I should have done this as I went along, but this is what I'm left with

[wwidsith]

Random memories of the honeymoon, in no order:

*Stopping at a tiny railroad town in southern Tennessee and going to a proper old soda fountain, where the waitress thought we were French because we said we lived in Paris

*The Grand Ole Opry on our last night in Nashville - sheer genius. Although I remember the adverts best

*The lush cottage in the

Comments

[muckefuck]

This so totally made my day. One of my coworkers visited Graceland over the holidays and it traumatised him. He brought back a postcard of the billiard room which I, in turn, will use to traumatise monshu.

Oh, and you reminded me of one of my favourite bits from Laurie Anderson's United States:I know this English guy who was driving around in the South. And he stopped for breakfast one morning somewhere in southeast Georgia. He saw “grits” on the menu. He’d never heard of grits so he asked the waitress, “What are grits, anyway?” She said, “Grits are fifty.” He said, “Yes, but what are they?” She said, “They’re extra.” He said, “Yes, I’ll have the grits, please.”

[wwidsith]

Our first morning, Hannah asked the same question - ‘what ARE grits?’ The waitress gazed into the middle distance as though we'd asked her to summarise the concept of happiness, or wave-particle duality. ‘I can't answer that?’ she said eventually, ‘so I'll just go ahead and bring y'all a sample.’ She brought us two, because she couldn't decide whether we should try it with butter or salt and pepper. I had one forkful and that was it.

[herself_nyc]

Did you eat cheese grits? Cheese grits are supposed to be DA BOMB. Though I have to admit that the couple of times I've tried grits, both at The Place and in, oh, Georgia, they eluded me ....

[muckefuck]

Chicago is lousy with cheese grits. They're easier to find up here than plain grits.

[herself_nyc]

So the museum was only a partial success really

No, I'd say from your description that that museum was a 100% American experience. I mean, really, you couldn't have made that shit up, right?

I am so glad you wrote this post and now I want to hit the road and go to Tennessee also but of course I'd like to do it with some fabulous guy I'm in love with, so alas, not so much. I'm SO GLAD you had such a once-in-a-lifetime great experience. And that you ate so much southern-fried crap because the more you eat of that, the less there is for me to stumble over …

Heh.

All sounds great. I really envy you. It's the one part of the US I haven't gone to yet and there's so much there that's interesting to me ….

[herself_nyc]

Could this comment have been any more self-absorbed?
Sorry!

[wwidsith]

Not at all! I love your comments! And you're right, I did kind of love that museum...

[herself_nyc]

Oh, and congratulations again and I'm glad you're back home all in one piece, etc.

Are you sticking to Paris for a while, or venturing forth again soon?

[wwidsith]

Thanks! Yeah, I think we'll be here for the forseeable future, but now things are more settled we're planning to make regular weekend trips to see the rest of France.

[ruakh]

I'm glad you had such a good time. I think the U.S. is great, but I always read furr'ner accounts with trepidation. "What will they think of us

[muckefuck]

I grew up below the Bourbon Belt, but my Michigan-born California-reared boyfriend would sooner drink paint than touch the stuff. Last time we were shopping for booze, the salesman was trying to push Caol Ila and he had to firmly inform the man that he only liked Islays from the south side of the island because the ones from the north side of Islay "have no character".

[wwidsith]

Haha, now THAT is my kind of whiskey consumer...it's Laphroiag and Ardbeg all the way. Although to be fair, I always think Caol Ila tastes like a southern-Islay malt too.

[wwidsith]

Well, I have never had anything other than a wonderful time in the States. On the other hand, I'm always kind of nervous about criticising it, what with patriotism being more or less the state religion over there!

I think part of my shock at the car thing comes from the fact that we both sold our cars when we moved to France, so I haven't really been near a car for almost a year. Which has been really nice.

So they do ice with custard?? What a weird idea. I want to try some now

[used_songs]

My great uncle always called grits Georgia Ice Cream. I love grits - the best breakfast in the world is grits and migas and eaten in the early hours of morning when it's still dark outside.

When V and I road tripped to Graceland, we ate at a Waffle House. Halfway through the meal, a waitress wandered out of the kitchen and mentioned, "The restaurant is on fire." We fled in a leisurely manner.

I really enjoyed this post and I'm so glad y'all had fun.

[wwidsith]

Brilliant - ‘We fled in a leisurely manner.’ My favourite sentence of the week.

I so want a den like Elvis's.

[used_songs]

Is the den the room with the rock wall and the green shag carpet? I didn't enjoy the tour because we were herded through so quickly, but I loved the cracked out aesthetic.