HYPOCRITE

[Jody]

What about the Wright bROTHERS?

[suzanne]

Good point. without them alot of us would never have seen Paris.

[joan1]

OK OK,, now , I am getting a " bra" complex,, do people really own as many bras as I own shoes.. no one can see bras, ( hey as noted married here for last hundred years) but shoes, now owning 20 or 30 of them makes perfect sense, LOL

It would be hard to pack light for travel for business, but it is not too bad if you are only going to one destination,, so only have to lug the suitcase to hotel once.

Gitte,, Elvis,, no , no, thats just wrong. I vote for Steven Speilberg and Bill Gates.

I do not bring food to France,what abomination. I do bring a few snacks for on the plane, but when in Paris I head to a store , any corner store or Monoprix, Franprix , whatever, etc, and get FRENCH snacks for touring about and to have in room for middle of night munchies. I love getting the French cookies , yogurts etc. I cannot imagine bringing granola bars from home.

Willow, thanks for reminding me, I have not yet assembled the " first aid kit" which in my case is almost entirely drugs,, with a bandaid and and moleskin thrown in.. LOL

[sunshine817]

Hi, Becky -- oh, we do buy other French snacks -- but the granola bars and trail mix are mostly because when we're headed to the Dordogne, we get in the car the morning we arrive(which isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds!) , and munch these in the car, as our body clocks are still all out of whack. While my son is an awesome traveler, packing a box of snacks he is familiar with is a pretty small sacrifice to make. Does he get a pass because he asks me to make lamb and duck for dinner --- and begs me to buy haricots verts in the markets?

Gitte, we just don't do that much chocolate - sugar and caffeine aren't a good mix with some kids -- while I know that granola and trail mix have plenty of sugar, they aren't the highly-processed sugars that are found in candy - and the other munchies have fibre and good protein to boot.

[GitteK]

Jul 3, 2008 17:40:06 GMT -5 joan1 said:

I do not bring food to France,what abomination. I do bring a few snacks for on the plane, but when in Paris I head to a store , any corner store or Monoprix, Franprix , whatever, etc, and get FRENCH snacks for touring about and to have in room for middle of night munchies. I love getting the French cookies , yogurts etc. I cannot imagine bringing granola bars from home.

SEE how wise people become once they stop smoking !! Joan1 you get an express exalt !! Granola bars......... it's such an insult to French cuisine, that I am speechless (I can mention quite a number of people who would crack open the champagne the day I turned "speechless" ;D )

[joan1]

No, Gitte, you must not think that way at all, a speechless Gitte would be a scary thing indeed, unnatural I would think!!

[joan1]

Sunshine, I think the trail mix is a good idea, nuts are so good for you. And I also agree that when travelling with young kids one must pack lots of snacks, and sometimes the familar is the best choice. Kids do make us look at things differently,, I mean if anyone had ever told me I would visit Disneyland Paris years ago ,, I would have laughed at them,, but now know we will sacrifice so much for our kids, including wasting a day in Disney, when we could be in PARIS!
For adults I must say I side firmly with Gitte, I cannot imagine going to a country like FRANCE, capital of good food, and bringing food from home,, yikes.

Unlike Gitte though , I am very very lazy, and refuse to cook at all in Paris, I never rent any apt just because I am on the run from any cooking or cleaning when I am on vacation. Seeing a kitchen sink might upset me, LOL . Just kidding( well not really), I wouldn't mind a micro wave to warm up takeaway, and I like getting a mini bar fridge for cold drinks and snacks.

I thnk I have gone right off track.. I do have a tendency..

PS ON TOPIC,,

Packed case tonight. Cut out two skirts , two pairs of capris, and one pair of pants and my bag is still too full and too heavy!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep in mind if that is the stuff I cut out it is only as I already packed two other skirts, 3 other capris, two other pairs of black pants,, I am not even sure how many tops,, I think at least 10 or 12,, plus "the " black dress.
I am going to repack( more "editing") tomorrow, and I am really torn. I do not want to wear the same dang stuff everyother day,, I want my stuff. How can light cotton and polyester clothes add up to so much weight?

[denise]

:)Don't mention first aid kits to me, I am in the profession and a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I worry about EVERY eventuality from heart attacks to anaphalactic shock and major hemorrhage and just have to be prepared! ::)So I carry airways, asprin, epipens and suture material amongst other drugs and dressings.. Trouble is I THEN have to carry them on my person because they are no use back in the apartment!
Nothing has ever happened, but I KNOW as soon as they leave them behind someone will keel over with one of these things.
Denise
Love from England

[GitteK]

Joan, I don't know what absinth abusing rumour-monger told you that I cook in Paris ??
MOI ?? ARE YOU CRAZY ??

Why do you think I run away to Paris on my own as often as I can afford, huh ?? Well..... NOT having to cook is one of the BIG reasons !!

I prepare my crusty baguette sandwich in the morning with slices of ham, hardboiled eggs, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber and mayo-mustard, and then cut my escargot aux raisins in mouthfuls. Après I savour it all with my glass of bloodorange juice, omega-3-plus-6 capsules, bloodpressure pill, vitamins and 2 cups of Nescafé Espresso.

And that about sums up my contribution to La French Cuisine !!

[geordy]

How many bras one owns may have to do with Yes...one's love life and also one's breast size!! I have quite a few because with certain types of tops you need different coverage/support etc. if you are not on the small side. But I wind up wearing the same 3 or 4 mostly here.

I generally bring about 4 or five bras and undies...at least one "special" set! And I wash as I go...my S/O says the bathroom always resembles the Hanging Gardens of Babylon!! but he does it too!!

With all the planning, packing, re-packing I always wake up the first AM there and don't want to wear any of it.....then I realize Paris is waiting and I throw something on!!

I second(or whatever the # is up to) the bring no food to Paris(other than whatever little goodies I didn't eat from the plane food) thought. There is delicious food all over the place....no "emergency rations" needed! Unless of course you have special needs......but even with children I'd prefer to introduce them to the local goodies!

And now I've got to start packing for 2 Nites in NJ(one at Brother's, one at Sister's) for the 4th Weekend! Makeup and toiletry cases are the same ones I have ready to go at all times(and they go to Paris!)
In fact I'll be packing in what is my carry on to Paris. I don't wash and go in NJ(because it is generally only two nites), just put the "used" stuff in a plastic bag and put in Laundry when I get home. One Labor Day I went out there, and was leaving for Paris the day after I got back. Thought I had cleared the Jersey stuff out of the bag...but discovered when I got to Paris that I had hauled my "used" undies across the Atlantic!

[joan1]

geordy, that is hilarious, packing dirty clothes to Paris..

[joan1]

I have packed my bag. It is too damm heavy. Today I will unpack it. I will then repack it, I will likely pack the same stuff back in it as I feel I have edited it down to minimum,, somehow, in my bent mind, I think repacking it will make it seem like less...LOL

Gitte, mea culpa, mea culpa, I just ASSumed that you cooked in Paris as you always take an apartment. I like someone to make my bed and change my towels daily( I sound like a Princess don't I) so I thought the only advantage was the kitchen. To be fair , IF one was going to cook on holiday,, Paris would be the one place that tempts one to do so.. all that yummy food available.

[sunshine817]

My husband swears I'm the only woman on the planet who actually looks FORWARD to cooking on vacation! I LOVE shopping in the markets and using all that lovely local, fresh -- and usually organic, but not always -- product that's stacked so carefully on the tables. My husband and son love that I love it -- our meals are usually some whatever's fresh -- although I can make a mean coq au vin or beouf bourgignonne and tarte tatin from the recipes I have stored in my head.

Don't worry, Gitte -- we eat more than our fair share of French food (and somehow manage to come home a few pounds lighter!)-- and as my son gets older, he needs less and less American food to help him bridge the times when he just gets tired of things that aren't familiar. (we started bringing him to France at 2-1/2 -- Kids do that...it's their job. I'm sure French kids rebel at the food when they're not at home, too -- and that more than one maman has had to pack French snacks in her bag!)

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Sunshine - I'm with you on the cooking and shopping in the markets. I get very annoyed with apartments that have a "kitchen" consisting of a two burner hotplate and a sink and bar fridge, usually with no counter/prep space at all. (That's actually one reason I like the "Rose" aparment at Guest Apartment Service - it has a compact but "real" kitchen, and we really do use it.) For your son and his occasional need for something familiar, you can try what I think of as the "expat" section at La Grande Epicerie, which has (overpriced) familiar foods from the US and UK for those who simply must have a particular comfort food from home.

[GitteK]

Jul 4, 2008 8:50:05 GMT -5 geordy said:

How many bras one owns may have to do with Yes...one's love life and also one's breast size!!

geordy, much as I love you........ I have never heard such drunken nonsense in my entire life !

What in the name of Bette Midler has one's boobie size to do with how many bras you own ??
I mean, if you need to wear more than one at a time, either you
*are doing it wrong
* have bought the very wrong cup-size
or
* need urgently to see a plastic surgeon due to construction fault.....

And sexlife ? How does that equation look then ?
The more sex = the more need for bras, because your lecherous lover rips them to pieces incessantly ?

Denise, you have an exalt coming to you for actually being ready to stitch your old man together,
with no aneasthesia if he trips and hurts himself in the middle of Les Champs E. instead of calling an ambulance !!
If you want anything done properly, you gotta do it yourself, I always say...... ;D ;D

[sunshine817]

Gitte, those of us who are very top-heavy have to have multiple bras.

Different tops with different cuts mean we have to find one that doesn't show -- because going braless just isn't ever going to be an option. You have no idea how much I envy you for apparently not even having to think about it...and from the research I have done, reduction surgery just isn't an option for me, for a number of reasons, cost not being the most important one.

So all those adorable little halters, or backless, mean that we have to find some sort of special engineering so that they are adorable and not omigawd what is she WEARING! And because I live in a hot climate, well, three just isn't enough to get me through the week. Ugh.

I don't own thirty, but I own a lot -- because it's that or look like someone's escaped cow.

As to what someone wears in the bedroom-- that's none of my business...if her partner likes three different bras in a night, who am I to disparage?!

[Anne]

Gitte, I'm ROFLMPPO ;D !

Sunshine, we only began to take our kids on vacations abroad when the youngest ones were 5 or 6, but I assure you that we NEVER brought any French food abroad . They would just have to find something that they liked whithin the local food, and it never even occured to me that I may act differently . And it always worked well .

Now, I am very surprised at how many of you eat snacks

[GitteK]

sunshine - there is NO way your top-heaviness could compete with mine ;D ;D talk about heavy-duty straps !!

(Gentlemen of the forum ! PLEASE ! Leave the premises NOW ! ).

But girls with tiny petite boobies like sizes AA-DD also deserve a range of pretty bras to choose from, don't they ?

Sunshine, look at it this way: you and I have a number of advantages over the weak-breasted:
* we can just flip ours over the shoulder in the shower, when we need a proper scrubbing......
* if we are caught in a broken car in a snowstorm, we can keep our hands warm under them
* smuggling Cuban cigars, diamonds or foie gras into the US must be so much easier,
because you can hide the contraband under your boobies

OMG, I can't believe I said that.......... ;D ;D

[Anne]

Jul 4, 2008 13:19:52 GMT -5 GitteK said:

But girls with tiny petite boobies like sizes AA-DD also deserve a range of pretty bras to choose from, wouldn't they ?

Gitte, not only do we deserve them, but we actually NEED them in order to cheat with some triple padding ;D ...

[sunshine817]

ROFL...Gitte, you are too, too funny! And here I am, thinking the 'smaller' girls get a much better pick of pretty bras than we do...here, at least, most of the bigger ones are these hideously ugly contraptions that look more like torture devices than bras.

Anne, our first day especially, we tend to snack much more than usual just because our bodies are not in sync with mealtimes yet...and the high-energy snacks like trail mix are very good for keeping empty tummies from rumbling until time for a real meal. We often have a glace or a crepe in the afternoon when we're there (cassis, please!), but you're right, we snack far less there than we do here.

Americans do snack -- even if we're not overweight -- and the doctors seem to think that having something small (a handful of almonds, a small piece of cheese, some carrot sticks, or a few crackers) keeps the edge off of the hunger enough to keep us from diving face-first into the plate at the actual mealtime. It is, however, regularly overdone, and I see many of my countrymen tucking into snacks that are larger than my meals!

Kids, of course, seem to graze much more than adults - which is part of what leads the doctors to suggest it for the rest of us.

We all have to do what's best for us, I suppose.