Lactose-intolerant while abroad

I am the unfortunate lactose-intolerant person living in Europe, but that does not stop me from trying all of the French cuisine.
Don't get me wrong, I often lay down at night regretting most of what I ate that day. But that is not going to keep me from participating in cheese tastings, getting ice cream cones on the beach of the Mediterranean, trying authentic French Onion Soup, or eating a croque-monsieur at a cafe. I try to convince myself that the delights of the moment are greater than the pains later.

Although there has always been one dairy product I have never been fond of, and that is milk. And if there was any way to make milk even less appealing to me, it would be this:

Unrefrigerated milk

The French do not refrigerate many items that Americans believe require chilling, such as eggs, fruit, and unopened milk. My host family's refrigerator is very small in size in comparison to our giant appliances in the US, so even if they did chill items such as these, they simply would not fit inside.

I am rather amused by this observation, because contrary to American belief, these items will not be ruined if left out on the counter rather than tightly sealed and stored in the refrigerator. Looks like we need to loosen up a bit in the States.