French Food-i-tude

On a recent trip to France, I finally got the answer to a question that has been bugging me for years: in a country that serves the best bread in the world, why can't you ever get butter with it? Recently, a French friend explained to me that to eat butter with your bread at dinner is considered "vulgar" because the bread is meant to sop up the juices or sauces of the food. Only children get butter with their bread, and only Americans eat bread as an appetizer.