She would have said “See, I told you.”
Yes, Gertrude was right about health in so many ways the French still practice.
First, we saw few if any obese French people. American stick out (pardon the pun) because of their girth and/or derrière. Why? The French just keep walking! Walking is part of their daily activities of living. On the weekends families and their dogs were out for strolls in the beautiful public parks and along the Seine river. It was easy to get 10,000+ steps each day. In Paris cars are a liability as there is nowhere to park. Bikes are everywhere and Paris just added miles of bike lanes to help people use them to commute to work.
Next, portion sizes have not been super-sized. We ate rich French foods with vegetarian options always available. We did consume our fair share of French fromage (cheese) and wine! The bread was always made daily and with fresh butter it was addicting. As Gertrude would say all things in moderation. She would not have been happy about me having pan chocolate for breakfast each morning, but when in France!
In the Northern part of French were had fresh, locally grown vegetables. We did indulge in fresh oysters that had been grown on an oyster farm in the bay of Cancale. Fresh fish was available and believe it or not it was rarely fried.
Gertrude would have been pleased with the hygiene practice due to Covid. We had to show our vaccine cards to enter everything, including the Eiffel Tower. The French have to show a health pass. If they do not want to be vaccinated, that is fine but they must get a Covid test every three days, at their own expense.
We had a wonderful time exploring parts of France we had never seen before. The day we spent in Normandy was very moving. If storming the beaches at Omaha and Utah beaches had not worked we might all have a German accent.
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