FIRE!

No, this title does not mean that a have encountered any fires in France.

I would, however, like to note the fact that French people do not believe in smoke detectors.

Why would those be of any use?

Well, yesterday my house filled with smoke because something burned. But there was a lot of smoke. And no beeping smoke alarm. I found this to be pretty bizarre.

Luckily, my house did not burn down.

But it's funny how you take some things for granted. For instance, when I smelled burning and realized there was smoke rising up into my room, I immediately thought that the silence was bizarre. I had never realized before that in my 21 years of life in the USA, my brain has been programmed that smoke makes noise. When something burns in my kitchen at home in the States, the smoke alarm goes off. But when something burns in my kitchen in France, it is greeted by silence.

It's funny to realize how many little things could be different about life in France. On the other hand, I wonder if more people die in fires in France because there are no smoke detectors....