Paris in the Fall

Yes, it says Paris in THE FALL.  I am VERY behind on my blog!

I went to Paris in September, and I have to say that it did NOT meet my expectations.  I mean, no one was rude to me; everyone spoke English, and looked happy about it. (It's not that I expect everyone to speak English to me wherever I go, it's just that, well, being an American, I have heard a few things about Parisians.) The people were friendly, the weather was perfect...

Arc de Triomphe after shopping on the Champs-Elysées

This is why I shouldn't wait months after I have taken pictures to blog...I think this may be behind Notre Dame Cathedral, but I can't be sure. (So embarrassing!)



 This place I am sure of! It's the Sacre Couer Basilica. It's beautiful, and there is a great place to buy crepes across the street if you are hungry. Be sure to hold on to your purse, though!

 

 

 



The Paris Opera House...can you see me on the balcony???

The Eiffel Tower at night is really something to see! I think if I were to do it over again, I would skip the trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It took so long, and there were so many people.  I preferred being in the park area below, just gazing up at the tower.

I think there are two kinds of trips: the kind where you take the time to stop and smell the roses, and the other where you take pictures of the roses while you run to the next garden.  This trip was the latter.  We arrived late Friday night and left Sunday afternoon. So, we did the American thing and ate on the go, and that included eating at Chipotle. (Hey, don't judge--there are no Chipotles in Germany!)  We did make some time for a few drinks before we left, as well as a few desserts.  The awesome French cuisine I have heard so much will have to wait until the next trip.  Yes, I said the next trip.  I'd go again!

 

 

 

   

German Town

Quick! What country do you think this town is in?

It looks German, doesn't it?  Take a closer look:

The town is Colmar.  It is in the Alsace--a region which used to be part of Germany, but is now (once again) in France.





Country...French Style

I have never been interested in going to France. Though I have only a few days in Paris in high school to base an opinion on, when I think of France, the first word that comes to mind is snooty...I imagine a guy who pays way too much attention to his appearance looking down at me with his nose in the air, telling me how little we Americans know about culture. Maybe that's because I come from freedom-fries-loving Texas where (during the invasion of Iraq, at least) there were bumper stickers that read TEXAS: It's bigger than France.   By the way, the French have their ideas of what Texans are like, too. So, I was curious when I heard that there is an annual country music festival in France, and that it features some artists from Tennessee and Texas.

The festival is held in the south (of course!) of France in a small town called Craponne...which is actually not pronounced very differently from the way you may be thinking...when the French say it, it sounds something like KRHAP-un. It's up in the mountains and far from everything, so you have to have a car.  Two friends of mine (representing Kansas and Kentucky) and I rented a car and made the trek to the festival.  Though we only attended one day, the festival is actually a three-day event.  Walking up to the festival grounds, we passed many tents and RVs, several of which were adorned with Texas and U.S. flags.

 I don't know how many people were actually there that day, but i would guess at several thousand.  After seeing all of the flags, I imagined that there would be lots of ex-pats at the event, but nooo.  We met two Americans. We spotted a few more...Americans are usually easy to pick out of a crowd, and the fact that many of the French were wearing "western" wear made it even easier.  Yes, the land that invented haute couture also has people who wear cheap 10 Euro "cowboy" hats, American flag scarves, large silver-looking belt buckles, jackets with fringe...basically stuff that I have never seen anyone wear in Texas. 

The first band we saw was Modern Earl, and they were, well, you can see for yourself...this sounds pretty typical of their performance:

They were awful --and the French audience ate it up! I have to give the lead singer some credit, though. He must have practiced some lines in French before the festival, and whatever it was he said in French, the crowd found it pretty amusing.

Modern Earl on stage in Craponne

crowd at the festival; notice the LINE DANCING in the upper left corner, and NO, I didn't participate in that--I am from Texas. ;)

After that awful band, the rest of the night belonged to Texas artists, or at least in the case of Amber Digby, artists that call Texas home. Next, my favorite couple, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, performed. Bruce sang some of his songs that have been recorded by artists like Tim McGraw, the Dixie Chicks, and George Strait...I figured if I saw anyone singing in the audience, that person was likely an American; I saw one. Oh,well. The French seemed to enjoy Bruce and Kelly, too, even if they didn't know the words.  

Maybe next year I'll wear a Shiner shirt like Bruce.

The headlining act that night was Whiskey Myers.  Have you heard of them? Whiskey Myers is one of the best bands in Texas (at least, that's what the emcee of the festival said)!

Whiskey Myers lead singer, Cody Cannon

Of course, it was a road trip, so we also spent some time in nearby Lyon, and in the wine country near Anse.  Everywhere we went, people were so nice, and--considering that among the three of us we knew about four phrases in French--most people tried to speak English with us.  Somewhere I've heard the saying, "People travel abroad to have their prejudices confirmed." Nothing could be further from the truth in this case.  I went to France expecting not to like it very much, and found that France, and the French, were pretty cool.  I saw a whole different side of France, and I liked it!

Countryside near Anse, France