Two quick observations from Paris, both relating to things Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen have blogged about.

1. Every time I go for a while without coming to France, I start to wonder whether I'm imaging the superiority of French fruits and vegetables. Surely the grapes and tomatoes we get in the US aren't that different, right? And every time I visit France again, I'm completely and immediately disabused of that notion. Just last night I ate a cherry tomato from the local supermarket that was so tart, so flavorful, that in New York you could have cut the thing in half and served it as some sort of exotic appetizer for $15. We're not in the same ballpark, we're not even playing the same sport, or competing in the same planet or even universe, or any other turn of phrase you want to use. Literally everything is better here than on the east coast of the United States. And not just a little bit better, either. Huge leagues better. And I met an American here from California, enjoying her first trip here, who said the same thing. The only reasonable explanation I've been able to come up with is that we've bred our greenery for longevity rather than taste. But how does that explain the inferiority of our new heirloom tomatoes to this cheapest of the cheap cherry tomato?

2. Literally everything I said about fruit goes doubly for bread. There were some people in Tabarrok's comments who claimed that American bread was somehow catching up, or that the French stuff wasn't as good as its reputation. There are simmering bread problems here, which I'll blog about soon. But I've been to a lot of the temples of American bread. And two summers ago, I went to almost every baker in Manhattan at least once. Anyone who thinks those people are doing anything that wouldn't be laughed out of even the crappiest Parisian bakery is just delusional. So why, when there's so much money to be made in America? I really don't know.