Les Francais sont fous.
The French are crazy but I love them anyway.
Currently they are protesting and marching in the streets and setting fires everywhere in France as they are not happy about the old age pension age eligibility being raised from 62 to 64.
And so they storm the streets and participate in an insurrection.
I’m thinking that arson and looting and unruly behaviour is not the way to get their message across and garner sympathy.
But they are French, alors!
I remember when our Prime Minister Harper raised our eligibility age to 67. As well-behaved Canadians, we didn’t threaten to burn down Parliament Hill; rather we elected a new PM. And voila, the age was again lowered to 65.
But the French aren’t like we docile Canadians.
After all, they stormed the Bastille and started a revolution.
Did I mention that I love France and all things French.
That is why I have made a return trip to France, travelling from Lyon to Nice.
Allow me to share some fascinating French facts with you as mon petit ami pours me a glass of rose de Provence. It helps stir my creative juices.
Firstly, France closes down completely on three days a year; namely Christmas, New Year’s and May 1st which is Labour Day.
Of course we arrived in Lyon on May 1st which meant no shopping!
So instead we walked 20,000 steps from our hotel to the confluence of the Saone and Rhone rivers.
As I had previously binge-watched the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown during COVID, I knew Lyon was one of his favourite places to visit as it is the gourmand capital of France.
The restaurants were open so I tasted some amazing Lyonnaise food in a restaurant which has on its door Restaurant Bouchon which means you can expect food from Lyon. A tad confusing as the word bouchon means wine cork. But bouchon also is the word for a traffic jam or rush hour.
Didn’t I tell you the French are crazy!
Did you know that cinema was invented in Lyon? By the Lumiere Brothers.
Also Lyon was the birthplace of the French Resistance during WWII headed by a chap called Jean Moulin. He was the man who created a clandestine network of French Resistance fighters and coordinated communication. Unfortunately, he was captured and tortured by the Butcher of Lyon, Klaus Barbie, and died while in the custody of the Gestapo.
Barbie was captured by the Allies and kept alive due to the intelligence he was able to provide. He escaped and fled to South America. Eventually, he was extradited back to France, tried and found guilty. He died in prison as the French had abolished the death penalty.
The same French who invented the guillotine!
Van Gogh cut off his ear in Arles. He wasn’t French but Dutch, but crazy comme meme.
The women further south in Aix-en-Provence aren’t crazy! They love shopping. They have a local saying Tout sur le dos, rien dans le frigo which literally means everything on your back and nothing in the fridge as they would rather spend their money on clothes than food.
Women after my own heart.
And when it comes to food, the French aren’t crazy. They have another delightful expression Les Francais ont un bon coup de fourchette which means they love to eat and drink and take their food seriously. They linger over a meal.
Speaking of which, it is now 7 pm in Nice on the beautiful Cote d’Azur and it is time for dinner.
Au revoir.
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