A couple weeks ago, someone sent me a thoughtful gift from the US. A few days later, I get a bill from the delivery company; 42 euros for taxes (the gift was valued at 80 euros, making the tax about 55%.) So I head to the office of the delivery company, where they show me the official rules for gifts sent and received in France:…
So I’m in the supermarket line with my basket of groceries. The man in front of me unloads his basket, then dumps his plastic basket on top of the neat stack of other shopping baskets. But instead of nesting it snugly within the other baskets, he just drops his basket on top, askew and cock-eyed, handles facing upward. So I need to put my basket…
At Giolitti, where I got my daily cono of chocolate gelato in Rome… Giolitti via Uffici del Vicaro, 40 Rome tel: 06 6991243
I confess. I’m one of those people that don’t like wine and chocolate together. There’s something about all those diverse flavors going every which way in your mouth…all I want when I enjoy chocolate is to taste rich, dark, unadulterated chocolate without any distractions. Gâteau Bastille: A Little Chocolate Cake with Prunes I’ve been meaning to write more about chocolate, and when Clotilde announced she’s…
I was tapped to do this meme back in July, by Shuna, and I began to write it up. Then I stopped, and began writing much about my culinary travels. So the file got moved somewhere on my desktop, obliterated amongst the mess of files and folders here at chez Dave. As someone else mentioned when she got tagged for the meme, it’s kinda like…
The hardest thing about living in France (aside from speaking French) is that most of us Americans here expect things to be like ‘back home’; corn-on-the-cob, Office Max open on sundays, and cheery customer service. I tried explaining that uniquely American concept of, “The customer is always right” to a French friend, and he just kept giving me this blank look as if I was…
Did you know you already speak French? It’s true, and I’m not just talking about quiche and Tar-jay. Franglais is the curious and unlikely (but perhaps inevitable) invasion of English into the French language. Not since the un-easy (but remarkably convenient) alliance of Franco-American culture, as found in Franco-American ‘Spaghetti-O’s™’ (whose relationship seems more Italian-American…if you ask me), has there been such a near-fatal collision…
Join me on my Spring 2026 book tour for my latest book, The Great Book of Chocolate
A
Get David's newsletter sent right to your Inbox!
Sign up for my newsletter and get my FREE guidebook to the best bakeries and pastry shops in Paris...
