywhere I’ve been feels like it’s own little village. The people mostly work hard to understand my pathetic French and hand motions to get my point across. Bless them. 
6. Every place that is called a bar is both a bar with liquor and a coffee bar. No joke. Every single one. You can order a coffee or a shot (not that I’ve done that yet) anywhere. Again, people who understand my needs.
7. The people. Many people have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. This experience has already been an amazing gift.

HATE

1. At the very tip top of this list would be the toilette (<—- see what I did there?) situation!! Toilets have NO SEAT! WTF? Really? Even when I carefully cover the seat with layers of toilet paper, when I “sit down” it is hard and cold. A girl could break something! 
2. Not appropriate napkins. In restaurants they provide nice enough napkins, but in the alburgues? No. None. This is something I may never get used to. 
3. Lack of variety of foods. Though the bread and butter (and endless soup that is more like blended vegetables) are tasty enough, I would love some yummy Thai food. I actually checked to see if Ubereats and Grubhub works here. Nope. All menus so far consist of baguettes with no condiments or vegetables with meat and cheese. It will nourish me, but I’m in need of some variety.
4. Non alcoholic or coffee drinks- there aren’t a lot of choices of drinks either. I am dying for a Starbucks black iced tea. 😂
5. The people- Deb and I have experienced a few very rude Frenchies. I understand that not everyone in France likes Americans, but I somehow thought I might be the exception. 
6. So far we have yet to see a facecloth or hand towel or Kleenex. Do these people not need them? Strange.