French word of the day: Manger
Published: 22 January 2026
It has been surprisingly balmy the past couple of days here in the Paris area, and my goodness it is welcome. January around here is always rainy and grey, but running along the Seine yesterday, and there were actually a lot of people outdoors in shorts. Perhaps not quite the wisest, but I understand the sentiment.
All this good weather has recently inspired me to go on a baking spree, because who doesn’t love the smell of fresh bread? And not the type I could easily pick up at the local boulangerie. Rather I decided to try to make some bretzels.
I’ve not misspelt it, they are called bretzels here and they are a speciality from the Alsace region. These are very similar to those amazing street-corner pretzels you get in New York, but the main difference in the recipe is that bretzels have milk as an ingredient and are a bit softer.
Alsace may only be 3 hours away by train, but it is nearly impossible to get bretzels here in the Paris area (outside of the annual Christmas market). So if you want one you have to make it yourself.
And mine turned out not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I made a cheesy version as I had some cheddar leftover. (Cheddar is a somewhat precious commodity here as it is rather difficult to find in France. Originating from the town of Cheddar in Somerset, England, the locals there just didn’t trademark the name the way the French do.)
But speaking of street-corner food that you can eat on the go, a couple of weeks ago I was amusingly confronted by one of those forceful “we don’t do that in France!” reactions by a bunch of primary school kids.
It all started when my kid’s class was going on a field trip to Paris. Since the trip was on public transport they asked for some parent accompanateurs, which thankfully there were many of us.
(I am still recovering from a class field trip a few years ago to a very crowded Montmartre in the middle of tourist season June, with a last-minute substitute teacher, 25 confused 6-year-olds, and just one other parent who was also coincidentally anglophone and so couldn’t yell panicked instructions in French either at the thought of losing a kid.)
This time around though there was a good 1 adult to 3 kids ratio, and the kids were absolutely adorable. The field trip was around the 7th arrondissement of Paris, an area that includes the Assemblée Nationale, Musée d’Orsay and Les Invalides, so full of history and government buildings.
The kids were so enthusiastic and full of questions that the tour guide declared himself very impressed. So impressed that he continued giving explanations and the tour went on longer than scheduled. And it was after the tour ended, way past lunchtime when there was a bit of a wobble.
If you know this area of Paris, you know there are no malls or seating areas indoors where people can sit down and eat a packed lunch. (Not usually a problem because we simply don’t do packed lunches here.)
On the day in question, it was drizzling and windy, so sitting along the quay of the Seine was not an option. After a brief confab between all the adults, the decision was made that rather than attempt to head to the closest mall we could think of, aka the underground of the Louvre which was a 20 minute walk away, it was better to hop on the train and head back.
I thought this was quite sensible as it is about 45min-1hr on transport, more than enough time for the kids to tuck into their sandwiches.
Cue the looks of horror on all the little French faces: “Eat in the metro, where it is dirty and smells!???”
Now the transport system in Paris gets a lot of slag, but in my humble opinion it is actually relatively clean given the number of people who travel on it everyday. Especially the renovated lines are not too shabby at all.
But eating on the metro was clearly not okay. I did convince my own kid to have a couple of bites of a sandwich but hardly anybody else ate (kids nor adults) until we all got back around 3pm. It was simply inconceivable to these young children to “eat on the go”. (In case you are wondering, my kids go to a regular public school, which is no fancier than any other school.)
Entrée, plat et dessert, sitting at a proper table and taking a proper amount of time and digest, even in childhood. Or rather, these good habits are built in childhood and continued forward. No wonder I can’t find those street corner bretzels around here…
In other news:
- Non-EU citizens will now pay higher ticket prices at the Louvre museum and Château de Versailles in order to raise funds and control crowding.
- The magnificent Mont Saint Michel has started a 10 year renovation project costing €50 million. Interestingly, since it is surrounded by the tides and steep walls, the only way to get the scaffolding up to the UNESCO site is to carry it by helicopter.
- If you are thinking of buying a French château, Le Figaro newspaper has a list of 8 châteaux currently for sale costing less than €300k. (No word on how much the renovations will cost though!)
And in the blog:
Arles: From Roman settlements to Van Gogh in southern France
Explore Arles with its historic Roman ruins and provencal architecture that so inspired Vincent Van Gogh. With top things to see and do, best hotels, and more.
For those who enjoy garlic, this aioli sauce from Provence in the south of France, takes only 10 minutes and goes with just about everything.
Beef Daube stew with black olives and carrots
An easy dinner recipe, this beef stew with black olives and carrots is a French classic that is sure to please the whole family.