Dijon - cultural differences

• Many people smoke! That's one of the dissaponting things in here... Beautiful stone walkways and streets full of historic buildings, and pedestrians' smoke everywhere... I had a delicious lunch at a bistro, where the waitress was serving with a kind smile. I was surprised to see her smoking sitting on the ground just outside the restaurant after it is closed past lunchtime. It is almost contradictory for me that she is stylish, kind, efficient, and smokes.. 

• Food is so good. I can't believe simple deli items in supermarkets such as carrot salad and tabooli are quite delicious.. Why there's no such a thing as delicious prepared deli in the US?? Also, wine is delicious. I bought a small bottle of rosé for just 1.7€, and it was surprisingly delicious. Same goes with cheese.
• There are so many types of breads sold at bakeries, I wanted to try them all! Baguettes, brioche, and pain au lait.. Boulingeries are open from early in the morning, and people buy freshly baked breads from there. Interestingly, people carry baguettes wrapped in papers by hand. In France, stores are prohibited from distributing single-use plastic bags although in touristy shops they do. What was surprising was that bakery shopstaff handle bread by bare hands! They just pick up bread in the showcase and wrap it in a paper. I don't know it that's appropriate.. Sure the bread doesn't have enough moisture for bacteria to grow so fast, but with bare hands... No... 

Snails in creme sauce.

Smails are sold in cans, too. 17.95 euros. 

Beef with Bourgogne souce. Kind of mild. That's why we have mustard!

A small puff - 0.4 euro, delicious!

A mustard shop in Dijon. 

So many kinds of mustard!!

Vegetable pasta with chardonnay. Yum.

  

Another Japanese restaurant! 

Bistro food - starter. Jambon (ham)

Beef skewer, very well-seasoned with herbs.

 

In France, cheese can be served as a starter or a dessert. One serving is huge!

Cute little chocolates.

Macaroon tower!

• People are fashionable. They use basic coloes, black and white, and know how to accent with a bright color. They wear shorts, blouses, coats, and jackets. No foodies, T-shirts, sweatshirts, leggings, gym clothes, field shoes, etc...
• Almost no one is wearing just leggings. But skinny jeans are quite common.
• No one is wearing T-shirts or sweatshirts, needless to say ones that have phrases on them like "xxx University", "Keep calm and do xxxx", or "I support so-and-so Foundation." etc.
• They wear nice shoes, too, but white sneakers and elegant black ones are often found.
• What is sold in stores is fashionable! That's why they have good eyes, taste, and wardrobe. 

• Another thing to mention: baguettes are to be served room temperature. I appreciate freshly baked, warm bread, but people here seem to prefer cool bread. 
• Plates, cups, and serving size are all smaller! Coffee is served in a tiny mug, 30 mL or so. If you double it up, it's still small.

• Drinking less water was noticeable. The coffee cups were small, and there was no bottled water for conference participants to take free. So I only got to hydrate during coffee breaks, and I wanted to have 2-3 cups each time. Coherently, there was only 4 restrooms in total in the big convention center, where conferences and concerts are held. Just 4 restrooms cannot accommodate everyone that comes to an event here! People don't go to the restrooms as often. I had a hard time locating restrooms in France.

• Almost no one is super-sized. I saw one lady with completely gray hair just sprinting to the tram in one morning. She was slim with strong legs, and made it to the tram.  With that much distance she ran, I would have given up if I were her. I read 50% of people in Paris is engaged in physical activities at least once a week. I think that's because the public transportation is good and people walk and bike, and the quality of food is good and satisfying in a smaller poetion size, so people don't overeat. What is so difficult in the US is done with ease here, which is interesting, and we can learn something from it.

• Language barrier was a good reminder that English is not universal and that there are other cultures and languages that should be respected. I appreciate people's patience with my very little French.