Fancy a brew? Not so much a la Francaise... France's lukewarm attempt to match British Tea Time

I love the French wine, I love the French cheese, but if there's one thing the British can never be beaten on, it's their tea. Tea is magic. It picks you up when you need a gentle nudge to get moving in the morning and brings you back down to earth after a stressful day. How it manages to enhance whatever mood you are in need of I do not know, but in short tea must be drunk on a daily basis. Just maybe not in the way the French do it. Whilst they do attempt to imitate and accommodate for the 'Oh so British' tea drinking habits, they just don't quite get how it's really done.

For starters, their milk is a disaster. A lot of French people think it's incredibly odd that we put milk in our tea, some would even say it was disgusting. However to a certain extent I do not blame them. The milk here really isn't that great, and there is a definite difference in taste. Even if you do buy the more expensive 'fresh' stuff it still tastes like UHT. When my tea addict mother and  friends visited me, bringing along a stock of PG Tips or Tetley's they were shocked to find how different a cup of tea tastes over here.  This all may sound a bit lacto-obsessive, but any one that has known 'holiday milk' whilst staying in an apartment abroad will understand these qualms.

Head to a café and it just gets worse.  Tea does appear on some café menus but not all, and it is usually served in a weird manner. Order an Earl Grey and you will be presented with a cup of warm water, often with the teabag still in its package on the saucer, and no milk in sight. It seems that France attempts to offer tea in their own 'classy' continental fashion, but in fact what you end up with is a weak, luke warm substitute, literally. If you order tea in a French restaurant, the waiter usually brings over a very nice wooden box offering  a large range  of teas and infusions for your post-dinner beverage.  Personally, I'm not all that interested in choosing from a stock of 20 different teas, with flavours ranging from liquorice  to cinnamon I just want a normal cup of tea!!

Most towns boast fancy little boutiques selling dozens of varieties of loose fragrant tea leaves, beautiful tea sets and trays, but no standard tea bags. It's all very nice to look at, but it really does not correspond with what I expect from a cup of tea. No frills, no tea strainers, just a plain old builder's brew suits me down to the ground...I'm not really that interested in all this 'Ceylan' melarky.  

Despite my complaints about the serious lack of a decent cuppa,  I do actually find this to be a positive aspect of living away from home. In this multi-cultural world, where food, drink, and language are forever crossing borders and infiltrating neighbouring countries, Britain still boasts the best cuppa. France may attempt to infuse tea drinking into their own culture, but the best and most classic tea party will always be held on our side of the channel. Rant over, kettle on.