What I used to eat in France

Well well well.. I am in Florence (Italy) right now—a trip I’ll post about in a period of weeks. I am having a break for myself in the hotel, going back to my world, to write this little post about how I lived in France on my own, and what I used to eat in particular.

Okay before I start, please forgive me for my bad food vocabulary. I am not a food person at all, whatever that means So my options of food there were:

1- School cafeteria

Food at the cafeteria in France is of good quality actually. Can you imagine they have chefs in school that every single day make new meals? Examples of meals: Spaghetti, Fish, Steak, etc. I don’t know the specific names for meals..

This is a picture of me with Noor (my Lebanese colleague from Kuwait University) having a fish pasta. It was our first lunch at school.

2- Kebab restaurants

You know Westerns call this kind of sandwiches ‘Kebab’ instead of ’Shawarma’. I didn’t like eating at such restaurants but sometimes I had no choice. They don’t understand the culture of Shawarma at all; they put ketchup and mayonnaise in the sandwich. Yuck!

Here’s me with Kamal, my Moroccan colleague, having lunch at one of the Arabian small restaurants near from Peixotto tram stop in Bordeaux.

3- McDonald’s

I had become a friend of McDonald’s not because it tastes good, but it was so close to my residence (about 5 minutes walk). After I came back to Kuwait I swore I won’t eat McDonald’s at least for months! I don’t eat from McDonald’s often in Kuwait but the need for food is what made me do that in France!

4- Home-made food

I was—and still am—not a good cook at all. No, seriously, I had to learn how to turn the oven on (not the oven but, what is it called, the cooker?). I mean I had to learn from level zero literally.

I make scrambled eggs, toast with cheese or jam, cereal with milk. I made once a very VERY simple pasta with ready-made bolognese sauce. And I also learned how to fry fish fingers, but I failed to make good hamburgers (maybe because they were fat huge ones).

Here’s a picture of one meal I created: Fish fingers with mashed potatoes and melted cheese sauce! Oh and some lettuce.

And a burrito with fish fingers, yellow cheese slices, lettuce, and some lemon. It was okay.

5- Frozen ready meals

When I moved to my other apartment in my last month, there was a microwave which was a blessing for me. I bought lots of frozen ready meals such as kofta with rice and other good stuff. The good thing was: 2 minutes of heating and you’re ready to start eating after a tiring day.

6- Pizza order

There was a close restaurant to my apartment called La Boîte à Pizza and another one which I can’t recall its name. Both fortunately have a delivery service (delivery service in France—unlike Kuwait—is not well developed). That was SO GOOD for me. I had problems at first since they don’t understand English; every time I was hungry I used to ask someone who speaks French to use my phone and order a pizza for me!

mmm.. The picture doesn’t indicate a healthy lifestyle.. That wasn’t good!

7- Classy restaurants

That was surely my favorite option, but not my wallet’s favorite. I ate at the original L’Entrecôte in Paris, Bordeaux, and Lyon. I love it!

Here’s a picture of me with Ali, my Kuwaiti friend, at L’Entrecôte in Bordeaux. Sorry the plates had been washed away the moment we had this picture!

And here’s me with different colleagues having a dinner in a Chinese restaurant. From left to right: Chi Zhang (Chinese), me, Noor (Lebanese), Jenny (British), and Isabella (German).

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Have a nice day and always preserve your sense of peace