one step forward. eight steps back.

this morning i woke up early to meet my roommate for breakfast near the school, i pulled money out of the bank to pay my rent (after the money was wired on friday it arrived in paris six day later and i am surprised i had access to it that quickly considering lunch breaks here last 3 hours making it difficult to complete business on schedule). then i registered for the gym, got my membership, metro'd home to find the monoprix, and bought our first round of groceries.

while joining the gym was a step in the positive direction for my sure-to-be overall physical decline while i live on this side of the atlantic, there are some forces i simply cannot fight.

i have come to the conclusion that in the recent book-turned-movie eat.pray.love, the main character's first foreign destination was her time to "eat" and i should honor her noble personal journey/transformation and do the same. unfortunately my "spiritual journey" has only one destination, which means i will be eat[ing] my way to happiness and self-acceptance for the next 5 months. no praying. no loving. as i have found with many things recently, it is what it is. so i'll deal.

to clarify: GYM MEMBERSHIP was my one step forward

my eight gazillion steps back, however, come in the form of these french short-comings:

beurre (butter) is on everything. it is the french's mayo. any baguette avec fromage comes with beurre. butter butter butter. my lack of french slash attempt to eat.pray.love has left me unable to decline the beurre, and rather, i've embraced it. [interesting tid bit, beurre does not come with bread when bread is brought to the table... hmmm]

croissants and pan au chocolat (croissants and pan au chocolat?) this requires no explanation. its a problem.

le sucre (sugar) splenda, equal, sweet'n'low? oh no, your options are: sugar, sugar, or sugar.

lait (milk) skim, 1%, 2%? wrong, its: whole milk or half and half. and yes, i am lactose intolerant. and no, they do not sell lactaid milk, lactaid pills, soy milk, or almond milk. its whole or half and half.

bonbons (candy) its everywhere, its so good. recent discovery: kinder bars. bad news.

so wish me luck. club med (gym) membership in hand and outfitted in dg apparel, i will enjoy my thousands of steps backwards as i take my one step forward.