I know I have not posted recently, my apologies. I have not done any traveling since the last post so this one will be a sort of compilation of different things I’ve come across in my time in France. I’ll start off with some humor to warm things up. Since being in France I’ve stumbled upon lots of English translations on various signs and menus, here are a couple of gems:
-A bathroom sign that wanted to remind the user to hold down the flusher for a few seconds: “Flush the loo profoundly”.
-A menu offered homemade pork foot and presented it as “pork foot in our way” (maybe this one isn’t too good, but I couldn’t help but imagine two people on a narrow trail that had to turn back because pork foot was in their way”.
-Another menu described a seasonal wine as having “the softness of instant”.
I met a boat captain this past weekend and he told me about his job and his life. He said that due to all the boat work he does he often spends a lot of time out on the dock and gets to know the seagulls and pigeons the frequent his area. He told me how he made friends with a “captain-hook pigeon” one the specifically stood out because it hobbled around all the time. It reminded me of when I was in Gare de Lyon in Paris waiting for a train to Dijon and I saw this pigeon that only had one leg. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but the captain’s story brought the memory back to my attention. Two days ago I was in the same train station in Paris and saw the same one-legged pigeon, I couldn’t help but smile.
The first round of French elections were today, Hollande and Sarkozy move on to the second round which will happen in 15 days. Most people were not surprised by the outcome, but what did surprise me was that 80% of the voting population voted, something you don’t see in America. Congratulations France. Marine Le Pen’s National Front party (extreme right) got 18% of the vote, which was only 7% less than Sarkozy, this was the big shock here for the French (and for me as well).
A french friend of mine recently explained to me what a “rattrapage” was and I almost cried. “Rattrapage” is a second chance for those who fail the end of the year exams. What a sweet idea, right? America needs to step its game up.
I don’t have much more to say for this post. I had other ideas but I don’t feel certain enough about them to write them down and share them. Hopefully by next post I’ll have something a bit more thought provoking.
I’m going on spring break and won’t have any more posts for the next two weeks so I’ll see you all when I get back!