Eatin' On the Cheap: Part Deux

My friend Ed commented in my posting about financial woes about his student days in Paris, eating baguettes, cheese, and jambon for a cheap meal. I've probably dispensed this advice a thousand times in the past, and not being a hypocrite, I've been doing it myself - albeit courtesy of the "breakfast buffet" at the otherwise nil-service Hotel Savoy.

I start each morning with aforementioned baguette, cheese, and ham, and maybe some coffee and orange juice and yogurt, to boot. This certainly beats the "contintental breakfast" made up of shitty coffee and Svenhard's shrink-wrapped Danishes at your run-of-the-mill Travelodge.

Today, my new boss introduced me to another cheap thrill: The company cafeteria.

I heretofore hadn't known we had a company cafeteria - or the cantine as it's called here. But apparently, my badge works as some sort of debit card at this wondrous oasis of cheap food. Cheap being the operative word, as everyone told me today. It's certainly no Tour d'Argent, but I'm not complaining: Endive salad, mustard-crusted ham, farafalle, ratatouille, and a drink for less than €5.

I have the sneaking suspicion that all this is subsidized by the government through some pinko commie program that represents a significant portion of the budget, alongside cheap public transit, fantastic parks, and hardly-any-copay healthcare. (As opposed to - you know - wars, faith-based initiatives, and congressional hookers.) In that case, viva la revolucion! I'll be in Montmartre's Place de Tertre buying a crappy painting of Che Guevara in no time!