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An American Girl in Paris
Ellemeno:
:) I'm thinking of my sister now, and differences we've had while traveling.
I remember you having concern about food allergies before you left.
Kelda:
The 2 sayings
blood is thiker than water and you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family are both tottally true but totally at odds at the same time.
I love my sister very much but I swear most of the time I could wring her neck.
delalluvia:
Stereotypes of the French - my thoughts:
The French do not have a sense of humor about themselves and America.
While eating at "An American Diner in Paris", my sister was speaking with her policeman friend who is a complete Anglophile or Americanphile. He loves everything about the U.S. In a kidding tone, she asked if they had French fries in France.
Her: Oh, but I guess you don't call them "French".
Him: No, we call them "Freedom" fries! :laugh:
The French are very fashionable
Not that I saw. They dress no better or worse than we do here in the States. Though the following topic does make a difference in the dress of some folks here in the U.S. versus France (Ok, I saw no one in tie-dye, but that's an American thing) :-\
The French are thin
Hmmm, yes they are. I was there a solid 7 days and saw no one who was heavy. Every woman I saw of any age was thinner than me, and I'm not a porker by any means. No man of any age I saw had a gut or was fat. My sister stood out like a dinosaur. We crowded onto the Metro at times - there are little fold-down seats if you can't get a regular seat - and at one point a lady wanted to sit next to me. I asked my sister to scoot over, to make room, but she couldn't. She was already overflowing her seat and crowding mine. I ended up practically sitting on my sister's leg so this woman had the room to sit down. :-\
I know portly French people must exist somewhere, but I never saw any.
The French are rude
Not that I experienced. Of course, except for getting lost at one point, we hung out mostly in the touristy areas, most everyone we spoke with, saw or met was very civil and polite and at times, downright nice. I had people in the Metro turn to ask me something - I must have blended in well {proud grin} - I had a couple of French teenagers tap me on the shoulder and let me know in French that I was unknowingly dragging the tail of my coat on the street. People smiled at me, were helpful and looked like they enjoyed my attempts at speaking their language. Maybe now that I think of it, it was my colorful collection of berets that I wore with every outfit that amused them. ;)
An artsy shot of me in beret walking the Place Des Vosges - the rain is romantic:
injest:
cool picture, Del!
I am so glad you had a good time. (and it does seem like you did!)
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: delalluvia on October 22, 2007, 10:03:03 pm ---The French are thin
Hmmm, yes they are. I was there a solid 7 days and saw no one who was heavy. Every woman I saw of any age was thinner than me, and I'm not a porker by any means. No man of any age I saw had a gut or was fat.
--- End quote ---
Same in Italy (where I just was). No overweight people, with the possible exception of a few old nonna (grandma) types. My theory is, it's the exercise. Driving is really tricky, so people walk and use bikes a lot. And everywhere there are stairs. Our apartments in Rome were up three and five flights, no elevator. In Positano, a village built on a cliff, it was 100 steps either up or down just to our place -- the beach was down another 400 or so. I saw elderly people charging up and down flights that left me and my traveling companions, two of whom are triathletes, gasping for breath.
My mother used to take the elevator from the second floor to the first floor of her apartment building, despite the wide grand carpeted staircase. She's not particularly overweight, but she became increasingly immobile and is now in a wheel chair. When my kids want to take the elevator, I tell them that if you don't take the stairs, eventually you can't take the stairs.
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