I haven't been to France in two and a half years. It's a long time. Too long, but life got in the way and I didn't make it a priority to go to the motherland. I now regret not making the effort because as long as the virus is around, I wouldn't fly to visit my parents. One thing I surely miss from France is proper pastries. Sure, you can find good cakes and viennoiseries in some cafés in Dublin but you can't get your hands on the kind of stuff you find in Paris: picture-perfect pastries that taste as good as they look.