Cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream
It has been three weeks now that I have been in France, although it seems much much longer, and I have come up with a few things that I have notice so far in my stay here.
First off, I must say that the women in France are beautiful. Young women, middle aged women, and old women, they all are beautiful. It seems that even if they aren’t beautiful naturally, they try to look good with their clothing and make-up, and must succeed. There are of course exceptions to that statement, but in general, they have North
American women beat. I find that women in North America in general, don’t try to look good when they are out; they think jogging clothing is good enough. Here, even going grocery shopping, you won’t find anyone where baggy sweat pants.
Here’s one for the French Canadian’s…what is written on stop signs in France?
Stop, of course.
On the topic of driving, I am starting to really enjoy driving over here. You won’t find giant SUV’s driven by moron’s yakking on their cell phones while watching the latest music video on the DVD player in the dash. Driving is taken seriously, and people actually learn to drive properly. They may seem crazy and erratic by North American standards, but to me they are driving cars like they are meant to be driven. And the highways are much better in quality and they seem to lead to where you need to go. I am so going to hate driving back home after this.
The weather. What can I say? It is currently 38C outside in the sun, and only one morning with a good rain storm. (Lightning so close you could feel the static in the air) And the sunsets out at the airport are amazing! I bring my camera, but if I were to take photos of all the sunsets, I wouldn’t get any work done! The heat does make for exhausting work when you are busy in it, but it also makes the swimming pool feel that much better!
Oops! Almost forgot to mention the food! First I think it is funny how all my years of bi-lingualism in Canada prepared me for grocery shopping in France. I can read most of the labels!!! Thank you Government of Canada! Next I want to mention the quality of eating out. When you go to a restaurant and the waiter actually cares about what he is doing, and does his best to make sure that your meal is going to be the best that you have ever eaten, you know you have something good going on. Any of the decent restaurants that I have been to have been superb, and you walk away feeling like you got your money’s worth and then some. And the desserts! I have been so good, and haven’t had much of the French pastries, but it has been hard to say no. The few that I have had where amazing! The best was at a restaurant at the local casino, some cake with a peach that had been soaked (skinless) in raspberry coulees (I probably spelled that wrong), then served with fresh strawberries and raspberry coulees drizzled over it. Incredible is not enough to describe it!
There are of course things that are not as nice here. I have found that the French are dirty people. Not themselves, but their environment. Garbage everywhere! Driving down the road, there is garbage all over the place, people throwing stuff out of their cars, people dropping trash on the sidewalk, and just general filth. Even the guys I work with, who are from this area but have seen other parts of the world, complain about the filth. This is such a beautiful area, with amazing old architecture, and history, marred by common filth and lack of respect for their own world.
And speaking of architecture, I am in photography heaven! I go out for three hours and fire off 50-100 photos, and really haven’t seen anything interesting! I could spend forever photographing the old churches and cathedrals, the old narrow streets and all the little stone sculptures everywhere. And it may seem odd, but I have taken a fascination to photographing the old doors and doorways in some of the older areas of town. But then again, I am a bit odd already.
There are a few things that I will want to be doing in the next little while. I want to go back to Marseille and go and see the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, and the other giant cathedral that is near the waterfront. I want to go back to Avignon to see the Palais de le Pope (that could easily be a few hundred photos), and I want to go in search of lavender fields. The lavender fields are in bloom right now and from photos and paintings that I have seen, it is definitely something that I must see. The photographer in me says “Go!” I might try and convince Colin that he wants to go looking for them tonight after he gets home. If not, I will try and get up early tomorrow, do my laundry and then take the car and see if I can find them before Claus has to go to work.
I just had a thought; I need to get some photos of the guys that I work with so that I can let everyone see them (so you can put faces to names). I would also like a record of being at work here and the people that I have spent my time with.
I think that is enough rambling for one day. I might sneak off to the lobby later to sit in some air conditioning (yup, I must be Canadian, still prefer the cold), and write some post cards. Then, it will be pool time. The sun won’t be so direct and I will be able to spend a bit more time in the water.
Hope you are all doing well, and enjoying your summer. Take care!
First off, I must say that the women in France are beautiful. Young women, middle aged women, and old women, they all are beautiful. It seems that even if they aren’t beautiful naturally, they try to look good with their clothing and make-up, and must succeed. There are of course exceptions to that statement, but in general, they have North
American women beat. I find that women in North America in general, don’t try to look good when they are out; they think jogging clothing is good enough. Here, even going grocery shopping, you won’t find anyone where baggy sweat pants.
Here’s one for the French Canadian’s…what is written on stop signs in France?
Stop, of course.
On the topic of driving, I am starting to really enjoy driving over here. You won’t find giant SUV’s driven by moron’s yakking on their cell phones while watching the latest music video on the DVD player in the dash. Driving is taken seriously, and people actually learn to drive properly. They may seem crazy and erratic by North American standards, but to me they are driving cars like they are meant to be driven. And the highways are much better in quality and they seem to lead to where you need to go. I am so going to hate driving back home after this.
The weather. What can I say? It is currently 38C outside in the sun, and only one morning with a good rain storm. (Lightning so close you could feel the static in the air) And the sunsets out at the airport are amazing! I bring my camera, but if I were to take photos of all the sunsets, I wouldn’t get any work done! The heat does make for exhausting work when you are busy in it, but it also makes the swimming pool feel that much better!
Oops! Almost forgot to mention the food! First I think it is funny how all my years of bi-lingualism in Canada prepared me for grocery shopping in France. I can read most of the labels!!! Thank you Government of Canada! Next I want to mention the quality of eating out. When you go to a restaurant and the waiter actually cares about what he is doing, and does his best to make sure that your meal is going to be the best that you have ever eaten, you know you have something good going on. Any of the decent restaurants that I have been to have been superb, and you walk away feeling like you got your money’s worth and then some. And the desserts! I have been so good, and haven’t had much of the French pastries, but it has been hard to say no. The few that I have had where amazing! The best was at a restaurant at the local casino, some cake with a peach that had been soaked (skinless) in raspberry coulees (I probably spelled that wrong), then served with fresh strawberries and raspberry coulees drizzled over it. Incredible is not enough to describe it!
There are of course things that are not as nice here. I have found that the French are dirty people. Not themselves, but their environment. Garbage everywhere! Driving down the road, there is garbage all over the place, people throwing stuff out of their cars, people dropping trash on the sidewalk, and just general filth. Even the guys I work with, who are from this area but have seen other parts of the world, complain about the filth. This is such a beautiful area, with amazing old architecture, and history, marred by common filth and lack of respect for their own world.
And speaking of architecture, I am in photography heaven! I go out for three hours and fire off 50-100 photos, and really haven’t seen anything interesting! I could spend forever photographing the old churches and cathedrals, the old narrow streets and all the little stone sculptures everywhere. And it may seem odd, but I have taken a fascination to photographing the old doors and doorways in some of the older areas of town. But then again, I am a bit odd already.
There are a few things that I will want to be doing in the next little while. I want to go back to Marseille and go and see the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, and the other giant cathedral that is near the waterfront. I want to go back to Avignon to see the Palais de le Pope (that could easily be a few hundred photos), and I want to go in search of lavender fields. The lavender fields are in bloom right now and from photos and paintings that I have seen, it is definitely something that I must see. The photographer in me says “Go!” I might try and convince Colin that he wants to go looking for them tonight after he gets home. If not, I will try and get up early tomorrow, do my laundry and then take the car and see if I can find them before Claus has to go to work.
I just had a thought; I need to get some photos of the guys that I work with so that I can let everyone see them (so you can put faces to names). I would also like a record of being at work here and the people that I have spent my time with.
I think that is enough rambling for one day. I might sneak off to the lobby later to sit in some air conditioning (yup, I must be Canadian, still prefer the cold), and write some post cards. Then, it will be pool time. The sun won’t be so direct and I will be able to spend a bit more time in the water.
Hope you are all doing well, and enjoying your summer. Take care!
posted by Travelcedric at 06:41
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