French Tourists

Sometimes (ok, recently all the time) France beats me down.  The bureaucracy and the complacency have taken their toll on me and my attitudes here.  But when I talk to my friends from the States, I find that I have more than just glimmers of happy things to tell them about.  I have whole tales of evenings, of weekends, of nights with wine and laughter and friends.  And when I think about the possibility of leaving this country, I get so sad about leaving the people behind.  (Ok, not all the people, because clearly I wouldn't mind leaving the ones who work at the Prefecture behind, but the ones who matter.)  I dearly love all my friends in the States, but I think that the American lifestyle doesn't really value TIME and TOGETHERNESS in the same way that the french lifestyle does.  The french goals are not who has the most or does the most - its who enjoys it the most.  Constantly chasing something means that you don't realize what you already have.  ("Pursuit of happiness" implies you haven't reached it yet.)  So with that in mind, let me show you how Parisians take a touristic day-trip.....

Today, Culbiture went somewhere very special.  We took a day-trip out of Paris, chancing the questionable weather forecast. (What does a symbol with a sun, a cloud, and raindrops mean anyways? Its like the Russian Roulette of weather!)

We awoke early and piled into cars...

to sit in toll booths...

And drive through countryside...

 (real countryside).

We picnicked at the edge of the fields, near a waterfall.  Oh, the french sure do know how to pique-nique.  Baguettes, salamis, pates, cheeses, cherry tomatoes, fresh apricots, wine, more wine...

Then we found our way to a special little street...

 Where a rather well-known artist used to live.

I traveled in style.  This is my sun-outfit.  (My rain-outfit includes a bright pink umbrella, which happily stayed tucked away in my bag the whole day.)

And of course, we had to visit the most well-known part of the gardens.

Finally, the poppies.  These always make me think of one of my favorite Monet paintings, Poppies Blooming.

My friends will tell you that I spent the whole day with a huge smile on my face (except when I almost fell asleep in my beer at the final stop of the afternoon).  Great day, great people to spend it with, great adventures in my adopted country!