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 capsule summary (06 Nov 2007 at 09:12)
me: vegetarian? french lady: foie gras? me: vegetarian? french lady: foie gras? oui?
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t		 Rob (pool-71-182-139-42.pitbpa.fios.verizon.net) – 11.06.07 10:09:07
France is not the place to be a veggie. No sir ree.
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t		 Graue (ip68-100-130-1.dc.dc.cox.net) – 11.06.07 10:15:30
I didn't know you were a vegetarian! Yeah, Rob's got the idea, I think.

When my mom went to France, she would ask for the cheese to be left off some things, and be told, "No, we could never do that. It wouldn't taste good." She's joked about that ever since.

Fortunately, this feature is not common to all French-speaking places. Montreal was quite awesome for veggie food.
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t		 Tom 7 (vis199.inria.fr) – 11.06.07 11:43:52
No indeed! There are several vegetarians here (it is pretty common among academics) but every meal when we mention it to the staff, they behave as though they've never heard of such a thing, which is pretty funny except for the hunger part...
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t		 William (gs4082.sp.cs.cmu.edu) – 11.06.07 13:54:30
Japan is great, too.

Me: My friend is a vegetarian...
Them: *puzzled look*
Me: He doesn't eat meat... do you understand?
Them: Ah, yes! He does not eat beef.
Me: Actually, he doesn't eat *any* meat...
Them: But chicken is okay, yes?
Me: In fact, eh, chicken is also meat...
etc...

Hey, it's France -- can't you just eat a bunch of cheese and wine? :P
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t		 Cortney (pool-141-156-130-124.res.east.verizon.net) – 11.06.07 22:26:30
This post made me laugh today. Thank you!
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t		 Sridhar (c-71-198-171-181.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) – 11.07.07 04:34:46
I also didn't know you were a vegetarian. Except maybe I did. But I couldn't remember whether I knew, which was functionally equivalent to not knowing.
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t		 Tom 7 (vis188.inria.fr) – 11.07.07 05:30:54
allergic to wine, alas...
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t		 Tom 7 (c-71-235-78-32.hsd1.ct.comcast.net) – 11.07.07 18:50:37
You may not be allergic to French wine. They make it differently. Worth a sip or two. Have some benedryl handy though.
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t		 Sophia (76.24.8.10) – 11.08.07 13:17:54
I was just about to say something about French wine, but it seems that you beat me to it by responding to yourself, in the second person, hmmm...

But yeah, a lot of folks who think that they're allergic to wine are actually allergic to sulfites. And sulfites aren't used in wine in France (I think that sulfites may be banned there), whereas they're used in most wine here in the U.S. (unless it's organic wine).

Also, I will say that I've never had much trouble acquiring vegetarian and vegan food in France, but I think it just depends a lot on what you're up to there (to be terribly vague).
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t		 Sridhar (c-71-198-171-181.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) – 11.08.07 16:28:05
I'm wagering Tom 7 II is actually Tom 6 with a minor typo.
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t		 Sridhar (c-71-198-171-181.hsd1.ca.comcast.net) – 11.08.07 16:29:14
But I still find myself swept up in a tense "Which one do I shoot? WHICH ONE DO I SHOOT?" situation.
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t		 Tom 7 (mobile-032-135-218-083.mycingular.net) – 11.08.07 21:39:14
sophia: true, but I was really a captive eater at this place, which is off in the middle of nowhere. More on that later! Also, I might not be allergic to all wines, but since my few experiences were negative I've also not really gotten a taste for it, so I haven't bothered experimenting.
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t		 Tom 7 (mobile-032-135-161-246.mycingular.net) – 11.08.07 21:42:36
The duplicate "Tom 7" is because I posted a comment here from my parents' computer and it has that name saved. Usually I edit it after the fact but if I do that now this conversation won't make any sense! But my dad (or mom) should feel free to edit the name under the comment box when commenting, so that Sridhar doesn't get all clone-twitchy.
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t		 Tom 6 (c-71-235-78-32.hsd1.ct.comcast.net) – 11.09.07 06:28:08
I made the edit and had some wine. tom 6
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t		 Tom 7 (h-68-166-207-222.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 11.09.07 09:21:17
Hehe, good job dad! I'm now back in Pittsburgh and will post a trip report soon.
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