Last Riffs for France Trip

Well, because of our frenetic pace, I did not get to write many riffs. Virtually every day I was up at 6am, working and then blogging the trip. Then, we were so busy during the day there wasn’t time to do much additional writing. So, this post will have my random thoughts on a variety of topics.

France
It’s easy to see why it is the most visited country in the world. The history, the natural beauty, the art, the food, the wine, and everything else (except maybe the language). Literally you could take turns going to different parts of Italy, Spain, and France every year and it would never get old.

We still have to hit Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the South of France (Provence in particular) at some point. Oh, and maybe back to the Alps.

Anyone wanting to go to France for the first time would do well to follow our itinerary – it was a great mix of Paris, Normandy, Loire Valley, and the Alps.

The French
Despite my occasional jokes about the French, they do not live down to their reputation. Just as I found as a college student in 1984 traveling on $20 a day, the majority of them are quite nice, friendly, and not perturbed that you don’t speak their language. Yes, we found a couple of them to be annoyingly condescending, but two bad apples does not spoil the whole bunch, unless you are making Calavados (trust me, that joke very funny if you get the reference! Seriously, you should be cracking up right now).

I understand that most of the people we dealt with are in the tourism industry, and thus should be nice to foreigners. . .but first of all, they were very nice, especially at the Paris hotel, the Loire Valley hotels, the Les Granges de en Haut, and, of course, our D-Day guide Francis. But even the people in the patisseries, fromageries, and charceuteries (we need more "ries" in the US) were great, even if neither of us could speak the same language.

The French Language
I’m terrible at foreign languages. Heck, English is hard enough for me. Anytime we could read a sign and make most of it out was a huge success. But, there are also plenty of times we were driving along and I had absolutely no idea what the important sign said.

Also, I’d walk into a shop and say something in halting French. Usually something like "deux baguettes." They would then launch into a long sentence. The stone look on my face clearly communicated that I had no idea what they were saying, so they either switched to English or to rudimentary pointing and French. Thank goodness cash registers show the amount owed, or I would still be frozen in place at a patisserie trying to figure out how to pay.

At a gas station on the road to the Alps, I had to hold up fingers, and the attendant wrote down the number to make sure we were both saying "13" to each other. It all worked, I’m pretty sure.

Unsolicited Hints to the French
On your roadway toll machines (of which there are many and they cost tons) and parking machines, indicate which way the credit cards should go in.

Come up with actual street addresses for locations, not just the name of the street.

Make detours clear when you close a road (well, a tunnel).

On the gas pumps, make it clear which button to push to start the gas flowing. I had to randomly guess each time, and my gesture to world peace was when I helped a confused Albanian (probably one of the mobsters from "Taken") figure out how to fill his pump. Now I know a guy who knows a guy in Europe.

Open more wine stores in Paris. Because, you know, France and wine seem to go together well, but only if you can find it!

Cut the price of food!  Everything in France is expensive.

Things France/the French Do Better Than Us
Traffic circles, although I wish we had kept count – had to have driven through hundreds. Literally. Anyhow, faster than traffic lights, and safer than crossroads.

Pedestrians have the right of way at striped crossings. Peds should always have that right of way.

130 kmph speed limits on the highways – 81 mph, need I say more?

Breakfast. This morning, back home, Julia came downstairs wanting to know where her French breakfast is. After 44 days in England and seven in France, she didn’t ask for an English breakfast.

Money.  Very few things are by pennies, so that's one less hassle.  I think I prefer one (and two) Euro coins to individual dollar bills.  It's also smart to make the money different sizes and colors (for those with vision problems).
 
Children under 18 are free to most places, and students are a reduced rate.  I know they are trying to encourage people to have children because of the terrible birth rate, and it is nice not to be penalized financially for having kids, especially since they'll be footing the bill for old folks.

Random Observations
They grow a lot of corn in France, but not once did I see it being served. Is corn solely grown for feeding livestock? There’s a lot to be said for corn on the cob. . .give it a try.

It’s always fun driving on a country road and a car is coming the other direction. I’m surprised my side view mirror didn’t get ripped off. Some of the cars actually slowed down.

To me, the most amazing part of going to the soaring cathedrals is just how they were built 500-1000 years ago. The amount of work to move the stone, do the math to make it work, to carve the ornate statutes and gargoyles, and make something rise so high into the air is amazing.

Given a choice of only one, I’d take the Musee d’Orsay over the Louvre. I know, heresy, but I gotta say. . .

Among the best meals we had were the ones at the Chalet that Carol made. Not fancy, but fresh food consumed on the balcony with amazing views and affordable prices were memorable. Plus, two hour dinners get old after a bit. That’s not to knock French restaurants –we had a lot of great meals, even in places I expected them to mail it in. But sometimes simpler is best.

Traveling for 13 days is a good test of the family. While we each had our moments (mine was in a tunnel heading the wrong direction in Paris!), in general everyone was in great spirits, particularly after we got over the jet lag. I’ve been blogging these trips since our 2007 trip to Italy, and it’s great fun to go back and be reminded of all we saw and all we experienced.

It's nice to sleep with open windows and no screens.  Not sure I saw a mosquito the whole time.

Where have all the squirrels gone?  Long time passing.