Playground of the World

So, yesterday Alex and I took Jared to a park. The idea of a children's park here in Clermont-Ferrand is very different than the playgrounds I take Jared to in Pickens County. MY GOD the place was gorgeous! Tons of flowers; a pond with ducks, swans, and a cute little bridge; several different playground areas; a waterfall with rocks and a tiny retaining pool that was also beautiful, and so on. None of the little children spoke a word of English. In fact, one of the little girls a couple of years older than Jared thought that if she told him "I don't speak English" in French, Jared would pick up on it and suddenly communicate in French...LOL. However, the whole situation as I watched it touched me.

You see, my son had no way of communicating with them really. And they had no way of communicating with him with words, either. I thought that'd label him as the foreigner and they'd then ignore him. But...that's not what happened! All the little kids--every last one of them--included him in their play. One of the little boys who had to be right around Jared's age even seemed to communicate with him despite the fact that they both spoke different languages. They were chasing pigeons together, and the French boy said in French, they are too fast for us! They've all gone away! And then Jared responded, nah, there are more in the trees (in English, of course). It made me wonder if he were already picking up on the language. Gah, I SO wish I could keep him here in a little summerschool for the summer and have him learn French! He's at that perfect age to learn.

Anyway, I talked with Alex about it later on. It just touched me how the kids don't CARE about the differences. I told Alex that if adults were more like young children (not older children--by then they learn how to be mean from the adults!) , the world would be a lovely place.

I'm getting used to this wine with every meal deal. Hmmm. Here, that's normal. At home, that's an alcoholic.

One of the cultural differences here that I adjusted to immediately is the "kiss and grope all you want in public" ideal. In the South, unless you want little old ladies to glare at you or bonk you with their canes, you just don't grope and deep kiss in public. Kiss on the cheek, sure. Light quick kiss on the lips, sure. Hugs, fine. Holding hands, yeah. But not a big ol' wet, long, languid kiss for a few minutes! I had always told Alex, you KNOW I'm not a prude, but I just can't stand the way that folks stare at you if you do PDA here (public display of affection), and so I just can't do it. Even though I, personally, don't see a damn thing wrong with people kissing as much as they want, I hate making scads of other people uncomfortable, so that's that. Well, here, everybody kisses! We ate at a creperie today (YUM YUM YUM), and couples all around us were kissing deeply. One couple had the guy stand up, bend over the table, grab the girl by the shirt and just yam his tongue down her throat for a few minutes. Nobody even BLINKED, let alone glared or said anything. It was commonplace and normal. Stunned, I told Alex, well then....kiss me! He said, I'd be kissing you if I were sure about how Jared would react! I said, well, hum, Jared, do you mind if Alex and I kiss? He shrugged. Nope, go ahead was his actual reply. So, I kissed him. It was a lovely, romantic, sexy kiss and nobody looked. Nobody blinked, and nobody cared. Jared himself was too happy to have a 7up to care, either. Wow!

(Side note on creperie: the main course was a crepe with creme fraiche, scallops, leeks, cheese, and a few other delicious things...and the dessert crepe was caramel, dark chocolate, and a pile of whipped cream....I'm already fatter. YAY! Additional side note: in France, if you say the entree, it does not mean the main course like it does in America. Here, the entree is more like an appetizer).

People keep offering me their cars to drive if I want. That's incredibly sweet, but a) the French drive like maniacs and I'm scared and b) all the cars are manual/stick shift, and I'm not comfortable driving stick shift. In Europe, cars do not often have automatic....or hell, even air conditioning. Instead, it looks like Alex's friend Tuan will cart us about a bit. He had offered to take us to this scenic lake not too far out of the city tomorrow, but we'll have to see about the weather.

I love touring about the city. It has such an "old" feel to it....narrow back alleys, stone buildings with wear and tear upon them, tiny individual shops and very few chains.... I love the French way of eating outside during the nice weather. That's what we did at the creperie: ate outside. You see the hustle and bustle of the city, plus feel the fresh air and enjoy the activity. Clermont-Ferrand was also the site of an old Roman settlement. Apparently, when the construction crews were working on the city a while back, they uncovered pieces of the old settlement. No matter where you walk in the city, you can see the occasional stand with windows that will display a few of the artifacts they have found, plus an explanation of what they are. How cool is that? Shopping, good food, AND history lessons wherever you walk!

I am doing exactly as I promised before I left (and hence, that's why I'm already bursting out of my clothes). I am eating tons of cheese and chocolate. I have had so many good cheeses....mmmmm. The fromage course comes between the main course and the dessert course. At a house or a restaurant, the hostess or server comes out with a platter full of delicious cheeses, and you just slice off what you want onto a plate and eat it! With a nice hunk of French bread, preferably. Note about French bread: buy a baguette a day. Eat all of it, then buy a new one. They turn to rock within 24 hrs. I've been able to eat some baguette for breakfast that was bought later in the previous day, but if you go much later than that, you get a bat. A metal bat.

There's nothing to grade, and I don't have to worry about my bills until I come back. Ahhhh god it's great to relax!