Sunday, 28 July

As I sit here in a park, in the French city of Vitre, I have currently seen 5 different people walking past me with fresh baguettes from what I presume to be a local bakery (ouvert en dimanche!!!). One was carrying at least eight baguettes, which appeared to be the most they could carry with both arms wrapped around them in some sort of loving embrace. In their defence… they did appear to be off for a picnic with their wife and two children so I suppose that allows them to all enjoy 2 baguettes each, a modest amount for a French family! 

But why?! Why baguettes? What is this innate French adoration for the long bread stick? Where did it come from? For me, they are far too crunchy, far too crumbly and go stale far too quickly to even contemplate using them for sandwiches the next day. Maybe the French have very tough roofs in their mouth’s so they’ve never had that excruciating pain of the crust of a baguette cutting through it. I guess we’ll never know precisely why the French love baguettes so much.