good taste

So, everybody knows that France* has good food. Like, really good. And that they take that seriously. But, who knew that the driving force behind this culture de gastronomie** was... truck drivers?

Truck drivers?

Truck drivers.

See, the truck drivers all take their two hour lunch breaks and go for long, leisurely, high quality meals. And, given the nature of their business, they know all the best, far-flung, secretly amazing places to go. They have very high standards. And rumours of the place-to-be (and eat) flow fast and free within this community.

"Everybody here knows," say the proprietors of our Gite, "if you want to find the best places to eat, you follow the truck drivers."

"And," they add, "should the truck drivers decide the quality of your restaurant has slipped, good luck finding anyone willing to eat there..."

That this intrinsic cultural irony is not irony at all in France, is just a given, says something quite nice about that culture, no? Of course truck drivers can and do have the highest tastes and standards. Why not?

Yea, why not?


*Where Charlie and I just were, for a week, a wonderful amazing biking and eating and drinking in and around the Loire Valley who, for the record, are _incredibly_ bike friendly (placemats in restaurants of bike route maps? At several restaurants? Good restaurants?).

**France is the only country where restaurant reviews refer to whether a given spot is good for "amateurs"...

Videoformation

Here is a very well put together, interesting and fun video about...viola physics! Yeah! So informative.

What is up with Noises?