B's job is tough enough to do, but the commute is another thing altogether. A morning flight from Vienna to Stuttgart, then the train from the airport to the main train station, then the TGV to Strasbourg, arriving about 2 PM.Then a cab to the hotel. Then she went to work, finishing about 7 PM.
The international symbol for "Watch Your Ass"
We walked through the wonderful Orangerie, a park near the European Parliment. The only thing we don't like about this park is that it contains a small zoo, mostly with birds like storks. I hate seeing animals caged up, and while these birds seem well cared for, still....but the park is beautiful, with a pond where people were rowing boats, lots of swans and ducks, pavillions and a restaurant and plenty of benches where people can sit around being French.
Caught in the act of being French.
B went to work and I walked a kilometer or so to the Cafe Brant, a venerable old watering hole across the street from the university. The patio has about thirty tables and all of them were full except for two, one of which I quickly snagged. I ordered a large beer and sat in the sun answering email and looking around.
The French seem very relaxed. They can't be as relaxed as they seem, but who knows? Maybe they've figured out how to live in modern society without going insane and now can get on with the business of enjoying life. There were all kinds of people sitting on the patio----students, old people, the artist types...but sorry, no berets. I've seen more berets at the Red Cup in OKC in a given month than I've ever seen in Strasbourg, which is too bad, because berets are cool hats. But back to the laid-backedness of the French---to see them sitting around the cafe, with their easy laugh and casual conversations and nice clothes and magnificent health care system, you'd think they hadn't a care in the world.
A word now about French women. As a group, I think they're the most attractive in Europe...but not because they're more physically beautiful than anyone else. There's just something about them---that upright posture when they ride their bikes, or their polite demeanor, their touch of class, the fact that you rarely see one who looks as if she grew up eating Happy Meals, or whatever it may be.
The Italian men are the handsomest in Europe, so I think if the French women mated with the Italian men, the result would be a race of super-models who could speak two musical-sounding languages and cook really well.
There's more to say about Strasbourg and the Alsace region, but as you can see I'm too loopy after a long day to make much sense of anything...
2 comments:
OK. Here's my take on why the French seem so relaxed:
They aren't always relaxed.
I've dealt with the French in a previous job and they can be just as intense, and even more-so, as any American. But they manage to keep their cool while doing it.
And the other thing I did notice is they are great at being able to separate the times they need to be intense and when it's time to enjoy life and live.
So, you have it right - they have it figured out. Or maybe they know when it's OK to just not give a shit. Either way, it's a trait I wish I had...
:)
"Joie de vivre" is an expression describing a joy of living or an exultation of spirit...and maybe this is what I'm seeing.
Whereas Americans might be all wired up and yelling and saying "Oh, my God!!!" as a means of expressing their joie de vivre, I think the French express it kind of quietly and calmly.
Don't forget: great food, great wine, great medical care, and not unattractive people. What's not to like if you're French?
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