2:30 am???? WTF

The biggest match up of the year in the NFL and it is being broadcast at 2:30 am Paris time.........

Good news is that I did find a location that can replay any game so all i have to do is stay away from the score until Monday afternoon.  Nice little pub in the Notre Dame/ St Michaels areas (6th arr) Frankie told me about The Great Canadian.  Very nice servers and decent prices on house brew (some german brew that is palatable especially for 5 Euros)  Should have taken a picture.

Rantings on the first 30 days in France

Why is beer considered a feminine noun and wine masculine?

Everyone in Paris smokes... the pigeons fight for a drag of a discarded butt

No matter where I am headed I feel like a salmon swimming upstream.

A cheap meal for 2 is well north of $50

You see these big burley guys drinking 25cl beers (think a pony bottle on the golf course)

There is something wrong in serving a 25cl Guinness... Why would a friend let you make an ass out of yourself by letting you order a wimpy portion?

10 Euros ($15.00) for a 50cl draft beer?  God do I long for the cheap beer prices at Fenway!

You change back to standard time on a Tuesday morning at 2:00 am?  Thanks for telling me in the paper... oh wait I don't get Le Monde.. WFT!!

Dogs are rewarded for crapping on the sidewalk..

Just when I thought I would have to sip wine....

An Academy of Beer?  Where have you been all my life.  I have already learned that 5 pints of 10.5% beer  is about like drinking 2 bottles of wine.  See I'm already excelling in math.  Can't wait to write my thesis on bar napkins.... wonder if that's how the Bud ad executives got their start

After the sweetness of more than a couple Alsatian beers I needed something with a nice hoppy bite..... after trying to explain what a great American IPA tasted like the nice kid waiting on us said he had just the thing.....
Just because you call something Hopus doesn't make it hoppy.... this was the sweetest tasting beer of the bunch.  I need to find the French work for hops..... something tells me it will be "boire du vin couillon!"

OK I compromised..... I have tried a local wine

I've gotten enough grief that I bought a bottle of  French table wine. As you know I have very discerning tastes so I started at a low price point... 1.08E per bottle... let's call it $1.60.  Now in the states you can't find a bottle of wine for anywhere near $1.60; anything close to this price point is consumed out of a brown paper bag in an alley.

A couple quick notes to you fellow beer drinkers:

• you can't drink wine like you swill your favorite beer
• it helps to have a cork screw.... drilling out the cork with a rechargeable drill leaves bits of cork in the wine ( I look at the cork bits as part of a high fiber diet)
• Leave about an ounce in the bottle so you can claim that you didn't drink a whole bottle at dinner
• When the wine is this cheap, buy a couple bottles so you can sub the full one for the empty and not look like a booze bag.

PITA was very impressed that I decided to drink red wine with dinner so I just had to show off.  I recalled my training from a recent French wine course and gave the glass a drinker swirl and a quick sniff.  Smelled red to me so I followed up with a small sip. I rolled the sip in my mouth and took in a breath above it. Ah, the hint of chocolate I had learned that some reds have.  I had to brag to PITA that I could sense a chocolate scent in the wine.  I got a look of utter contempt as PITA told me "Hey Genius, you just drank your wine out of my sundae dish!"  Maybe next time I'll get  a half bottle.........

Chocolate fair? I call it taking one for the team

I'm not a big chocolate fan but PITA and I went to a huge chocolate fair that started Wednesday in Paris.  Samples were everywhere and it looked like the buffet at a Sam's Club.  This was the big time with all the big and artisan chocolateers  represented.  There were a few wineries represented and much to my delight the concession stand sold beer.  The booth that really amazed me was the spice concessionaire. PITA claimed to only sample a couple chocolates but I think she was kidding.  Everyone walking around looked like a 3 year old after eating a bowl of spaghetti O's.

 I should have gone for the salts, amazing stuff

Funny, I was drawn to the alcohol!?

They called these Baileys smoothies.... I called them lost car bombs.  Still looking for a Beer Fest

No IPA in sight

This is a small sampling of beers available at the local Monoprix.  The Leffe looked promising (6.5%) but had too flowery a taste.... did manage to get a couple down and the other 4 will not be trashed.  The Kronenbourg reminded me of an old Miller High Life, never a big fan.  I've had a couple 1664's and they are drinkable... kind of like a Budweiser light.the two in the back are Bavarian and I'll finish them but will not repurchase.

The favorite of the store bought brands has to be the Stella... canned version here tastes superior to the tap version at the Mission Oak Grill or Ten Center in Newburyport..... and what a cute little 6 pack

Pita and I went to Sacre-Coeur last Saturday and I was quite surprised to find a wine festival going on.  There is just something about pre-communion to make the church going experience one to savor.  I tried a couple of the local brews.... number one was great a weiss beer type.. but beer sample #2 had me speechless and unable to swallow.  I held the beer for about 30 minutes and thank God, pun completely intended, The guard made me poor the beer out before I entered the church.  I believe it is a sin to waste beer but there was Divine Intervention here.  If you ever see this beer....go the other way and order wine.

Just to prove I went to church

Finally on the ground and time zone corrected in Paris

One last Harpoon IPA at Logan before boarding Air France direct to Paris on 30-09-09.  747 with less leg room than the back seat of a VW bug.  At least beer and wine are complimentary on the flight.  64 degree Heineken is the only choice... can you say skunk? I opt for the red wine in place of the questionable salmon meal provided.  Long night crowded with snifflers and sneezers.  Hit the ground at 6:30 Paris time (6 hour difference) and in 3 more hours I am at Pita's apartment.

T - 29 days until French Horrification

I've been told that I have to tone down my choice of clothing........ Orange is not that bold!
Pulled out a research book PITA gave for Christmas so I could begin my planning... great book!
"300 Beers to try before you die" by Roger Protz.

Only 5 French beers are listed but they show promise (alcohol % ranging from 6.4% to 8.5%.) One of my favorite state side beers listed, Sierra Nevada, is 5.6% so I assume it might take a little while to get my land legs with the French Choices.

Rogers favorite French beers are not the German influenced beers from the Strasbourg region but the bieres de garde, or farmhouse ales from the flat lands between Calais and Lille. All 5 breweries are 2+ hours north of Paris.

I will try all 5 and if need be, will travel to the actual breweries.

Annoeullin Pastor Ale
Castelain Ch'ti Blonde
La Choulette Ambree
Duych Jenlain Ambree
St Sylvestre 3 Monts

Count down to Paris

30 Days to takeoff. PITA (my girlfriend) is already on a year long teaching assignment and begins school tomorrow. Can't wait to see her and have a built in translator.

Lots to do and settle before an 82 day adventure to Paris and surrounding areas.

Beginning research on places to watch NFL football on Sundays.... Someone mentioned the Grand Canadian?? I promise not to let American Football take over my life this season.. Especially if Brady is hurt.