N and R usually enjoy the best bread they've ever had

It's well known that the french are serious about their baguettes, but it's only after spending some time here that you really understand how important this bread is, and why. The why is simple, it is really, really, really good....the outside is a thin crisp layer that crunches and crackles when you press it, and the inside is soft and full of flavor. The baguette is so important here that they insist you should only enjoy a baguette within 6 hours of baking, and after that it is too late. We've been sticking to this pretty well, as in the morning i go down the street to my favorite baker (boulangier) to pick up a baguette for the day. It's about two feet long and costs less than a euro! Breakfast is a piece of baguette with butter or chestnut butter or jam. Lunch is bread and cheese or butter sometimes with a thin slice of ham for flavor, and by dinner it's time to buy another baguette!

At any time of day you can see parisians walking around carrying a loaf or multiple loaves in their hand. The funny thing is that Europe and France are pretty different in their thinking on hygeine compared to the US. Usually when you buy a baguette, they pick one out of the basket and put it on the counter, no paper sleeve, no bag. Then you just pick up the bread and walk off...I've seen people sitting on park benches with their baguette sitting unprotected on the bench next to them, baguettes strapped naked to the back of bicycles, and so on. People also will just walk down the street eating their two foot long baguette for a snack, as if it is a candy bar. I've taken to doing this on the days that i show up and the baker and am handed a baguette that is still hot to the touch.

Anyways, I had a funny experience earlier this week. Sunday was easter, and monday in France is a national holiday, so everything was closed. But even when everything is closed, Parisians (and N and R) still need their baguettes. So i wandered around until I found the only bakery open, and it is one i knew is bad from previous experience, but what choice do i have? So I went in. Something I've not even seen in the US before, the baguettes in this place were all mis-shapen and ugly looking. Everyone in there buying them was really angry! Each person got to the front of the line, saw the baguettes and started complaining about how awful they were, saying they wanted a real baguette. Then they were told that is all they have, and the people would buy the baguette and storm off angrily, complaining under their breath. It was pretty amusing to see how bent out of shape everyone gets when they don't get a good baguette. To be fair, the baguette was pretty disappointing. A mis-shapen easter holiday baguette looks like this: