French Quirks: Breakfast

I can't even remember when it was that I first came to PeeWee's parents house to sleep. PeeWee had his own place when I had met him, and I had only been to his parents' for Sunday meals. So whenever it was that I actually had to sleep there, I was a bit apprehensive of what may happen - and I wanted to be on best behavior, of course.

The morning after I arrived there, I got to the kitchen feeling a bit timid, not sure how breakfast conversations would go. PeeWee's first breakfast at my parents' house had gone something like this.

Rae's father: "So .. you eat French Toast?"
PeeWee: "Uh... no... not usually"

<< awkward silence >>

Rae's father: "So... you eat... French Fries?"
PeeWee: "Yes! Yes, I do"

<< awkward silence >>

So you see why I was so apprehensive about my first breakfast with them, especially since my French back then was much worse than PeeWee's English.

Well, his mom and dad greeted me with three kisses on the cheeks and asked me if I wanted some "tartine". I answered in the affirmative. She then handed me a piece of baguette.

I waited, my hand with the baguette suspended in the air, waiting for a plate to place the baguette on. When it did not materialize, I wondered whether it would be rude if I got up and fetched a plate for myself. I decided that that could indeed be construed as rude behavior, and I just continued to hold the baguette. When his mom and dad both sat down and proceeded to butter their bits of baguette right there on the table, with no plate to hold the baguette on, I thought - hmm? Is this how they do it? PeeWee then walked in, took a chunk of a baguette and started buttering it right then and there, with no signs that it bothered him in the slightest not having a plate.

As for coffee - well, I got handed a big bowl, I mean like a bowl big enough to hold two servings of corn flakes. I thought that was a bit weird too, but saw that they all had a bowl just like mine, so it was not an effort to single me out or anything sinister like that.

It's been a while since that first morning, and since then I've had the occasion to have breakfast with lots of French people in their homes. And the no-plate policy and the huge bowls of coffee in the morning are just, well, a very French way to have breakfast. Not even for the crumbliest croissants do plates make an entrance. And the big bowls are found to be very convenient to dunk bread in - and believe me, everyone dunks bread in their coffee. And breakfast is what Americans call "continental" - bread (usually a baguette), butter, jam and coffee. Never any hot food like eggs or bacon or pancakes or French toast even!

And they think the Japanese are weird for eating rice for breakfast!