One of the most interesting parts of this experience so far has been the selection, purchase, preparation, and consumption of food and drink. Every week I will write a brief description of one particular food, drink, meal, recipe, or restaurant that I think is especially interesting for whatever reason. It may be because it's uniquely French, or because it surprised me in some way, or just because it's different. When I get a few of these together, I'll create a separate page pointing to them all. But everyone gets so much cheese that there's plenty of calcium to go around.
Normal milk is pasteurized by flash heating it and then cooling it immediately.
UHT milk is heated to a higher temperature and kept there longer, which essentially sterilizes it. Unopened, it will keep unrefrigerated on shelves for weeks. Opened, it takes much longer to go bad than regular milk. The bottles are sold individually or in six-packs. We keep one or two bottles in the fridge, and the rest on a shelf until needed.