Hillfam Safari: Vive la France, baby!

Did I happen to mention I'm in FRANCE? As in EUROPE, people. A place I've never been to until this week. It goes without saying, then, that the French have had a LOT to carry on their collective shoulders, as I may tend to judge not only the town and the country, but the entire continent on my experiences here. So what if it's wrong to do that?

*How come when something great happens, or I see something completely wonderful, my first thought is, "Man, I really do have to get to Italy?"

*The Chinese may be gunking up the air and the water, but man do they have some clean streets (dog poop and peeing babies notwithstanding). HINT HINT Paris.

*Things are closed on Sundays. I mean really really closed. As in, don't even think about buying a cough drop. Unless you can buy it at a cafe, because there are at least 7 on every block and they're all open. A question like, "Where can I buy a SIM card" or "Can I get some batteries" will result in a blank stare.

*Speaking of cafes...are the French either genetically programmed to say no to irresistable breads and cheeses? Or are they genetically programmed to somehow avoid the pounds that I know I'd pack on with a boulangerie on every corner. Karen suggested that you walk it off more there, but the fact that there are cafes and boulangeries every 10 feet seems to negate that. And don't get all Nancy Reagan with the "just say no" thing because I happen to know that I am genetically programmed to be unable to utter that word when confronted with cheese and bread and Diet Coke. "Enable" is not a dirty word in the same way say, "exercise" is. And, appropos of absolutely nothing, I think gold money is totally cool. So are gargoyles.

*Why is everything so charming? Is American charming? Really charming, not charming as an affected state, like Poulsbo being a Norwegian community or colonial Williamsburg or Balboa with what must be a bajillion codes to keep it looking like that. You know, just organically naturally charming.

*Damn, it's expensive. Our hotel room had enough room for 2 suitcases stacked. And 2 beds. It was....um...cozy. You can't believe what I paid. Ouch! And the stairs--I don't mind carrying up my big suitecase 3 flights at all. It's a bit trickier when said stairs are actually spiral and are just as wide as the suitcase itself. Hmmmm--how many times do I buck that bag up those stairs to earn another Camembert/chevre baguette?

*While I speak neither French nor Chinese, it's possible to impress a Chinese woman on the subway with my ability to read the subway stops. It's equally possible to probably insult all the French people on the same subway with my wretched pronunciation when I do actually speak out loud.

*I miss small towns. Green fields. People that know each other's history and business. Quiet places that are actually people-free. Space.

*People here take history with a casual air. It's no big deal that there are 2 Roman sarcophagi with bones in them in the cellar of the town hall. Or that the house we're staying in is over 275 years old and has beams held together with wooden pins. Or that those beams were clearly used somewhere before this house. Castle ruins down the road? Oh, just part of the scenery.

*I will NEVER want a small car. There, I admit it. I will always want an SUV even though I am spewing toxins right and left. My current car would not make some of the corners in this village.