Leather on the Rocks

One of the things I love about travel is the opportunity for sharing. There’s nothing like bridging linguistic and cultural divides to come together for the exchange of ideas, customs, and inventions. It’s a beautiful thing.

Take the food rituals practiced in the South of France. Before sitting down to a four-course meal (appetizer, main dish, cheese course, dessert) served with copious amounts of wine, you have the apéro. This includes snacky foods such as chips, nuts, olives, puff pastries, and crackers with spreads, which are consumed with a range of alcoholic beverages such as pastis, crème de cassis, and mixed drinks. The apéro is taken seated in the fashion of a pre-meal. It may look something like this:

Later, after the apéro and the four-course meal, it’s digestif time. Because if anything’s going to help break down the excess straining your lower shirt buttons, it’s a few shots of 80+ proof homemade hooch.

What you’re drinking is anyone’s guess. Since half the bottles aren’t labeled, our host Guy had to try them all in order to figure out what’s what. It’s all part of the fun.

And it’s all very civilized.

I would like to take parts of these practices home with me. I stress the selective, or perhaps the moderate, because regularly drinking and eating multi-part meals over the course of hours would interfere with being able to hold down a job and whatnot. But it's good to be reminded of the pleasures afforded by ritual, eating locally, and slowing everything down.

What can I offer the French in return?

Earlier today Kurt, Mona and I visited a rocky beach in La Ciotat. Surveying our fellow sun worshippers, I kept thinking that I would like to give them some of my sunscreen. I'm not sure they have it here in France.