Gelée royale and drafts and microbes, oh my!

This is a fun post about 3 major facets of French health to be aware of.

1) -Gelée Royale-

2)-Drafts-

3)-Microbes-

Oh Gelée Royale you strange thing that has infiltrated every health conscious French persons' home.  The goji berry of the French household is this prized little package, basically the white stuff that bee larvae live in in the bee hive.  Nutritious, body cleansing, immunity boosting, skin clearing, metabolism kick starting larvae yolk.  It's everywhere in drinks,vitamins, shampoo, health products and of couse fresh, found in small canister like containers refrigerated.  Some local farms that produce honey also sell the royal jelly. 

Here's a lady talking about why she likes it: 

http://www.bee-pollen-buzz.com/health-benefits-of-royal-jelly.html

This one was a shocker for me because of see how much people like to air things out over here: I mean even up here in the north where I I forget where the sun is and it rains for days we always try to dry our clothes outside.  It's also common practice to open the windows of your house each day to 'change the air', which if you have read a certain magazine we all know that keeps you healthy.  Well we were traveling we moved our stuff into the apartment room, it's stuffy and hot so I immediately go for the window.  Seeing another window on the far side of the room my basic American instincts told me to think 'yes this will create a pleasant cross breeze, enabling this room to be fresh in minutes'.  Seconds later my companions go running I hear two quick clacks and the windows were shut and locked.  The complaint 'they were taking in "courant d'aire' aka "a draft".  Ok I thought, too much chilly air I get it.  This reminded me of the French pet peeve of closing all doors in houses and also how houses over here are traditionally compartmentalized (no central hall you walk from one room to the next) and it hit me it's a thing they do not like a lot of moving air.  In other circumstances as well, In a "I'm gonna stay in the car it's drafty out there kinda way", a slight breeze in a restaurant, bicycling too fast or the breeze coming off the ocean can be viable excuses for absence.  

Too much, waayy too much

Microbes this is my favorite.  Basically it is another way to say germs (literally microorganisms) but it's much more colorful than that, by the way 'bacterie' can be the good stuff also found in yogurt and cheese.  Ohh microbes are everywhere but not in the 'common sense' places you will find them.  So yes, cheese/eggs/cooked food can be left out all day(s) if covered however shoes are to be left in the hall closet.  (Not saying this isn't smart).  Have wet hair?  Well those microbes are gonna eat you alive.  Wear a tie?  It's crawling with those little creatures.  Get a weird feeling when you walk into a building yep safe to say you can blame it on the microbes.  Men's ties?  Crawling with the little things.  The foreigner in a new country?  It's okay you'll get used to the new microbes soon.  I kinda love how microbes are conceptualized as little monsters staring at you making faces as they shift about slinking on the nearest surface.