France
While traveling across Europe, I came across something interesting worth mentioning. According to a magazine article that our tour director shared with us, the French are proud people, to the point of being arrogant. Nothing is more important to a Frenchman than being French. They like to be well versed in literature, art, culture, history, books and movies. They think of themselves as being classy, as the superior. They think the international language should be French instead of English. They absolutely hate the British and Americans. If you’re American, automatically you have no class. They can be very rude – I can personally attest to this. They intentionally gave the wrong directions, on more than one occasion. They refused to service a few Australians in our group thinking those people were British. The local tour guide even snapped at us when we asked her to repeat what she said. And worse of all, she made up excuses for not being more helpful to a few older people in our group. All of this came as a surprise to me, since those people are in the tourism industry, they’re paid to be nice to tourists! It’s their job!
Try to speak French as much as you can. They love it when you try. But if you just think of the whole rudeness thing as a part of a new culture and not let it bother you too much, you’ll have a wonderful time in France. Rich history, awesome arts and architects, picturesque sceneries, delicious cuisine, fabulous wines (I was told!). Indeed, with the exception of China, France has a more varied and developed cuisine than any other country in the world.
Nice – the famous vacation spot for effluent European. And it definitely lived up to its reputation. Dinner was wonderful with spectacular view, gourmet French food and all you can drink wines.
St Paul de Vence – unique charming medieval hill town, not damaged at all by the war. I almost didn’t go here. After days of being on the road, I just wanted to stay in the hotel and relax, but boy, am I glad to have seen it. Tucked away, with an undeniable charm and one of the kind boutique shops. I fell in love with this little town…
Lourdes is a small town, with only about 15,000 residents, but it’s the second most visited city in France, just after Paris. There are about 6 – 7 millions visitors come to Lourdes each year. Following the apparitions of Virgin Mother to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858, an estimated 200 million visitors had come here so far. With about 270 hotels, Lourdes has the second greatest number of hotels in France after Paris. Yearly from March to October the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is a place of mass pilgrimage from all over the world. Connected with this pilgrimage is often the consumption of and/or bathing in the Lourdes water which wells out of the Grotto. The spring water from the grotto is believed by some to possess healing properties.
Roman Catholic Church has officially recognized 67 miracle healings at Lourdes. Those are only the fully documented cases. There have been many more miracle healings believed happened but were not fully documented, hence could not be officially recognized.
There is a candlelight procession every night. Thousands of people came, each with a candle in hand. The hymns are sung in many languages.
It’s extremely moving to see so many disabled and sick people coming here to pray. Some came from the nearby not-for-profit hospital. Some from very far way. Many couldn’t walk, had to be pushed in wheelchairs. Some couldn’t even sit, had to be carried into the Grotto. But all were so determined to be there. Their untouchable faith and belief was very touching.
To be here is one of the highlights of my mom’s life. And I’m happy that I could do that for her.
Bordeaux - lovely town with excellent vineyards. Too bad I couldn’t taste any wine.
Paris - The “City of Light” - What more can I say about Paris that hasn’t already been said? I love Paris. Lovely city. Wonderful art, history, food and culture. Paris during the day is beautiful, but Paris at night is absolutely mesmerizing. All the lights, all the illuminated landmarks, the people, the atmosphere, oh just amazing. Every where you go, you’ll see people enjoying their time, sitting outside, having a picnic, drinking coffee, dining or just walking hand in hand. The whole city has this aura of people in love.
My first thought when I walked the streets of Paris – this is very familiar, even though I’d never been there before! All the structures, the architects, the way the streets are laid out. Then it hit me, Paris looks exactly like the center of Saigon; but of course Paris is much grander and more beautiful. Very true, the French built Saigon after the image of Paris.
I was amazed at how strongly we Vietnamese are influenced by the French. The baguette, the pate, the jambon, the coffee, the fact that people take naps after lunch, or people sitting outside chilling for hours drinking coffee like nothing in the world can rush them.
The streets in Paris are swept and washed once every day. The current mayor closes part of a major highway in central Paris every Friday night for foot pedestrians and skaters. He also brings in sand and turns that highway into a beach for 2 months every summer! People here have a 35-hr work week, with 5 – 6 weeks for vacations a year. Therefore, most people in Paris take their vacations in July and August.
We visited Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, watched the famous French cabaret. You’ll need a week to 10 days in Paris alone to explore the city. The Louvre is the largest museum in the world, with more than 10 miles of just hallways alone!