Our summer 2018 trip to France.
Since I have room in my bag after gifting what I bring from Canada—typically clothes, sweets, maple syrup and a few North American goodies—I do a bit of shopping in France.
I feel pleasantly numb and it makes me smile. My evil plan worked—a four-hour night’s sleep to disconnect from reality. Take that, stupid brain!
I’m not going to complain about the influence of American pop culture in France. After all, why not? However, I hate the fact that many French decision-makers are seeing America as a blueprint for success.
I can’t stand these last few days when it’s almost over but not quite yet. I don’t know who I am anymore, nor where I belong or where I want to be.
It’s funny how exotic French can sound when you’re no longer immersed in the culture. Here are a few expressions and words I rediscover when I go to France.
Suddenly, there were riot police officers walking behind me, in front of me and blocking side streets.
“Mademoiselle? You can sit down. Oh, it’s funny, you have goosebumps… is it too cold in there?”
What kind of art moves you the most? What’s the creative discipline you enjoy best? Literature, performing arts, visual arts?
Even if the world was collapsing around them, French people would first clean their plate and finish their drink.
For once it’s not the noise level that grabs my attention but red and blue lights flashing into the living room, and by extension, into the bedroom where I’m falling asleep on my book.
Mosques and other places of worship, even Nantes’ many churches, aren’t usually part of the itinerary. After all, we’re a bunch of atheists.
Note to self, an Anger mystery to solve—why are they so many statues of naked women scattered around the city?
We bought a train pass. First stop? Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, 80 kilometres south of Nantes, on the Atlantic coast.
Se loger (“to find a place to live”) is a real issue for many French people.
Maybe that’s why I noticed her. She was standing alone in the street and she didn’t seem like the kind of person who would stand alone in an empty street.
Wherever you are in the world, whatever your background is, I’m sure you are familiar with the hard-to-define but easy-to-understand concept of family dynamics.
His terse reply caught me off guard. It was too early in the day to explain a fish seller that his job description literally involved selling.
I’m pretty sure that the optimum beach weather doesn’t include dark clouds, wind and rain.
The water boat operates as part of the Tan urban transit network that also includes buses and trams so the ride is cheap and convenient.
It was close to 11 p.m. I grabbed my keys and rushed downstairs. I counted eight police cars, plus firefighters and a few unmarked cars.
One of the best “playgrounds” in Nantes is free—it’s the Château des Ducs de Bretagne, the former Castle of the Dukes of Brittany.
It’s fascinating how the weather can change the mood of a scene in a matter of hours or minutes.
When I’m done eavesdropping on people and when the streets are quiet, I read the little notes humans leave to each other.
