www.theblisspages.com - travel: France
www.theblisspages.com - travel: FranceI like France. The French have a proper appreciation of food and drink.
I find them friendly, possibly because I make an effort to speak in pidgin French (Je voudrais un tasse de te et un sandwich, s'il vous plait!).
I went to Paris in August 2005 (read about Paris here) and to Lagny sur Marne in September 2002. Read my report of the Lagny sur Maine trip.
I
like the atmosphere in Paris, wandering round the tourist traps like Montmartre,
the Eiffel tower and Notre-Dame. I'm just an old romantic at heart!
The metro system is efficient and the new is as valued as the old. I love the Pompidou Centre and the pyramid entrance of the Louvre.
I cannot imagine something so bold and potentially out-of-place being allowed in England.
I
have fond memories of a meal in a Paris bistro, where a woman was telling the
customers how she was waiting for her husband and lover to return to her home
opposite the bistro so she could discuss the situation with them. See the poem I wrote celebrating my favourite restaurants round the world.
It was surreal; we all felt part of a little community for the evening.
The food was good too!
I once went white-water rafting in the Dordogne. At least, it was supposed to be white-water, but the dams were closed on the hydroelectric plants as it was the holiday season and the river was very low. The flow was still high enough to overturn our raft when we got stuck under a bridge, and I had to swim down to retrieve our picnic, wine and my money and passport. We hired bikes one morning and cycled for about twenty miles after we got lost
I
also had a great holiday in Cap D'Agde in the south of France. Cap D'Agde is
unique in my experience as the whole resort is clothes-optional. It's great
to be able to get up, have a shower, go to the supermarket to buy breakfast,
down to the beach for a swim, or whatever, all without having to worry about
putting anything on.
Some people who claim they're open-minded about nudity go on about whether old, fat
or ugly people should be allowed to go naked. They have entirely missed the
point. I don't go naked for other people, I do it for me. I love the feeling
and the freedom of being sky-clad, of avoiding the furtive fumbling of towels
and costumes when changing on a textile beach, the feel of the sun on my body.
Of course, when it gets nippy in the evening, people put on clothes; that's
the whole point of being clothing-optional.
Try it, you have nothing to lose but your inhibitions!
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: © Mike Bliss 2008