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Love and French Kisses Paris

PARIS FRENCH LOVE AND KISSES

The Journey

by

Elaine Emily abonal

My first exposure to French France or Reunion was a boy named Julien when I was at the country club, go out by myself and get sunburnt as I always have. I was still a teenager and I texted my mother saying that I knew a cute French boy. Apparently, when I stopped texting back and lost track of time, she thought I meant the old "French" and thought who was kidnapped and sold somewhere. Seriously - she called the police, the PNCC (our patrol local traffic) to nearby hospitals, and as soon as I returned to look to my phone, I should have 30 new messages and 20 missed calls. There was already a search for me through.

Haha.

He was unforgettable and hilarious, but I knew from then on, the French culture penetrated my life if I wanted to or not. I was always interested in other cultures, since I became an exchange student, but I was always more inclined to the Spanish side of things. But in college and surf, I began to make friends from all france years - some known, some that I'll never forget, and the more I'll always be with friends. I took lessons at the Alliance Française, when I was getting sick of guessing what they were talking about when we would leave. I realized that although as I said, Je m'apelle Elaine, looked "beautiful" for them, it really not far from me during a conversation. So I continued to learn the language, saw his movies, and had a small idea of what it was, as in France from the people I knew. Then one day, IFS (Institute for Foreign Study), the company exchange student I was always with, asked me to be one of the escorts for the summer groups high school to France.

This was a dream. C'était une rêve qui se réalise. I was excited, scared, chillax and nervous at the same time and I felt like I knew a lot about the country, even before going there, and yet I also had no idea what to expect.

And the unexpected happened. As soon as he landed in Charles de Gaulle airport, I had the strange feeling to know that I was in a foreign land and be at home at the same time. It must have been because I've been to Europe before, and I left a very fricken with my foreign friends, or that I was studying French for a couple of years. But I was French hearing, breathing the air, and in all places, my friends and texting - Ohlalaaaa ... finally went there.

I lived in a small town south of Paris, called Bondoufle with a couple that I'll never forget. They were very mad, but I love them all the same. Babeth was blond, thin, chain-smoking a chimney, but the cooked food BEST I've ever had in my life. If I have any appreciation for French cuisine or just good food in general, would be for her. All day for a month, she cooked something different - from a épinards La Creme (cream of spinach) BBQ et bernaise. We had an appetizer, salad, main meal, or rosé wine (I think they were trying to get drunk every day), strawberries and cream for dessert, chocolate and cheese - Lots of it. Every time! I'm not exaggerating. I should have said "Je vais ici grossir (I'll get fat here)" more times than I can remember. We sitting for hours at a time during dinner, just talking and watching TV, and enjoy good food and company. My host father Roland, who always called me "big" ma or "La Belle" was 62 years, but the youngest was 60 years old I've ever met. He was a retired rock star, with a studio there below and all the vintage guitars I do not even know. He sang to me while strumming on his old school Gibson and at that moment I thought, this is the French world's coolest. They quickly feel like her own daughter until the age of 23, which kissed me four times a day: the morning before I leave the house when I returned, and before going to bed. And I say, give kisses on the cheek FOUR times at a time.

The group of high school, I was chaperoning French lessons in the morning Bondoufle, but in the afternoon, we had tours in the city of Paris. With them, I saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, climbed the Eiffel Tower, posed with the wax figures at the Museum Grévin, walked until our feet hurt at the Chateau de Versailles, rode the crazy rides at Parc Asterix, pretended to be giant in France in miniature ate at McDonalds the Champs Elysees, walked through the Arc de Triomphe, looked at the gargoyle sculptures out of Notre Dame, climbed the seemingly endless steps of Sacre Coeur, took a cruise on the Seine, where he saw the movie Amélie was shot, visited tombstones as Cemitiere du Père La Chaise, shopping at H & M, and ate pancakes and drank coffee French (phew!) Although I was a couple of years older and there is no such thing as an age difference, I I felt that I was hanging out with friends. I mean, I was talking about life and love and sex with a 15 year old! I enoyed every second with them, even if it meant having to be the spoiler, at times. There are things I learned from them that I will always remember.

Paris, capital of France and one of the most visited cities in the world, is known as the city of lights and romance, where Victor Hugo wrote his masterpiece, and the best place to find museums with works of art most famous in history. But we already know that. Of course, everyone knows where Paris is, and I am always impressed with all the architecture and history that one can find in the city. However, it is the culture and the people I really fell in love with and is connected, and that is why I totally agree with Ernest Hemingway when he said, "If you lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go you always carry with you, for Paris is a movable feast. "

Paris was full of life and I felt that something could happen. A big drunk guy was spouting sonnets, while I and my friends were eating our baguettes by Fontaine St. Michel. street performers or acts surprise in the metro, even though the Parisians were too busy to care, captivated me. These anonymous artists put so much effort on what was to perform. People ran in and out of the station - some going through outputs (exits) without even blink, while others awkwardly fumbling through your pocket maps. I also never been to a city as diverse before, and although I know France has all these problems to deal with immigration, I found it interesting to eat Arab food or listen musique African in Western Europe. It made me feel like I was not so out of place. Often, however, strangers asked me where I was, and nobody ever got it right. They asked if I was or Hawaiienne Tahitienne and I always had to explain that, "Philippine Je suis (I am Filipino)."

Back in the Philippines, first thought the French were so different, I would not be able to relate to them. Some are very snobbish, very cultured, very passionate about politics. But the more I hung out with my friends back home, the more I realized that really were the same thing. They like to take pictures as much as we (when abroad, by less). I also like to chismes (gossip), have their own humor, and sometimes even get the jokes more Baduy (corny) I give. We laughed at each other and ourselves. We talked about the absurd and sometimes about life and growing up and growing older.

In France, living with a French family and be with my friends in their element, I saw that things were a little different. Un peu. (a little). They do not like to talk about politics (hey, I was there during the elections), would rather speak French than English, and would always baguettes wherever you go - whether in the car, walking the streets, or riding a bike. They put the right bread on the table (nope, no sign), like their croissants, and always said Bof! Or BA, Oui! Or Bien sur. I got the pout they always give when they do not know what to answer or say, and even acquired taste for the smell of cigarette smoke. Also noticed that many of the French say they do not like Americans that much, and yet almost all the TV channels I saw my room had American movies or TV series that were dubbed French. (Then again, so does all over the world).

I felt more alive when I was in Paris with my friends. Is when I felt it was a time - one of them - I absolutely drenched in beautiful language and culture - the joie de vivre. I felt it, she said, she breathed, lived, dreamed of it. For moments of a time, I felt like a different person and just living the moment. I was so happy to feel young and beautiful, alive, to be fluent in French, to be in Paris. I loved to go out and walk dans les rues de Paris (in the streets of Paris) with them, because we had pictures with the graffiti art instead of taking the usual picture, the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame. Or we went to Starbucks - what they called Le Starbuck - even if they were telling me, "Ohhh Helene ... Ce n'est pas du café! "(Oh Elaine, is not coffee!) With them, I got lost in the streets, stopping off wrong on the subway, watched the other tourists, took the sun or walking through the rain, I discovered that I like Leffe likes, and still have a little bourré.

There, I realized that one of life's greatest pleasures of travel is starting to meet again with old friends, especially those you do not have seen in a long time. You see the friendship beyond time zones, distance and differences. I saw one of my best friends in the world, met with someone whose I broke a heart once had coffee with one who broke my, lunch with a friend who took the train from London just to spend the afternoon with me, made new friends and perhaps almost fell in love with someone. People came out of their way just to see me and just to catch a little. I had friends who have a small reunion party so that we remember the good times, the Philippines, and so I could be a memorable night in France. Others thought it was funny and entertaining that I loooved be cold just so I could use my jacket cute. Someone took me to the Eiffel Tower at night because I really wanted to see, and then again to see the brightness. Moments and memories with people as these are the ones that I'll never forget.

If there's one thing I also learned about travel or have friends in the country you are visiting, is that stereotypes do not mean anything. They said that the French are snobs and no matter if you're lost, but people were nice for me, even when I was lost and clueless and ask for directions (and no, I was not just asking for the help of handsome men only). On some occasions, I talked with people at random and saw that if you smile at them, in fact, smile back. My host family prepared for something mon anniversaire (my birthday) and is one of the sweetest and most memorable I've ever had. I was taken care of as well and was treated with such warmth and love that makes looking back on my days in France, lack everything more.

It all seems a dream now, a good dream. I look at my pictures and I wonder if I really am the girl in photos. I'm waiting for the day when I can come back and visit.

A special person once told me that on any trip to continue, no matter how long we stay in a place where he grew to love, we always find the time that we are very short. True. That's why it is important to enjoy it -- to smile and be thankful for every second. Experience of each cherish. Talk to people. Take pictures. Note. Look out the window. Eat everything and anything - or not matter to be hungry. Kiss. Fall in love. Keep your hands. Laugh.

Because who knows? One day, all you can have is a three-to Travelogue try to explain what he had experienced, but knowing that you've seen more than the pictures you took, met more people than you mentioned, and more experienced than you can remember. As for me, all I hope for I just wrote is that he will always remember what it was like the first time, to fall in love, and maybe in Paris.

Copyright © Elaine Emily abonal elaineabonal@yahoo.com

August 2007

"Outside is a place where we can stay up late, follow impulse and find ourselves as open as they were in love." - Pico Iyer

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