Church in Dublin
Same Church: I couldn't go in cause they were filming The Tudors (whatever that is)
Dublin Castle
Ivy Building
I'll have a ... a ... Jamesons?
Irish Harbor
Irish Sea
Amazing day at the beach: I think at this point I had 3 hours till my plane left.
Irish Fishermen
Boats
The Golden Gates of Versailles Palace
The Ceiling of the Royal Family Chapel
Now that's a bed
The Famous Hall of Mirrors: Testament to Extravagance
I would kinda like a fireplace that burned whole trees though
Fountain in the Gardens
The Palace from the Gardens
Yin and Lauren
Me and my favorite god... you guessed it: Dionysus (aka Bacchus)
Lunch / Yin's face
Eiffel Tower Sunset
***************************************************************
And Now the Post
And Now the Post
First of all. I'm going to Barcelona tomorrow!!!
Second of all, a few thoughts on stereotypes:
Its no secret that Americans have certain stereotypes about the French in general and the Parisans in specific. You know its coming, but I'll get to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast in a minute.
Before my trip I was warned several times that the French in Paris were assholes... especially if you were lacking in French fluency (or something along those lines).
At the risk of jinxing myself, I will state for the record that I have experienced nothing but kindness and patience in my interactions.
Here are a few examples:
My first night in Paris came at the end of a very long journey. I had finally reached Mathieu's apartment where I was supposed to crash. Due to the lost bag and lost taxi incidents, I was slightly late... only four hours. It was three a.m. I was mapless, dead on my feet, dying for a cigarette, and staring at a locked apartment building. I needed a phone.
Three city blocks later I concluded that coin payphones were as plentiful as freakin unicorns in Paris.
Any shop selling phonecards had closed long ago.
In desperation I wondered if it would be worth yelling at windows in the above apartments until the right one opened.
I decided against that.
Instead I was politely approached by a slightly intoxicated Frenchman asking for a cig.
Hmm, it seemed I wasn't the only one in this city with nothing but a habit.
I started to ask where all the telephone booths hung out at this time of night... but I only got as far as "telefono." He had pulled out his cell and was asking for the number.
That single gesture probably saved me another two hours of searching.
Mathieu whom I had never met (we had a mutual friend), had been waiting up with his friends. He graciously invited me into his home and handed me a smoke.
And that was my Paris first impression.
Another time I saw a young French guy chase down an Asian tourist in the subway because the back of his bag was unzipped. After frantically rumaging to make sure everything was there, the flustered tourist could barely squeak a "merci."
Of course the responsiblity for harmonious cross cultural interactions must be shared. Sometimes you have to help too:
In response to my "parle vous anglais?" bombshell...
I can clearly read the "oh shit... and I was having a good day" expression flash across the information desk lady's face.
She eyes me warily.
Luckily here's where I shine.
If I may offer a few free tips:
First, before you begin firing questions, greet the individual in French. This step must not be underestimated... many cultures (even ours) value politeness and the establishment of a relationship.
Second, establish two things as soon as possible: you are neither distressed nor rushed.
In the absence of words you must communicate through other means: body language and facial expressions.
In practice, adopt a non challenging relaxed stance, make eye contact (minus that intense crazy guy stare)... and smile for the love of god! Act like you are having the best day of your life.
Now... having said that, it gets a little tricky when you are, in fact very rushed, extremely distressed, and consequently having the worst day of your life. Lie, baby lie. Acting cool can be better than blowing your top: better service and it clears your head.
Practice makes perfect.
Third, use whatever means to communicate. This often ends up being amusing for everyone in line. I have used drawing, acting, singing, dancing... anything. Try using words in different languages. Try having a good time doing it. If it seems funny or awkard thats because it is, so laugh.
In this case after a little miming with some Spanish thrown in, the young lady took a liking to me (thats the smiling for ya), and walked me to the appropriate ticket counter. Which ended up being the wrong ticket counter but hey... at least it was in the vicinity.
Plan on repeating the entire process several times before success. That way you can be pleasantly surprised instead of devastated (if your the prone to devastation type).
I just had an ominous feeling that after such a self-righteous post... I must have doomed myself. Next post: Nate in Paris jail after beating store clerk with flip flop.
Lets hope not.
This post is too long for me to go into Freedom Fries, so I'll just say that I suspect the US government (or at least the current administration) to be behind a media driven smear campaign against the French culture. Imagine what a pain it would be if some Frenchies did things opposite from your way and fared much better. I mean wouldn't that prove you... gasp... wrong?
I'm referring to France's health care, educational, and work vacation systems which are decidedly left of our left... and better.
Mainly though, I feel like anti-French jabs really heated up in the US after France took a stand against the Iraq War.
I'm no expert on this so feel free to add your thoughts in the comments. Just tossin it out there. Discuss.
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