on the road less travelled in Ireland and france

When in France … try to speak French. For years Conal used what he called “Traveller’s French” to get by – now it was Fran’s turn to try out her language skills and get bread for breakfast.

By Conal Healy

Saturday, October 21, 2023:  Fran had been studying French via Duolingo for 360 days before the flight landed in Paris. We had role-played many situations with everyday phrases to get Fran comfortable with “la belle France”.

On our first full day in Paris we decided to break our fast with a traditional French breakfast – a baguette (a French stick of bread).

When I suggested she go downstairs to the boulangerie next door and buy some bread for breakfast … well, Fran looked shocked.

“You want me to go to the boulangerie … on my own?” Fran asked in a tone of voice that was unusual for her. She seemed daunted by the task.

On our last trip to Paris, I was the person usually on the Speaking French to the French duty. I had enough traveler’s French to order beer, shop and ask for directions. In 2023, I figured it was time for Fran to try out her language skills.

I reminded her, all she had to do was say: “Good morning. I would like to buy a baguette. ….Thank You”

Fran just had to say it in French. (“Bonjour. Je voudrais acheter une baguette. … Merci”:”.)

And smile as she said it.

Fran mulled it over, then set off nervously to buy bread.

Minutes later Fran returned, bread in hand, beaming.

She had gone to the boulangerie, the shop assistant was talking to the man in front of Fran. When Fran stepped up, she delivered pre-prepared request, and the shop assistant kept chatting to Fran as though she was privy to the previous conversation.

“She thought I was a local! They were talking about dogs … I smiled and nodded … and was taken for a local getting a loaf of bread” said Fran with enthusiasm. (We returned later to buy some freshly made croissants.)

Fran had earned herself a Welcome to France badge.

That first breakfast in Paris was a simple repast – the bread was Paris, the butter was from Normandy, the jam was French and the honey was Cuban, or Argentinian or maybe Ukrainian.

Me? I started with the bread and butter … and remembered just how good a baguette with butter was.

Welcome back to France.

Footnote: It has been my experience that making an attempt at speaking French in France does help. Begin with a cheery Bonjour … and you are off to a good start.

Types of Breads in France
La baguette: A long cylinder-shaped bread made of flour, salt, yeast and water. Weighing in at 250-300 grams, and measuring between 55 and 65 centimeters in length

La Boule: A round, crusty loaf (literally a « ball »)

Le Bâtard: a rounder baguette-like loaf that weighs 500 grams

Le pain aux figues: bread with figs

aux lardons : with bacon

aux noix : with nuts

aux olives : with olives

aux raisins: with raisins

Le Pain Complet: wholemeal bread

Le Pain de Compagne: « Country bread » This is a hearty round loaf, usually a sourdough bread

Le Pain de Mie: white bread (like the Australia kind, bagged and sliced and usually available in supermarkets.)

Le Pain de Seigle: rye bread

La Baguette de Tradition (or ‘Tradi’ if you are cool): very similar to a baguette, but with the allowance of small variations on the type of flour used.

La Ficelle: similar to, but thinner than baguette which weighs 100 grams (literally « string »)

La Flute: a thicker version of the baguette, we’ve seen this called a Parisienne in the United States

Torsade: resembles a very small and thin baguette with ingredients, such as fromage, lardons, olives, etc.

La Fougasse: A provincial bread, often with olive oil and savory ingredients such as fromage, lardons, olives, etc. Think of it as a French focaccia

Pain de Mie: One of our favorites is the most popular Poilâne

L’Epi: A shaping method to create bread that resembles a stalk of wheat

Footnote: On a drive through the small village of Grand-Fougeray, close to the Loire Valley we stopped to buy our daily bread and discovered a baquette called a “bagatelle” – which is “a product with an attachment to the traditions and know-how of artisanal bread-baking, along with a focus on extremely high standards for the ingredients, quality and taste”.