My
last post dealt with the results of drunkenness, so it seemed appropriate to segue
into a good way to get blotto in France. I probably should have done this one a
couple of months ago since it's about pastis, a drink traditionally served
cold and popular in summer. Come to think of it, though, the first time I ever
saw anyone drinking it was in the fall ten years ago when Cynthia and I spent a
week near St. Tropez. She had a subscription to a magazine called "Fluent French" and every couple of months she got a CD of conversations with
native French speakers along with a booklet with the translation.
Coincidentally, the one she got right before our trip had conversations with
some kahuna from Ricard, one of the most well known brands, along with some pastis
enthusiasts who provided ringing endorsements. So the whole time she
bugged me to try this stuff, which I resisted because I knew there was some
kind of process involved and didn't want to look any more like a foreign rube
than I already did.
