Now that I am eating a low fat diet on my weight loss program, I don’t think it was a good idea to go to a cooking school in France.  It was wonderful and amazing but I came back with a whole different attitude about butter, cream and cheese.  You see in France they are a staple in their diet.  They are not afraid of fat.  And I came back not afraid of fat anymore also.  Because of course everything taste better with butter, cream and cheese.  But it doesn’t quite work for the American lifestyle.  In France especially in the countryside the French don’t eat fast food.  I don’t remember seeing one fast food restaurant in all of Provence.  They eat much smaller portions, no supersizing there and they get much more exercise than we do.  They walk everywhere.  They walk to visit friends, they walk to the market to get their butter, cream and cheese, they walk walk walk walk walk.  You will see very elderly people walking everywhere.  Are you getting the picture?  So because I don’t have the luxury of living in the South of France, I need to go back to tailoring a more healthy diet for my lifestyle.  It doesn’t mean I will never be able to enjoy the occasional buttery, creamy French entrée.  It just means those fatty delicious foods cannot be a staple in my refrigerator anymore.  Merci.