This is America

well hello there, massive cow herd

The Interstate 5 freeway in all its glory

hmmm - Frenchies, want to weigh in here on this one?

Leave it to America to put motivational quotes on Halls wrappers.

Who wants some beef jerky? I think they may have some.

If not we'll just get you corn nuts or sunflower seeds.  Please narrow it down to five flavors.

Yogurtland, how I love thee.

Man Den in full effect.

Would you like some coke with your ice?

Ok maybe this is just my brother....

Perhaps they should go into marketing n'est pas?

Yes. I ate at a country cafe. My arteries may clog at any moment.

Americana in Santa Barbara

I always wondered...

The part of America I can actually get behind...

Ah, the good ol' newspaper stand - that no one uses anymore.

Because cleanliness is close to godliness - at least in America it is.

When you can't have the real thing, at least you have the gummy version.

We wouldn't expect anything less.

Still had a dial tone - we checked.

Only in America people.

I am horrified to say that my brother ordered this - biscuits and gravy. For breakfast. And I tasted it. oh god.

Gotta love a Santa Barbara hippie at the Farmer's market.

French Easter Candy is not Bon Bon

I have come to a sad, sad conclusion: Easter candy in France is a total bummer.  I don't know how I am just  now coming to this conclusion after almost 7 years in France, but for some reason, this year I saw the light.

If I had to make a guess, it is probably because I have been craving Robin Eggs (with malt crunchiness) for the past two weeks.  When my boss came back from her holiday in the states and gave us all these, my craving became stronger:

Thank you America for inventing Reeses Peanut Butter cups (in egg form for Easter!)

Every time I walk by a chocolate shop I check out the goods - but no dice! All of the chocolaterie have the normal chickens and eggs in chocolate form, but the weirdest by far has been their obsession with fish. Yes ladies and gents, fish.  You see, in France, when we say April fools, they say "poisson d'avril" - literally, April fish! It follows the same concept (to joke and fool someone on April 1st), but somehow this concept gets carried through all the way to Easter.  The French chocolate masters make piles and piles of "fried fish" or friture as they call it, filling bags with little chocolate fish. It's a seafood bonanza in the chocolate store, which to me is boring boring boring!  (not to mention, just plain weird).

The only fun Easter candy the French have is by Kinder- called a Kinder Suprise. It's a chocolate egg with a toy inside - and Copain still loves getting them - and, sadly, keeping the toy.  (Needless to say, I do not buy them for this very reason).

Yesterday, in an effort to save Easter (it was a blah day for me unfortunately), I tried to find a Robin Egg - American style.  This is what I found on rue de Rivoli:

They look like Robin Eggs, but do they taste like Robin Eggs????

The answer: No.  No, they do not.

While the eggs looked very nice and robin-y, they didn't taste like them one little bit.  They were filled with salty caramel and noisette (hazelnut filling).  So disappointing.

Momma from America has agreed to send me a bag of Robin Eggs so that I can enjoy the amazingness of American candy and holiday consumerism once again.  Thank god for moms.