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I love French breakfasts, although I might substitute tea for the coffee. I don't like to eat much before noon. I'm not hungry until later in the day. The thought of eating meat in the morning seems repulsive to my stomach.
BTW I know this thread is about France but breakfast is *way* worse in Italy than in France. Just sayin'.
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How so ? The viennoiseries that suck here ? Otherwise it's basically the same thing. Except they have the weird habit here of eating yogurt in the morning.
Anything can get boring after a while. Breakfast in Italy and Spain is really just another version, except in Italy you may get some meat, but it consist of some sort of coffee and pastry.
My take is that going out for breakfast wasn't part of the culture like here. Restaurants, from what I remember in France, were open for lunch and dinner, some just dinner. Breakfast was left to the cafe's where the facilities didn't offer the ability to make much. They just picked up croissants etc from the local bakery.
I remember in London,England, back in 1987, the only places offering breakfast were some hotels, and McDonald's. It's different now. The full english breakfast also gets boring after awhile.
As much as I love Europe, most countries are entrenched in their cuisine. Yes they offer " ethnic " cuisine, but rarely is it as good or authentic as you find in countries with a shorter culinary history and a different immigration pattern.
To be fair I can hardly imagine going out of of my home without having eaten anything. 99% of people in France have breakfast at home, although getting a croissant at the bakery with a coffee is great. In Italy you go to the bar, which offers some food, since bakeries unfortunately do not sell anything else than bread usually.
Not sure about the comment on ethnic cuisine being worse here.
To be fair I can hardly imagine going out of of my home without having eaten anything. 99% of people in France have breakfast at home, although getting a croissant at the bakery with a coffee is great. In Italy you go to the bar, which offers some food, since bakeries unfortunately do not sell anything else than bread usually.
Not sure about the comment on ethnic cuisine being worse here.
By ethnic, I'm referring mainly to Asian cuisines and true Mexican. Vancouver does well on Asian, less so on Mexican, but better than what I've found in Europe.
I have been in France for over a year, and despite the reputation for having great food, breakfast doesn't seem to be that impressive in France. To me, the vast majority of people just have coffee and some sort of bread (croissant, pain au chocolat, baguette etc.) They are tasty, but it just become monotonous after you eat it morning after morning. And everything is sweet. The lack of choice really makes me disappointed.
As a Chinese person, what I miss most about Chinese cities is the huge variety of breakfast. Some people eat various kind of bread with milk too, but there is also the steamed buns, steamed bun stuffed with juicy pork (xiaolongbao), bean curd soup or soy milk/ deep-fried dough sticks, thin and crispy pancakes (with eggs, green union and some spicy sause), wonton, congee with pickles, they are all very different and suit different people. As a westerner you might not like all of them, but the variety is much better.
None of them is fancy stuff, but the normal breakfast most people eat every morning and is incredibly affordable, widely available in every neighbourhood. In Shanghai for example, 6 xiaolonglong costs under 1 euro.
Why is breakfast so boring in France? Do people want more varieties?
I LOVE CHINESE BREAKFAST FOOD! YES!!
Is it really typical for the French to eat nothing but bread for breakfast? I thought that at home, they might have a bit of cheese with it, maybe a soft-boilded egg, or maybe some yogurt. Nothing but bread isn't a healthy breakfast, and can't really keep you going at work through to lunchtime.
By ethnic, I'm referring mainly to Asian cuisines and true Mexican. Vancouver does well on Asian, less so on Mexican, but better than what I've found in Europe.
Well for sure Mexican is going to be hard to find, there are basically no mexicans in Europe ! Conversely I would not expect to find kebab places in Texas, but I would definitely look for Mexican places. As for Asian, not sure, but then again asian migration exists here too, but this might concern other asian peoples and european tastes might be different as well.
Is it really typical for the French to eat nothing but bread for breakfast? I thought that at home, they might have a bit of cheese with it, maybe a soft-boilded egg, or maybe some yogurt. Nothing but bread isn't a healthy breakfast, and can't really keep you going at work through to lunchtime.
I'm nostalgic for my favorite French breakfast since I'm not getting to France more than once per decade these days. Sliced baguette bought that morning from the boulangerie, a bit of butter, strawberry preserves, cafe au lait.
I remember working in a lab in Lannion, Brittany one January. I was staying at a little harbor front hotel in Perros Guirec and was the only person staying there. They were trying to figure out the French-fluent American who only wanted a baguette and coffee. It's an English destination so they were expecting a request for English breakfast or something similar. I really like non-city France. The pace is slower. People are friendly. If you speak the language, it's really easy to strike up a conversation. In Brittany, I kept explaining that my mother lived in coastal Maine and it looked just like Brittany with the bold coast, big tide, boats, and similar climate. The big difference was Maine only has lobster and has nothing like the French food quality.
Pain au chocolate is OK once in a while but it's the simple pleasure of a baguette that is the same high quality anywhere in the country that works for me.
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