Sand in French is "sable".And if he was French?
sable
sand, sandy, shortbread cookie, sand, shortbread. Learn more in the Cambridge French-English Dictionary.
dictionary.cambridge.org
The joke in French would be culinary in nature.
When we take the quote "I hate sand, it get's everywhere"... maybe there's a French Cookie Monster joke in that...
... and that's how the cookie crumbles.