Drinks on me

I know that some of you may be thinking that I've forgotten that I'm living in France and not in Italy.  While it's true that I prefer Italian nouns (people, places and things...just a reminder from the English teacher), there is one thing that I find better in Paris than Venice.  Free water.  Not canals of water....those are actually quite nice in both places.  I'm talking about drinking water.  When you ask for water in a restaurant in France you say "une carafe d'eau, s'il vous plait" and they bring you a pitcher of tap water.  Actually, it's not always a pitcher.   Sometimes it's a decorative bottle.  Sometimes it's a carafe.  And sometimes they just refill  an old wine bottle with water.  That's my favorite and a tradition I might bring home with me.   A French tradition, don't forget.  Because it doesn't happen in Italy.

A perfectly soggy uncut pizza for 5 euro instead of 10 euro?   Nessun problema.  A gelato cone with whipped cream (brilliant idea, I think) for 1,50 euro instead of 4 euro?   Sicuramente.  But free water?  It seems to be out of the question.  At least, it's out of the comfort level of a question that I want to ask.  In Italy it's actually cheaper to drink Diet Coke than water.  Whereas in France, it's cheaper to drink wine than Diet Coke.  And since I still don't like wine, it's even cheaper (and more fun) to order free water and  take pictures of the pitchers.