This past fall I received an e-mail from a student traveling in France. There was a photo attached and the mail announced it would be a shot of cows eating "glass."

Now that's a rare shot, I thought, and scrolled down with fair enthusiasm. I envisioned a barnyard of Holsteins snacking on champagne flutes. An attraction so compelling it would soon push other French sights — like the Eiffel Tower, Versailles or Carla Bruni — out from the limelight.

But no. The mail window revealed a loping hillside with cows munching upon "grass," not glass. Not a bad photo — although in the end I might have preferred Carla Bruni.