Filed under: Global culture, Travel | Tags: Internet spoiler, miniatures, Old Faithful, Travel, typical American things, US Capitol, Yellowstone
Yes! It’s vacation time! I’m taking a 10-days break in August. A short break compared to the usual 3-week summer vacation I enjoyed in France, but a long break since I’m an American worker now. I’ll be visiting Yellowstone National Park. Amazing wild life, chromatic geysers, hot springs and pools, the Old Faithful… a dream come true. I remember watching pictures and documentary films about this fantastic place as I was a kid, with eyes wide open. The Wild West! What a country!
Today however, I feel much less excited as I thought I would be so close to the trip. It’s like I’m returning to a place I already know. I’ve seen so many pictures, so many videos and red so many comments. Is reality up to the dream?
Internet is a vacation spoiler. Yes, travel is made easier and I like getting picture of an hotel before booking a room. No surprise is safe. But no surprise is no surprise. Why should I spend thousands to go take a picture there when I’m sure I’ll get a better picture browsing the Web?
Browsing the planet at light speed, shopping global and chatting worldwide is changing our lives. For the best, we probably understand each other better, and some of us certainly make better business also. But what about our dreams? What about that “typical-thing-that-you-MUST-bring-back-from-your-trip-because-you-won’t-find-it-anywhere-else”?
When I was in Paris last June, I bought a bottle of wine and a foie gras can persuading myself that it was “unique” and that I would not find these things in Pittsburgh. I know I’m wrong. French wine’s in every wine store and foie gras is just a 20 minutes drive further. However, I’m pleased they do not sell the same brand!
France’s chance is that it’s all about food and taste. Not so easily exportable if you want it to be fresh-made. But what about America? The nightmare begins at the airport when you try to find some “last minute gift” for some friends living abroad. What’s the “typical American thing”? I mean THE thing you do not find anywhere else? Someone help me! I ended up buying a Steeler’s T-shirt. How typical is that! I was thinking of recording some episodes of Ugly Betty, Lost, NCIS or Dirty Sexy Money, as they used to be aired in Europe months after the US, if not years. But not anymore. Internet changed it all and some French friends now are sending me spoilers before I get a chance to watch the full episode of an American TV show here in the US!
In my quest of finding typical-American stuff, I started a collection of miniatures. I mean very small reproductions of American monuments. You know. The kind of things tourists usually buy, and you usually laugh at. I already have a 1-inch high Empire State building from New York and a 3-inches wide U.S. Capitol from Washington (kind of weird when I put them side by side). A laughable collection but at least I know I won’t EVER find a U.S. Capitol miniature in Paris. Looking at the sticker however, I might find one in Shanghai if I happen to travel there…
Living in a smaller world is fantastic. However, I wish we could also keep our identity strong and continue finding “typical French wine” in France and “typical American fudge” in America. It’s not the way business is moving though.
Back to my trip to Yellowstone, I know one thing from browsing travelers’ blogs and from my own experience as an expatriate: experience is irreplaceable. Feeling the combined heat and refreshment of Lake Powell last year was not an expected Web experience, and I rarely get a kid’s “Wow” watching pictures on my computer. I’m expecting lots of “wows” in Yellowstone. If not me, I’m pretty sure I’ll get the kids’ wowing at the Old Faithful!
I’ll let you know… and certainly will post some more spoiler-pictures of Yellowstone on the Internet!
Filed under: Culture Shock | Tags: Bastille Day, flag flying, French flag, patriotism
I once shocked some French friends by publishing a picture of my daughter flying an American flag for Memorial Day on my blog and explaining how proud she was to pledge allegiance to the flag at school each morning (well, at least she was proud to know the words!). “She’s being brainwashed” they said. Flag flying is not a French thing. We usually leave it to athletes, soccer fans and, of course, to the troops. Other than that, only fascists, racists and politicians – all people you don’t want to look like – may outrageously show themselves with a flag.
Well, I’m glad I could watch my kids fly a French flag today without being regarded as such an extremist, as we were celebrating Bastille Day – the French national day – in America!
But don’t make any mistake: whatever the flag, kids just love flying it. And that’s the beauty of being a kid!
Filed under: Everyday Life | Tags: Conciergerie, Eiffel Tower, La Defense, Louvre, Paris, Pittsburgh, Saut du Loup, Statue of Liberty, Tuileries
I could not find better picture than this one – the Statue of Liberty under construction in Bartholdi’s studio, rue de Chazelle in Paris in 1885 – to express both how much I miss Paris and my joy of being back in the United States. Mixed feelings of happiness and nostalgia. It’s like having two homes 3900 miles distant, where you would feel equally well. What a chance! …and what a torture!
Spending the past 10 days in my home town was delightful. Although I was traveling for work and had little time to enjoy the city, the simple smell of the warm air released by the Paris subway ventilation was enough to make me smile. I haven’t been in Paris for the past 18 months. Except a few new skyscrapers in the business district of La Defense and a lot of new bicycle lanes everywhere, the city looks pretty much the same. The “Parisian spirit” also did not change. The very same angry driver that I left behind 18 months ago was here again to welcome me with the exact same swearword. It is always as hard to get a taxi and once you get one, the driver still complains he does not have enough customers to make his day. Friends and colleagues did not change much as well. Overwhelmed by work, complaining about the economy and a stressful life, while planning their next “RTT” (day off) and three-week summer vacation. But as they took me out for dinner at the Saut du Loup – a fancy terrace in the middle of the Jardin des Tuileries with a magnificent view over the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower – I could feel their incomprehension. Their mouths were complaining about hard life, while their eyes were interrogating: “how could you leave all this for America?”.
I love Paris for that. Whatever the difficulty of living, the city cheers you up with its beauty and its people. A glance at the Conciergerie (a magnificent palace and former prison where hundreds of prisoners were executed on the guillotines during the French Revolution!) makes your worse problems laughable. And the swearword of the angry driver gives you the energy you needed to move forward. Bad words are a way for Parisians to tell you “I’m like you: I’m working hard and life is not as easy as I expected, but here I am, and I count in your world as you count in mine.” Yes. I think that the Parisian swearwords are often compassionate words. You must appreciate the modulation to make the difference between anger and compassion, that’s all!
Back in Pittsburgh, I know that I will miss those magic moments and the Parisian “atmosphere”. However, I will enjoy a city without angry drivers, where what you say is usually what you really mean, where kids are served first at the restaurant, and where you can ask for your doggy bag without being judged stingy 
Definitely, Pittsburgh is a good place to raise a family!
