Excusez-moi monsieur, plus de pain, s'il vous plaît

Tonight, at dinner, we ran out of bread. Quite the investigation took place to see who exactly forgot to get some more. As the french spoken at the table gained speed, it became impossible for me to understand; I zoned out, and began to think, "why do french people care so much about bread, anyway? And why, after only two weeks, am I (slightly) outraged at the shortage as well?"  As it turns out, bread has had quite the influence on French history.

Due to bad weather, and poor regulations, France faced a severe bread shortage in the late 1780s. Although already a staple food, prices went through the roof due to the shortage of grain. Therefore (of course), white bread became a privilege to only the rich.

Because of the lack of a staple food item, starvation hit France. The country became hangry (hungry/angry), and eventually revolution began. Once source tells me that the storming of the Bastille was for political reasons, as well as in search for bread, but who really knows. When things began to calm down, lower classes were able to have bread again, but the bakers were allowed to make only a certain type of bread called pain d'egalite (bread of equality). This bread was not the pure white bread that was well known before, but a mixture of three-quarters wheat and one-quarter rye- the horror! (and to think that rye bread is more expensive now...).

Among all of the other things he needed to prove, when Napoleon took power for himself, he took control of the bread. The making of bread was to be guided by strict rules. These rules stated first and foremost that only the best of the best bakers were allowed to bake (say that 10x fast), only a specific set of exact ingredients were to be used, and a precise baking style was to be followed to a T. As if that was not good enough, later, a specific kneading style was to be followed, and the bread was to be shaped into a long, skinny form. Here was born the baguette (applause emoji).

On a separate note, I stumbled accross this wonderful fad... baguetting. 

"Baguetting is a photo fad in which people photograph themselves while holding a baguette bread in substitute of everyday objects, such as household goods or food products, for comedic effect." (direct quote from the website linked below.) 

I have attached some, but all photo credit goes to the following site (check it out): http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/baguetting