So this is France so far

[bessiedog]

Got three hour bus ride here so I’ll pass the time ...

Happy Easter guys. My France adventure sure is enlightening.

We didn’t go the pure tourist route as our daughter has been in country working for almost a year.
I wanted to get a sense of the people. Which is hard to do with limited time. However... some things I noticed are:

If you simply stay in the old touristy sections of Paris. You’ll think all Parisiennes are thin, chic and shi shi. There’s a lot of that here. Amongst them I’m a serious Fatty McChewyguts....
But today, on our way through the maze of Metro connections ( super cool, super connected, super efficient I highly recommend) to our bus station, we wound up smack dab in the middle of a Yellow Vest protest.
So being the naive/curios person... I wandered right in and started chatting them up.
Great people, simply ****ed off that the world is getting too expensive, jobs are getting scarce, and the ability of the average person to have some kind of economic stability is starting to get out of reach.
Progress must include us..... not forget us.... and the neoliberals have forgotten us. We will make them remember.

I seriously can’t argue with that. Lots of guys wanted me to take group photos of them. They like Canadians. I was too chicken to ask for a group photo with me in it. I regret that now as they treated me as a friend.

There’s a lesson there for us.





On another note;
Versailles is amazing! The opulence boggles the mind.
Eiffel Tower and most of Old Paris is really best toured from 8pm tillmidnight.
The lights are amazing.
Oh yea.... there be rats man.... they’re around... big ones too.


That’s my daughter and hubby. Full moon is backlighting the Tower.
Cool eh?

Wife’s marathon in two days.

Oh yea.... gas is $1.71/l

Eeesh!

On the bus through the countryside...

The canola is blooming already.
The summerfallow is sure light, chalky brown. Don’t look like healthy growing soil really.

[sewerrat]

1.71 euro for 1 L of gas = to 2.58 CND.

I just returned from Holland yesterday gas was 1.65 euro cent /L

[coreya3212]

Flying over tomorrow. How is the weather, it looks warm.

[Digger1]

Thanks for sharing! Great to hear non media info from ground zero.

[bessiedog]

Weather here is fantastic.

Sunny
+20-25

Leaves just coming out...
Flowers..

We’re in Lille now... gonna grab a rental and figure out that whole thing.
Trail race is 35 k away. Wish me luck drivin.

[jstubbs]

Definitely be careful driving! Looks like a fun trip.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by sewerrat

1.71 euro for 1 L of gas = to 2.58 CND.

I just returned from Holland yesterday gas was 1.65 euro cent /L

https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/F...soline_prices/

[RandyBoBandy]

Keep your wallet in in the front pocket

[Talking moose]

That’s your daughters hubby? Looks like a girl no offence.

[BEL]

My family is in Berlin right now. In our 3 week travel I have seen gas between 1.50 to 1.68 euros per l. Holland France Switzerland an germany. Switzerland is crazy expensive. 2 weeks left in Germany than 1 week in Paris. BEL

[Hawkeye]

Glad that you are having a good time.
I was there a couple of years ago and soon after I arrived, there was some kind of terrorist-type attack. I was not impressed with having police and soldiers holding their ARs horizontal and muzzle sweeping large segments of the population (and no, I am NOT exaggerating).
I was impressed by the artwork in the Louvre. However, it was appalling that the public toilets in the Louvre were quite dirty first-thing in the morning and most of the 'guides' seemed more interested in their cell phone than in helping anyone.

I have had the privilege of roughly 70 trips off the North American continent and have been to about 20 countries. My experience of France was such that I personally would not rush back. In fairness, my experience was mostly as a tourist. In a lot of other places, I am an invited guest and my host(ess) goes to great lengths to ensure that I am safe and well and that I have a great time. As a consequence, I get a lot of invites to homes to have a nice dinner or BBQ.

By analogy, someone from far away could fly to Canada, spend a few days at West Edmonton mall and think they knew everything about Canada. So, I realize that my view of France is extremely narrow and poorly informed and I am sure that there are a lot of really decent, warm and fine people. My trip to France was such that I did not have the chance to meet such folks.

Travel safe and enjoy. I just returned early Thursday for 4 1/2 weeks in Brazil, a place I have visited many times (including spending 10 months there on a work leave, in 1997).

Cheers and Happy Easter
Hawkeye

[bessiedog]

Well....
Speaking of security....

Our FlixBus (their version of Greyhound) got rerouted and surrounded by 3 police cars. 9 cops.... they boarded the bus and checked ALL our documents. They even made some groups go through their luggage...... I got no idea what that’s about.

Got our car rented and drove 35 k north to the town of Bellille...( not sure spelling). Roundabouts in France..... the dude on the right has the right of way it seems.... which is tricky. The villages are just like you’d imagine....incredibly picturesque.

Wifey gets to run all the way into Belgium and back. I spend five to 6 hours drinking beer!


The country people are great. Very friendly!

My

[colvert]

Maybe stay away from the tourist crowd...Yes, I know it's hard to do when you are a tourist. As for the Louvre toilets, considering that there are close to 30,000 visitors per day, maybe the stalls and cleaners are insufficient!
I don't know what you like, but after a couple of day in stressful Paris, I would recommend to go to the countryside, such the Loire Valley, Brittany or the Champagne region where you can really appreciate the people. Paris is not France, my thought as an old Frenchman...

[colvert]

Sure there are problems in France as anywhere else, but protesters never mention all the social benefits the country offer to everybody, including refugees (often with large families) which put a lot of pressure on the system. Somebody has to pay for all of this. I wish the vandals (casseurs) who destroy property and burn cars for fun could be caught and put on hard labor for a year or so! my thoughts as an old Frenchman...

[bessiedog]

I’m sorry if I sounded critical about anything, that’s for sure not my intent. If a country wants to do extra security... no problemo... I’ll go with the flow. I am proud to have met protesters from the people who are famous for standing up for The Rights of Man.

It’s all so far been an incredible experience.



That is some of the French countryside. I get to walk the village all day tomorrow.. he hee!

(And the one on the right is my wife moose..... Geeze!)

[colvert]

No problem at all, I was just explaining the situation with the Louvre on Hawkeye post, nothing directed to Bessiedog... and expressing my view on the "gilets jaunes" movement.
I am glad you and your family enjoy your trip ! isn't that great to see the crops green or yellow for the canola?

[Twisted Canuck]

Sounds like a great trip Bessie! Good luck on the race. TC

[Sundancefisher]

Funniest thing I saw in a medium town one day was all the people coming from the bakery carrying baguettes.

[wolf308]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

That’s your daughters hubby? Looks like a girl no offence.

Was wondering same



Right on. Good times Bessie

[bessiedog]

Lol

Looks like I struggle in English as well as French.

[Twisted Canuck]

Originally Posted by bessiedog

Lol

Looks like I struggle in English as well as French.

We make allowances for your struggles bud. Big game big game......me too.

Hey, I jumped out of a plane today at 15,000 feet over Wollongong, we all have our ways of dealing with disappointment. Have a great time there. Bring home a yellow vest for me.

[bessiedog]

Cool!!!
I’ll never jump out of a perfectly functional plane man....

[Twisted Canuck]

Originally Posted by bessiedog

Cool!!!
I’ll never jump out of a perfectly functional plane man....

You really should. It was quite exciting, and you don't even have to send a valentine's card to the guy you are strapped to, so that's nice....

[Don_Parsons]

Thx for sharing BD, looks like a awesome place to visit.

Yuppers,,, its one beautiful place to see.

👍

[bessiedog]

So small village France is where it’s at for me. The locals will actually look at you and greet you or acknowledge you like they do in small town Alberta (in Paris, eye contact seems to be a no no).
Also if you are in a cafe early in the morning, new local patrons will greet everyone individually....our being Canadians was a real plus. That’s possibly because those race was in Bellille which is in Flanders..... yup... Flanders Fields.
French Food is always small portioned for the most part... and much more flavor intensive... except in the North of France and Belgium... they like huge amounts of fries. Man, you’ll get a pile of Frites. I learned that the Belgians actually invented them.... but they still call em ‘French fries’.
It’s strange and very sobering to see all the reminders of the wars around. This place got the brunt of the German Forces both times.

This is a monument built entirely out of the blasted remains of the town from the main artillery bombardment in WW 1. In it are four big piles of rusted artillery shell hills that were used in the attack.

One can’t help but pause and reflect.

This other pic is a UNESCO world heritage site. You can see this church for miles around the village. It was 90% destroyed in the WW1 bombardment by the Germans. They rebuilt it, and tried to incorporate the last remaining walls .... which were done in gothic style... but the rest is done differently. Really serious contrast of architectural styles.



Language lesson..... when explaining to race officials that my wife is participating in the race.... be must be mindful of using the proper masculine/feminine tense.... or you say ‘my transsexual husband’ instead of ‘my wife’..... which made a bystander bluntly give me this super confused look and say to me ‘you have a husband??’ In English.....we laughed. I apologized ..... guess I don’t look very rainbow like. Heh.

[JohninAB]

Looks like a nice trip. Thanks for sharing.

The WW1 artillery bombardments were devastating. Towns basically wiped out. What the residents must have endured is mind boggling.

[Talking moose]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[huntsfurfish]

lol

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by JohninAB

Looks like a nice trip. Thanks for sharing.

The WW1 artillery bombardments were devastating. Towns basically wiped out. What the residents must have endured is mind boggling.

What all of Europe has endured.....wow...but still nice to visit.....gotta get off the beaten path too....

[bessiedog]

So.... We hit Vimy.
As a historian, I’ve seen the pics of the monument. It is quite impressive. What I found more impressive was the fact that the names of the thousands killed and missing are hand chiseled into it.

The view is something.

A French house flying a Canadian flag in the village 5 min away.... that got me. Interpreters were great! The walk to the museum cattiest you by untouched areas that have been left as they were after the battle.





The size of the bombardment craters really got me as well. This place was hell man.


We’re just going to take a tour of the restored trenches... and the newlypreparedsappers caves. There’s miles of these caves apparently.


I know we Canadians bitch at each other. But you come here and see what we can accomplish..... as a young wet behind the ears country...

We need to work together better.