It’s been almost three months since I’ve been back in the U.S. When we first arrived, I couldn’t bear to switch my home address in Google Maps from our Paris apartment. Finally, after months of having to type it in every time I wanted directions, I ripped off the band-aid and updated it today. So I guess it’s official: I live here now.

But there are some things that I will never give up, like eating saucisson and fromage for dinner. Trader Joe’s has a half-decent selection of imported French cheeses, FYI. They’re not actually good French cheeses, but they’re pretty close to what you’d get in a French supermarket.

The first time Colin and I went out to eat after we arrived in St. Louis, our eyes nearly popped out of our heads when the waiter brought us glasses of water. In Paris, they will give you – if you ask – a thimbleful of water and assume that’s enough to last you the entire meal. Here, the waiter brought us each what seemed to be half of the Mississippi River.

Also shocking: At the supermarket here, a bottle of Veuve-Cliquot champagne, which costs around 15€ in Paris, was on sale for the low, low price of only $69.99! I decided it’ll be much more economical to just put my champagne budget toward a plane ticket back to France.

Speaking of wine: I guess I’m a wine snob now. At one well-known local restaurant, I was horrified to see the following:

Prosecco and cava are not champagne!! Just call them sparkling wines or bubbles, s’il vous plaît.