Genesea-<BR><BR>I'm so glad your posts are back. I am planning a return trip to France due to your inspiration.<BR><BR>When I studied in the South of France, I was at the beach one day, when I saw a group of men playing Boules with a woman. In fact, she was just wearing the bottoms of her bathing suit. I know many Europeans bathe topless, but I didn't know they played Boules topless! It was strange to see. <BR><BR>In addition, I am delighted that you mentioned the Guignols. My host family used to watch that show all the time. They use Sylvester Stallone a lot to represent the U.S. I remember them using him when I was there in 1997! I really liked the Guignols, although sometimes it can be insensitive. I think the French are just more political and enjoy political satire.<BR><BR>I am glad you are feeling better. Keep the posts coming! I love your observations. You have been my armchair travel.<BR><BR>Take care.

I'm reposting some of my observations for new readers ..<BR><BR>1) I bought two French culture books [one called &quot;Savoir Flair: 211 Ways to Survive French Culture&quot; -- or something like that -- and &quot;Culture Shock: France.&quot;]. I have found the books to be helpful about unknown customs. For instance, I never knew that the Maitre'd needed to be signaled for the order and the check. Otherwise, he [or she] will wait .. and so will you. <BR><BR>2) I know this sounds pathetic, but I still have to affirm that most of the French do take showers and shave. There are women that don't shave, but on the whole people aren't as hairy or stinky as the Americans (and maybe the rest of the world?) assume.<BR><BR>3) The French aren't as hostile as it is assumed -- even in Paris. When my friend and I were traveling the Metro with all of our luggage, two business men helped us carry our luggage up the stairs [they don't have lifts!]. And a random male student crossing the street stopped to ask what hostel we were staying at; he wanted to give us directions. I guess the students may be friendlier, but everyone is saying &quot;Bonjour,&quot; &quot;Bonsoir,&quot; or whatever. <BR><BR>4) Don't even try to expect the French to understand &quot;Eiffle Tower&quot; even if you use your best french accent. In french it is &quot;Le Tour Eiffle.&quot;<BR><BR>5) I have never encountered a rebuff because of my french. Granted, my accent is Californian (one Scotsman in my French class told me I'll never get rid of my American accent; it is too strong.), and I don't understand everything. But I still put on a smile, use &quot;Excuse-moi, je voudrais ..,&quot; and try to communicate. <BR><BR>6) Many people of all ages wear jeans and athletic shoes. Even french students in the bars wear cut off jeans and athletic shoes. <BR><BR>7) In Pau it is very humid .. not as bad as Florida, but it's a shock for me because I'm from California. My host mom, who is an accountant, will wear the same spandex/polyester outfit for a few days. I find this amazing because after one day my cotton shirt stinks from the weather.<BR><BR>8) People do take their dogs everywhere. There is dog crap on the streets [particularly in Paris .. not in Pau thus far], but it isn't EVERYWHERE. Just watch out ..<BR><BR>9) Americans won't be used to what the French eat: pork snout, pork blood, horse, foie gras .. but on the other hand, the French don't make international cuisine like many Americans .. my host mom was surprised that I knew how to make mexican and asian dishes. <BR><BR>10) Wine is cheaper than water ... need I say more?

Genesea -<BR>Thansk for all your grerat postings amd<BR>observations. <BR>Re: Xmas - It should be noted that all<BR>&quot;Latin&quot; countries (versus &quot;Nordic&quot; ones)<BR>do no9t celebrate Xmas in &quot;our&quot; way. The same thing applies to Latin America for example, where most people work late and Xmas Eve and many businesses are open on Xmas Day.<BR><BR>Generalizing, to Latins, Xmas is a very much a family affair, and is celebrated invariably on Xmas Eve, not Xmas Day. Although it is becoming increasingly commercialized, it is nowhere close to what we see in N America or other non-Latin countries. Exchanging gifts is much more low-key and not that widespread . After all its a day celebrating the birth of Christ and nowhere near as important (to Latins) as either New Year or Easter - the latter being traditionally a far more important religious holiday.<BR><BR>Enjoy the rest of your stay - no matter how &quot;homesick&quot; you may feel at times, undountedly you will remeber your stay in France as one of the best periods ever. And undoubtedly, you will feel very differently about Calif and the US when you do return - and that is the &quot;raison d'etre&quot; to travel after all.<BR>The wonderful enrichment and exposure to different ways and things - and the wonderful way in which we also discover ourselves !<BR>Bon Sejour !<BR><BR>+++<BR><BR>In the over-commercialized, over-hyped and increasingly artificial Christmases of N America, I - and many other I suspect _ often feel that perhaps we should get back to the &quot;family orientated&quot; way of celebrating , like the Latins.<BR><BR>PS: Many other &quot;nordic&quot; cultures, like the Scots, also play &quot;down&quot; Xmas - Again there , the New Year is by far more important , and celebtrated as such.

Genesea,<BR><BR>Please pardon my ignorance.<BR><BR>What are chataignes and marrons?<BR><BR>Thanks in advance for your reply.

Ch&acirc;taignes are chestnuts. In France, they roast them in the shell until the outer shell just starts to crack. Then you eat them and they're called 'marrons.' There are street vendors all over town selling marrons. Marron is another French word for the color brown. You can describe someone's brown hair or brown eyes as cheveux marrons/yeux marrons or cheveux bruns/yeux bruns. I tend to say &quot;marron&quot; though for eyes and bruns for hair or even &quot;cheveux ch&acirc;tains.&quot;

Genesea:<BR><BR>Before you go back to the US, note:<BR><BR>La Tour Eiffel, not Eiffle<BR>Eiffel Tower, not Eiffle<BR><BR>Also, Excusez-moi (or pardonnez-moi depending on the situation), not excuses-moi (the second form is the &quot;tu&quot; familiar form, not a good thing to use with a stranger)<BR>

A chataignier produces chataignes (chestnuts) and a marronier produces marrons (horse chestnuts). But cr&egrave;me de marrons is made by cooking chataignes. Any edible prodcut with the word marron (other than a color) is made with chataignes.

<BR>&gt;&gt;&gt;There is a popular game among the male population called Boules&gt;&gt;&gt; <BR><BR>Genesea, by all means give the game (aka as p&eacute;tanque) a try before you go back home. <BR>You wouldn't be the first American woman to surprise those players with hidden talent.<BR>Even if you lose, make sure to tell them that tradition calls for the winner to pay the drinks!<BR>There are several p&eacute;tanque clubs in California. You can search for them on www.petanque.org <BR>That site has pictures of one of the nicest private p&eacute;tanque courts in the world,... in Los Angeles!<BR>Keep enjoying your stay in Pau.

keppping it at the top

Bump

Am enjoying this alot!

This is totally unrelated to France:<BR><BR>I just posted a post under the UK section (the partial title is &quot;Students Traveling: Britain, Ireland and Scotland ..&quot because I need some experts to help sort out a mess of decisions I need to make about traveling through Scotland, Ireland, needing to visit friends in Bristol, and flying out of London .. in otherwords, HELP !! So if you are knowledgable .. please reply to the post. Thanks !! =)

Getting back to France:<BR><BR>This is short and sweet but I thought I'd mention that there are French out there that LOVE Starbucks and the idea of a bookstore and caf&eacute; together (Barnes and Noble) ... I kinda had the impression that the French would be anti-commercialized caf&eacute;, but I guess not ... <BR><BR>Another interesting French (or European) thing: La Poste isn't only a place to buy stamps -- you can have a back account as well. I just thought that was a nifty idea for the USPS to bring in some revenue and stop increasing the price of stamps. <BR><BR>This question is from my host sister: anyone out there know of an American internet service that provides for France as well? I guess her ex-boyfriend found an American ISP that serviced France and was cheaper than France TeleCom .. I was thinking about maybe AT&amp;T or MCI, but I don't know.

Bonjour Genesea,<BR><BR>I've enjoyed your posts, sorry I didn't know you were coming to Geneva, would have loved to give you some ideas.<BR><BR>The idea of a bookstore and caf&eacute; together is hardly unknown of in Europe: there have been &quot;caf&eacute;s litt&eacute;raires&quot; since at least the end of the 19th century. What's new is that it is now affordable to the average reader, not just the litterati elite ;-) <BR><BR>Post offices offer banking facilities (and much more) in France, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and many more countries. I was surprised to learn that the USPS didn't ...

Glad to see you back on the board. Only 6 more weeks until Paris for me. Enjoy !

hi again...thanks for the post re homestay...<BR><BR>i had a quick question for you: did you purchase a cell phone for your stay in france? your stay is much longer than mine (3months in Italy), but i was wondering if it'd be worth the investment?

Genessa,<BR>What are people there saying about the situation in the Ivory Coast? The anti-French rioting in Ivory Coast seems to be getting more violent. Are people supportive of the French gov't's position or do they think Africans have a right to feel betrayed by their former colonial master.

IDT sells its phone &quot;cards&quot; in France, usable on private lines. Because it is not a phone card as such--it has no magnetic stripe or &quot;puce&quot;--I don't believe that it can be used with a public phone. Essentially you prepay your telephone calls by purchasing the card that contains a toll free number to call to make the long-distance connection.

Phones, Ivory Coast, and Random Info:<BR><BR>Here's the cell/card phone info:<BR><BR>1) Cell phones alone cost around 100 euros if you're not buying a 6 month service as well. Once you pay the 100 euros, then you have to buy phone cards to replenish your minutes. It's really quite easy, but if you want a cell phone try to find one second hand.<BR><BR>2) If you live with a family, you should be able to receive and make calls, provided you use a phone card. In France the phone cards can be used for public or private phones .. I haven't bought a card that can only be used for one or the other.<BR><BR>Ivory Coast: Sadly to say I have no information to share; I haven't had time to watch the news, and I haven't encountered people talking about it. Though here is a link to the BBC articles concerning the issue:<BR><BR>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2724805.stm<BR><BR>According to Le Figaro in an online article today, France doesn't know what to do about the Ivory Coast. Their errors in dealing with Rwanda has &quot;paralyzed&quot; them and their ideas. At the moment, their first priority is protecting the French and foreign communities.<BR><BR>For those fluent in French, you can read more at <BR><BR>http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20030204.FIG0007.html<BR><BR>Random info:<BR><BR>January 2nd was another French holiday, La Chandeler, when every family eats crepes -- except mine. La Chandeler is a time to signify the beginning of Spring. And when on makes crepes, they are supposed to throw change over the right shoulder for good luck and prosperity.<BR><BR>Well, next week my friend and I will be heading to Rome over a 5 day holiday. It will be our first time in Italy, so if anyone has any advice to share, we'd appreciate it!<BR><BR>

ROME!<BR><BR>I absolutely love Rome and it is a good &quot;break&quot; vacation. I would highly recommend taking a walking tour to get yourself acquainted with the layout of the city and the history. Some other girls I studied with in France did not like Rome. They said that you &quot;just walk in the Coliseum and that is it.&quot; They did not take a walking tour of the city.<BR><BR>I felt that the walking tour had you imagining what it was like back then, so that when we did tour the Coliseum on our own, it was amazing. There is just so much history and beautiful things to do. Aside from the big attractions, be sure to wander the Testevere (sp?) area...<BR><BR>Have a wonderful time!