It's been about a week and a half since I've returned to the US of A.
In that time I've gotten used to rampant air conditioning and customer service. I very much still miss:
little shops, especially papetries. Why don't we have little paper stores here?
saying "Bonjour!" and "Merci, au revoir!" when you enter/exit said little shops
no salespeople ever bugging you
no waiters ever bugging you at restaurants (no one ever, ever comes around to ask how your food is tasting/do you need anything? I need you to stop talking to me. Kthnxbye.)
cafes
crepes with nutella
crepes with bananas and nutella
crepes with bananas, nutella, and ice cream
crepes with ham and cheese and tomatoes
creme brulee ice cream
fruit tarts
macarons
riding the train
taking a long time to eat/making meals a meaningful experience
shopping at Zara
taking the metro
speaking French, speaking French, speaking French
listening to French people speak French
a slower paced life
really delicious ethnic food
cobblestone streets
beautiful architecture
getting into pretty much anything for less than 5 euros
paying with euros
fantasizing in cooking shops about crepes and papillotes
papillotes!
all of the fun French people we met
singing hymns in French
I remember feeling similar thoughts when I came back from Jerusalem. Some others included - wow, look at those mountains!!, thoughts about how sprinklers are so wasteful and how everyone should go to the drip system, and missing pita bread for the Sacrament. My advice would be to keep writing down what you miss/loved about France so that when the memories fade more, you can look back at the lists and remember them.
ReplyDeleteps I'm enrolled in French 101 this semester!! we'll see how it goes!!! :)