The French don’t smile.
Americans do!
I’ve been reminiscing a lot lately. Must have something to do with my up and coming birthday. Impending birthdays always seem to make me a little nostalgic. Perhaps I’m longing for my love affair with Montreal (when am I not?) and the carefree days of little responsibility, besides my worries on how to order my crème brûlée in French. Je vais prendre une crème brûlée s’il vous plaît.
In Montreal we had a group that we liked to call Le Bande de Boudoir, created after an eventful cinq a sept at Boudoir Cafe, and perhaps too much Quebecois beer. Since we were all learning English, French or Spanish, and we came from all over the world, it made for some interesting conversation and miscommunication. There were no reservations here, every stereotype on the table. Are all the French snotty and uptight? Of course not, but we sure as hell would harp on it, just as much as we’d emphasize how loud and obnoxious us Americans are. Is it true? Not really, but it makes for more interesting bar talk. It was the the ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ philosophy, and it seemed to work. After spending so much time trying to deter assumptions and stereotypes, there comes a point where you can only welcome them.
Possibly one of my favorite pictures of all time. Check out our friend ‘the bartender’ in the background. Somehow he made it into quite a bit of our pictures.
Related posts:
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello, you have the most fabulously wonderful site here and I had to leave this comment for you ! Your posts are beautifully written, creative and original too, and you have interesting pictures.
It's all perfect !
Thank you for sharing your site and best wishes…. 'Happy September'….
Thank you Elise! You really made my day.