So when do I get my beret?

So earlier today, my partner asked if I would mind getting bread.  He knew that I would say yes, so it was really a loaded question anyway, but he asked nonetheless.   So I walk into town and think about what I should do.  First priority is to check the game store (which I was totally psyched because I found Ico, which I had been searching for, something like 6 years.  It's like Xenogears, it's never getting resold.) and then to go pull some money out for the bread. 

I think about the really good bakery in town.  The bread is that perfect crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside mix.  It tastes delicious, and smells even better.  Also, nine times out of ten, it's warm when I get it.  Since it is a bakery, they also have desserts, and this place in particular, has doughnuts.  It's really good too.  I remembered that I saw one the other day that was dipped in chocolate.  (I have never seen any of the filled doughnuts that I love back in the US, but hey, what can you do?  Tim Horton's isn't on every block here.)  They also have chocolate croissants, and well, lots of other delicious French pastry.  I was sold on the idea, but then I really needed something to drink.  They don't have any drinks for sale there, unfortunately.

So then, I remember that there's the other bakery.  It's ok, but it's a chain.  They have a lot of good desserts as well, and they even serve sandwiches.  There's also this woman that works there that I kind of sort of joke flirt with.  (One thing to let you know, everyone will think you're cute if you play your accent just right.)  But they have so many nice pastries, and these little sugar covered hearts.  I was going to buy them the other day to bring home, but was thwarted by a mother of four followed by three high school girls coming in for lunch.  Seriously, they all ate enough for a medium sized flotilla.  Plus, they sell coke there. 

Now, as I said, it's an ok bakery but it's not like the great bakery here in town.  The bread is not nearly as crispy on the outside, and it's always kinda spongy on the interior.  That I can deal with.  After all, I lived on American bread for 26 years, a few more pieces of pain de mie aren't going to kill me.  But my biggest issue is with the flavor.  The great bakery has this soft, nutty, yeasty taste that makes them the Jesus of bread.  The ok bakery is probably a Joseph Smith at best.  It just tastes like they used chlorinated water to make it.  It's a little chemical heavy compared to the great bakery. 

So as I was pulling my money out, I was thinking it was more comical that I was rating bread, considering not only that I had lived my entire life on American bread, but more than that, my parents would always buy about 8 loaves of bread at a time, and freeze them.  We weren't even talking Wonderbread or Nickel's, or hell, even Bunny bread for those of you who know it.  This was L'oven Fresh.  We also went through a lot, and I mean, a lot of bread, and cream cheese, not so coincidentally.

So I take my money, and my American tendency to drink pop wins out.  Happy birthday to me.  So one canette of coke later, and I am set!  I return back to the house triumphantly.  I still think it's funny that no matter how long you are in a place, base emotions or wants still take precedence over any layer of foreign socializing that you may install.  On a related note, damn if that coke wasn't good. 

That's it for now.  It's a cloudy 54 degrees here right now.  I hope you're all feeling well, and things are going smoothly.