I absolutely love food! So naturally, it makes sense that one of my favorite aspects of life in France is partaking in delicious meals with friends and my host family. French meals are very different from those in the United States, beginning with the fact that they start a lot later. I typically eat dinner with my host family from 8PM to 9:15PM. Larger meals, like dinner, consist of 4 courses. The first course is the entrée, which is typically vegetables or soup and would best be categorized as an appetizer in America. Next comes the plat principal or the heaviest part of the meal, often meat or fish of some sort. After the plat principal, there is always a cheese and yogurt course - this includes at least three different types of cheeses served with bread! Finally, my favorite part of the meal, dessert!
Last Saturday, our Dartmouth group took a day trip to Burgundy, a different region of France about two and a half hours away from Lyon. We started the day in Beaune where we visited the Hospices of Beaune (an old hospital for the poor) and an outdoor weekend market. These markets are very popular in France because many people want to buy local and fresh produce.
