One of the things that most amazes my American friends is that I don’t gain weight in France. The opposite–I lose it. This despite the fact that I feel free to eat delicious French stuff–being in France means that you don’t stuff yourself with it, and all of the walking that you do in Paris helps work it off. Case in point: I was up until 4 AM this morning studying the plus-que-parfait and the futur antérieur, so I’m running a bit late. That means that breakfast was a pastry grabbed at the kiosk in the train station. Happily, they had one of my favorites left–a sort of apple turnover.
Good morning–a chaussette aux pommes, please.
A chausson aux pommes? Sure.
Oh–it’s not an apple sock??
He laughed. I was happy to have made his day. By the end of the day, I had walked up innumerable steps in metro stations and hiked from the lab to the train. No problem with a little apple sock.
English notes
To make someone’s day: to have done something that will make them so happy that the whole day will feel good for them. When Clint Eastwood, pistol in hand, says go ahead–make my day, he means that shooting the bad guy would make him happy.
Zipf's Law 
This made me smile broadly indeed. Have a great day. And no, we don’t put on weight in France – here’s my theory with apologies for the shameless self-publicity 😉 https://osyth.org/2015/01/29/the-battle-of-the-bulge/
LikeLiked by 2 people
We find the same. I actually think we drink more wine and eat more desserts than in UK, but I drink espresso not lattes in France , I drink with meals mostly and I am doing DIY all day long! That might not apply to Zip but we def move more here
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice thing #2 describes my daily walking routine in France: https://zipfslaw.org/2014/06/12/three-really-nice-things-that-french-people-did-for-me-in-just-five-days/
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s true. I have had some incredibly heartwarming experiences in France.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aren’t these socks luscious? But they do impact my weight if they become a daily habit so they’re for special occasions – like pre- and post- exam 🙂 How did it go? Oh, and they’re also socks here (=calzone di mela)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, that was pretty pre-exam–so, thanks for the excuse!
Today is the B2 written part. Tomorrow is C1 written part (I’m taking both so that if I flunk C1, I’ll still have B2, unless I flunk B2 as well, in which case I will have what Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, called valuable insights into what I need to work on). Next week is the orals for B2 and C1. Thank you for asking!
LikeLike