Second-Fattest Woman in Paris!

The heroine of my book tours Paris and takes note of how slim are the Parisiennes. Back home in New Orleans, she tries to follow the French regimen. But, in general rebellion because of tragedy in her life, she turns to food for comfort instead of to the Lord. As in, mm, too much cafe' au lait and sugary beignets at the Cafe' du Monde ! She's forced to buy bigger bell-bottoms! 



Like my heroine, alas, I must mend my ways.

In Paris a few years ago, we had lunch in Montmartre, up that hill of many steps where the artists paint behind the big white church, Sacre Coeur.

We ordered soup. The saucy waiter smirked. "You want Freedom Fries weeth that?"

I laughed and said, "Vive la France!" Long live France.

We Americans get mad at the French, but don't we all just need more of the Lord, and need to be more like Him?

I mean, check out this article, 112 Gripes about the French, which  I found on Siri Mitchell's blog, Siriously Siri.

The Parisians were kind to us--probably because I spoke a little French--they immediately went into English to out-do me, lol--and probably because we wore dark shoes!

(I read that Parisians think we're too casual in sweats and tennis shoes while touring their pretty city. And here, alas, my toes are dusty from doing what the French do--walked a lot....)

Anyway, as we toured that world-famous city of stylish women, I noticed I was the second-fattest woman in Paris!

Later, an article caught my attention. Two pretty women, one Japanese and one French talk about staying slim. They eat lots of fruits and veggies and use meat, cheese and butter in small increments like condiments--never for a meal--while Americans would have a huge steak.

In the book, French Women Don't Get Fat, it's stressed that they eat slowly, walk a lot.

But from what I read later, the fattest woman in Paris ate American fast food. The French call it McDo's. Their weight is going up, too. The average French woman is 5'3" tall and 137 pounds. That doesn't sound too willowy to me. Say it isn't so! I need them for inspiration! *sigh!*

When the Japanese woman moved to America, she gained 25 pounds in two months. When she went back to her mother's Tokyo kitchen, she lost it without trying. She recommends taste-free canola oil. Well, I'm already using the Mediterranean Diet's olive oil.

A few years later, I was blessed to tag along on my husband's business trip to Tokyo. I was so excited.

I loved the song, "Sukiyaki," the number 1 hit in 1963--knocked It's My Party off the number 1 spot--by Kyu Sakamoto.  

The deejays couldn't pronounce the real name of the song, so they called it "Sukiyaki." Maybe now, I'd taste the real sukiyaki.





So, here I am after breakast--pancakes--at--you can see it in the background--McDo's! Zut! Shame on me! But to these Western eyes, octopus and squid first thing in the morning was not a pretty sight! Another morning, at a Japanese restaurant we had eggs and salad.



LOL, I felt like Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation."

(Loved that movie except one scene. When she says they're going to the place called Orange, I recommend hitting a button called Skip.)

But lunch and dinner were wonderful. Loved the food and the so-polite people and the clean, beautiful city of Tokyo, with its lace-covered taxi seats and drivers in white gloves, and ladies in kimonos to excort us to the hotel elevator. And garbage trucks that play music like our ice cream trucks!

Well, they say a sign of being crazy is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. If I want to lose weight, I need to cut out some of the fat and use my feet more.

It's like that in my spiritual walk, too. *BIG sigh* I need to stop doing the same old things, cut the leaven--sin--and put feet on my prayers, and sometimes, being part of the answer as the Lord leads.

I still have a long way to go, but it seems the more I try, the more I see God's hand in my life! And that's fun!

That's victory.