I'm back in New Hampshire for Christmas, but will post a few photos I took this weekend in Paris. Here are some gorgeous Buche de Noel on the Rue de Bretagne. The line to purchase them was out the door.
I can't help but comparing the prices of things between France and the USA. In particular, I'm shocked by the prices for mobile phone plans and internet/tv/telephone, but for different reasons.
Mobile phones: The mobile phone prices here are really high! Surprisingly so considering how everyone has one, and seems to have had one for much longer than we have in the US. For example, the cheapest plan at Bouygues Telecom is 22 euros per month for a 2-year contract and gives you ... 1 HOUR (yes, 60 minutes) of talking time per MONTH. On the upside, all incoming mobile calls are free, so you only pay for calls that you make. Then there are all these terms about calling other mobiles versus calling landlines ... on the plan I mention above you get free calling to all landline phones from 8pm to midnight. But how much are people calling landline phones from their mobiles? I had a very cheap plan at Verizon in the US, for $35/month I got 400 minutes, plus unlimited nights & weekends plus free calls to all other Verizon members (which was all of my family). And Verizon is one of the more expensive providers (per # of minutes) in the US.
On the flip side...
TV/Internet/Telephone: These 3-in-1 packages are ridiculously cheap here in France. It's absolutely amazing to me. For 30 euros a month you get a digital cable package with a ton of channels, high speed internet AND a landline phone with unlimited calling to other landlines AND (in many cases) to the US and Canada. 30 euros!!! In the US to get internet, phone and digital cable would cost about $130/month (in Washington, DC at least). I guess the cheap cable costs can help you justify the super-high price of buying a TV set here.
An interesting and extensive blog post from Amerloque on French Holiday Traditions.
During my walk on Saturday night down the rue de Bretagne, I came across this shop selling chickens (correction, according to a french coworker, these are not chickens, rather they are Chapons, which are something special for Noel?)... with feathers on their heads and tails! I guess it's a special holiday thing. How does that work exactly? Do you cook the chicken with the feathers so your guests can see them? (I'm guessing not, I don't think the feathers would survive the heat). Do you pluck off the feathers and then do something with them as garnish? If your guests can't see the feathers, then what is the point of leaving them on the bird???
Then, this morning while I was uploading this photo I noticed one other interesting element. The round blue sticker on the right of each bird says "Vu a la TV". Does that mean "As Seen On TV"??? Are these infomercial chickens?? I think I'll have to go back to that shop and talk to someone behind the counter to get the scoop!
