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© 2006 Virtual Steve
I first encountered muesli in the form of Kellogg’s Müeslix back when I was a teenager, and I finally got to taste the real thing when I first traveled to Germany and Switzerland in 1992. Based on those first experiences, I always thought of muesli as a (relatively) healthy breakfast option. I mean …
whole grains + fruit + nuts = pretty good for you, right?
Twenty years later, after coming to live in France, I have rediscovered this most European of breakfasts. But something is different this time around. Sometime between 1992 and 2013, someone apparently had the brilliant idea of replacing the dried fruit and nuts with lots and lots of …
chocolate and caramel!
Now, I don’t know if it was really French ingenuity that was behind this transformation, but France is the land of pain au chocolat so — at least for now — I’m giving them the credit.
To paraphrase Max von Sydow from that classic Müeslix commercial:
“If breakfast were as it was meant to be,
it would be a centuries-old balance of …
desserts.”
© 2013 Samuel Michael Bell, all rights reserved
je parle américain 
This did make me laugh, and I swear I would eat it if I didn’t care about weighing 500 lbs! Ha! I have never seen so much chocolate for breakfast in my life as here in France….I still get a good giggle in the cereal aisle. 🙂
I’m glad it’s not just me. Even after living here for three years, I’m always shocked by how sweet breakfast ALWAYS is here. And you’re so right about the cereal aisle … it’s like I’m constantly asking: “Where are the ‘adult’ cereals? Do grown-ups in France really eat the French version of Cookie Crisp and Cap’n Crunch every day?” I need to write more about this!
Oh, yes, please do!
How funny you would write about this! After three years in France, I still wonder how people manage to work until noon after only a tartine à la confiture. And my b-friend’s family think I’m weird having cheese or almond butter with my tartine!
I really do think I need to write about breakfast in France. There’s so much material, especially for an American who’s used to the choice of sweet v. savory breakfast. À suivre …