Articles tagged with: Snapshots of France
Paris By Night
Sunset is around 10:30 pm in France right now and with the summer heat, we had plenty of time and motivation to roam around Paris at night. I have my favorite spots, they are not so original but they are lovely: le Louvre, along the Seine, the Trocadéro, the Eiffel Tower…
Gardens of Versailles
Once we reached the doors of Versailles, we realized we were in trouble. The lineup was so long I couldn’t even find where it started. I asked how long it would take us to get tickets: at least 90 minutes. And to actually get into the Palace, we had to queue another 90 minutes. Feng walked around a bit as we tried to assess how to make the best out of the situation. I looked up at the Palace and I saw people on top of each other by the open windows. No way I’m queuing at least 3 hours for a rush visit.
Sights of Paris (Part II)
We got extremely lucky with the hotel the first couple of days: we had booked online again from London with Expedia (which really should be paying me for all the times I mentioned them!). The hotel turned out to be a three stars renovated building in a quiet street, and we had the biggest bathroom I had never seen.
Sights of Paris (Part I)
After London, Paris. Don’t hate me for saying it, but at first sight, it felt like going from Peru to Bolivia.
I have never liked Paris. Go ahead, call me a little spoiled French girl, I’m used to it. Saying you don’t like Paris usually gets hate look from people who are dreaming to visit the city of lights, and brings contempt from other French people. They shrug at me, saying: « oui mais bon… c’est Paris quand même ! ».
A French Market
There are two big markets a week in Nantes, and they are both very busy. French do love food after all.
Fruits and vegetables are not always cheaper than at the supermarket but people have their “petites habitudes” (customs) and they enjoy shopping at the same stalls weeks after weeks. They joke, taste the fruits, complain about the price and happily bag a few pounds of this and that. So-and-so has the best meat, so-and-so has the freshest bread etc.
A French Castle
We all have pick-up lines — mine was that I grew up nearby a castle. You know, so that North Americans could fantasize about my “oh-so-French” background. Nah, just kidding. It’s just that Nantes happens to have a castle in the center and since the city is fairly compact, well, downtown is very residential so about 50,000 of us “grew up by a castle”.
A French Protest
Contrary to popular belief, French generally don’t just demonstrate for the sake of it. However, if protests have a main focus point, they also embrace a few broader issues or concerns. Case in point, this demonstration was initiated by civil servants’ unions because the government is trying to push for a pension reform to raise the retirement age to 62.
The French and the World Cup
In case you didn’t know it, France is out. Dehors, rien à voir. The country which won the World Cup in 1998 was eliminated very early in this year’s World Cup.
French don’t seem surprised nor particularly angry but rather generally accepting. It doesn’t mean they aren’t complaining though. The loss of the French team, “les bleus” is seen as another symptom of how bad France is doing these days, both politically and economically.
