I was at the Louvre the other day (I just love saying that, but we were on
vacation in Paris) and we really needed a stop for lunch. Given that a cup
of coffee *inside* the Louvre was 4 Euros, we decided to make an excursion
out to a cafe nearby for lunch. We ended up at a semi "self-service" cafe
place and picked up a ham sandwich and a quiche. I can't stress enough
that this was just about as close to fast-food as you can get without going
to a McDonalds in France (which I've never done). It wasn't gourmet, it
wasn't special, it was just a sandwich shop and the quiche was absolutely
horrid (about what you'd expect at a fast-food place).
The ham sandwich? Pain a L'Ancienne!
And that, my friends, is what we're missing over on this side of the
Atlantic. That you can go into a crumby sandwich cafeteria and, as a
matter of course, get your ham sandwich on truly awesome bread.
Dave Barrett