France's score card

As my time in France ticks down, some points I've considered after my time here:
• Frenchies take their dogs on holiday with them = awesome
• Paying to use the toilet at Lafayette = wtf
• Helpful towards hitch-hikers = awesome
• All the cheese = awesome
• Walking and hunting trails that overlap (well.. hunting by default really) = wtf
• No persistent waiters = awesome
• Kak expensive train fare = wtf (passing as a 25 y/o and getting reduced deals = awesome)
• Foie gras obsession = wtf
• 30min grocery queues = wtf
• Dedicated wine bars at music festivals = awesome
• Half a baguette acts as a hot dog roll = awesome
• Free music performances in squares = awesome
•. Co-voiturage (carpooling with strangers) = awesome
• City-sponsored free bicycles for residents = awesome
• No fresh milk anywhere = wtf
• Bread with every goddamn meal = wtf
• Everyone smokes. Every. One. = wtf
• Frenchies are down for barn parties = awesome
• Desert is not optional = awesome
• My developing muffin tops = wtf

You did good frenchies, you did good.. good thing I'm starting my camino tomorrow though.

Red means stop. And smell the paella

Towns covered in crinkle paper. Just because. Gianumgous pans of paella for sale. Bustling food markets. Gypsy music accompanied for free. France, stop being so goddamn romantic will you?

The land of a thousand and one châteaux.. and a priory

Walnut groves, foie gras, sunflower fields, Bergercac wine, sleepy villages, hedge gardens, bambi forests. And a château on almost every hill. That's the Périgord region for you. Been staying in an old priory these last 2 weeks. Never thought I would say that. With wild flowers all around, and purple artichoke flowers (never seen those before), and relaxed guard dogs. Oh, and charming window reliefs of a heathen's fate, don't you think?

So much of the waiting

Jebus, there's so much time spent waiting for public transport. And thus there is monk-made beer drinking. And people squinting. And sketching.

Your average gypsy buskers in France

 

 Karpatz, performing at a French market. How much of awesomeness?

Bottled poetry

"Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life." — Omar Khayyám

Couldn't have summed it up better. I would choose the hottest day to visit St. Emilion and then rent a bicycle to visit its vineyards though. And then arrive, sweaty and aching for a drink, to be told the winery is closed for their (3 hour) lunch break. Wow, frenchies and their work ethic. Either way, Saint-Émilion was a treat. And don't judge me for drinking white wine in this region. Hot and bothered doesn't fair well with red.

Promenades and impromptu picnics

Red wine capital, how have I resisted you for so long? Loved how waitresses knew as much about wine as the merchants themselves; the traffic-less city centre; the evening picnics; the fountains that double up as cooling-off areas for children; the bric-a-brac markets; the sunsets; the illuminated buildings; the buskers. Had the good fortune of exploring Bordeaux's ventre de la ville with a lovely local. The city let me taste her Atlantic oysters, stuffed figs, sun-drenched cherries, gateau du Basque (a nom nom custard cake is all you need to know), Ricard (an aniseed liquor -another Basque flavour). Oh and wine and cheese platters. Bordeaux, will you be mine already?