Weekend Assignment

Weekend Assignment #68: Take a moment to appreciate something French. Tell us about that French thing you most appreciate. It could be anything, from a particular French wine to your favorite French filmmaker to the fact they like Jerry Lewis more than we.

   Being Canadian, I don't have to reach as far as France to experience The French. We have a whole province of them right here. The Actual French sneer at their colonial cousins, considering them not really French at all; merely Quebecois. Certainly, the language has drifted over the years, to the point where speaking Parisian french in Quebec will get you sneered at, and vice versa. To be fair, the French are not the most insufferable language snobs on the planet. That honour falls to the Swiss, who claim to speak the purest form of the French language. In reply, and I believe I can speak for most of the rest of the world, I say, "whatever."
   It is fitting, then, that my favourite French contribution to the world comes, not from France, but from Canada. I don't know who it was that first had the idea of sprinkling some white cheese curds over a plate of French Fries, and then smothering the whole thing in steaming hot gravy, but that person deserves some kind of monument. Poutine is one of the true pleasures in life.
   Of course, many fast food establishments around North America serve something they call Poutine. Do not be fooled. The only poutine actually worth eating must be accquired from a Chip Truck, examples of which can be found scattered around Quebec and Eastern Ontario.

Extra Credit: Been to France? Some of your vacation pictures would be nice to see.

   I did say I have never been to France, but here's a picture of a very young me trying to look sophisticated over a boule de cafe au lait in Lower Town, Quebec City.