Salute to the Salads

In my recent trip to France, I noticed people eating large amounts of food. The funniest part was that they were all physically fit and shapely. I rarely came across an obese person on the streets of Paris.
I was curious and decided to watch their eating habits. At Bistros, restaurants, Mac Donalds, I found them ordering a large salad first. The portion size was huge with bright coloured lettuce, rocket and vegetable strips. The salad dressing was a simple Olive oil and vinegar mix and not the sinfully rich mayonnaise thingy offered in other countries that I have visited. People chewed the crunchy leaves and vegetables heartily before they swallowed it. There were miniscule amounts of meat/fish which accompanied the salads along with a small portion of baguette. This was followed by black coffee.
At Mac, I found men and and women ordering a couple of burgers and fries each, over and above the salad, during lunch time. These people were probably the working types who may or may not have had a proper breakfast. I hurried after them to see how they were commuting. To my surprise, I found almost all of them walk briskly for about thirty minutes to reach their buildings which probably was their work-place. I found myself puffing and panting as I could not keep pace with them.
At Dinner, people ordered dishes which had lots of uncooked vegetables and leaves as their first course. The wines that we had ordered came with an accompaniment of cheese cubes and vegetable sticks in a bed of lettuce.
My point is that the French eat sensibly and burn their calories smartly. Even a cookery show that I avidly watched on the french TV, showed a man cooking passionately with hardly five minutes of stove use. Out of the twenty minutes of the program, the host spent ten minutes cutting the vegetables very artistically, another ten minutes arranging the salad leaves, fruits and vegetables and finally five minutes on cooking the sauce! The end product was a delight to see and taste!
None of the french that I came across looked tired or sick or ugly. They were all very well-dressed (Not expensively dressed) each with his or her own style statement. It was a treat for the eyes. The cabbies were extremely friendly, helpful and the most surprising part was their knowledge of French history!
More on French cuisine later but do feel free to write in your views.