More petition signing today. Less successful than yesterday for some reason, everyone we spoke to were either tourists, (Je ne suis pas d’ici) or just amazingly busy (Pas de temps, pas de temps, pas de temps) though not as many were actually in favour of the new tramline.

Yesterday I very nearly saw someone get hit by a tram, a tourist who was busy watching a street performer (not even a very good one, unlike Accordion Man) and the tram, with the brakes full on, got within one metre of the man. That was certainly an experience, though my colleague Vincent has told me that the real problem is often old people that can’t hear very well and have no idea that trams exist! He also told me definitively when to say Mademoiselle or Madame, which I’m sure will be infinitely useful. (You just have to ask, fellow placement students!)

Today’s lesson though is about food. It’s no surprise that the French love their own style of food; it may be a slight surprise that they hate everyone else’s! That’s a slight exaggeration until I use the example of my search for Soy Sauce. I went into the local supermarket-esque shop, and after a while I had to leave (with everything I wanted but Soy Sauce). A friend explained to me that it was in fact there, and she was right. However, it is not located in the same section as other sauces and condiments; it is found in a tiny little section between alcohol and meat.

This made me think a little bit about national identity; it seems that just like there are subtle measures to protect the French language, there are other clandestine forces at work to prevent the French from eating non-French things. There are two McDonalds here, yes, but I assume they are mainly for tourists.

The other thing I thought about was the difference in consumption habits; the bottle of Soy Sauce I bought was tiny (125ml) for about 1.50E compared to the much larger variety you find in Britain. But with “French things” like Grenadine Syrup, you can get a bottle about five times the size as the (maximum) size in Britain for the same price. That’s the market, I suppose.

Oh, but I absolutely hate the French Keyboard.