If you want to get your dose of nature in Provo, and looking at the mountains isn't good enough, you can drive some 15-20 minutes up the canyon and lose almost all signs of human life. Paris isn't quite the same. There are huge parks in Paris-même, but one must drive 45-60 minutes out of the city before you find a simpler life, with big open fields, deep forests, and scattered houses. I got to experience all of these when I went to a baby presentation with my host family. It was the baby of my host mother's son-in-law's brother, Sebastien. It was fun to attend a real French family function and I was able to learn a few things about family tradition.
First of all, if you attend a family function like this, you must greet everybody already there with either a handshake or a bisous (I will talk about the art of a bisous in a later post) and when you leave, you don't necessarily have to say goodbye to everybody, but definitely thank the hosts, and say goodbye to anybody with which you interacted. Not going to a party like this where a baby is being presented can be looked at as disapproval of the child and/or their parents, so be careful to rsvp beforehand. Even if you're not religious, or religiously affiliated, it's pretty normal to have a party like this, to present the child to friends and family. I guess it's the reverse side of a baby shower.
I got to try some neat apéritifs like prunes wrapped in bacon and baked, and they had a never-ending supply of cakes and fruit. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the French countryside is gorgeous. I definitely wouldn't mind owning a cottage out there for vacation time. Especially if it had a straw roof, because that would be awesome. Seriously, I saw a house like that, it was too cool. Okay, maybe a straw roof wouldn't be the best, because you'd have to change it all the time, but if I ever have the money enough to invest in a second home, it's going to be in French countryside.
No comments:
Post a Comment