Our stay at the gite is over and we are in Toulouse for a few days, then onto Munich, to visit our friends Hilde and Erik.
It has been an amazing, wonderful five weeks. Although the weather disappointed us in Mazamet (grey, morning fog & cool), we always managed to drive up the valley or over the Montagne Noir to see a few hours of sunlight.
What has surprised us the most about France?
The French are very friendly and always helpful, despite our limited vocabulary and egregious Canadian “anglais” accent. Smiles and laughter always greeted us. People made an extra effort to explain things to us if we didn’t, at first, understand.
Food is very, very important in France. Bread, cheese, meat, wine plus a pastry or two (and let’s NOT forget the chocolate….) - the shops and supermarkets are bursting with an amazing selection. Personally, I think any country that has one entire supermarket aisle just for the display of chocolate has their priorities in the right place.
Of course, wine takes at least two or three aisles. And dairy products!!!! Who knew that there could be so many yogurts, dairy desserts, soft cheeses, hard cheeses, grated cheeses, packaged cheeses, sheep cheeses, cow cheeses, goat cheeses – and of course, that does not include the cheeses available at the “deli counter.”
But to counter the importance placed on food and health (every village has numerous pharmacies and perfumeries and cosmetic boutiques), the majority of French people seem to smoke cigarettes. It is quite shocking.
Stats Canada says that British Columbia has the lowest percentage of smokers in Canada (about 15%) , so that may be why we are so aware of the high percentage of people here, including middle-aged women, who smoke. According to some news resources, http://www.thestar.com/News/article/171276, only 25% of the French smoke, but we find that difficult to believe. Everyone, everywhere (on the street, in cafes, in restaurants) smokes – so much so that our clothes reek of smoke.
Interestingly, Rick Steves in his Paris guide, states that the reason French women are thin is because they walk alot, eat a lot of protein, and smoke. I think he is probably correct.
Cigarettes are expensive here – they cost about 5€ a package ($7C) and most are American brands. There is a large warning on the package about the impact on health but it does not seem to have affected the French public – to date. According to French statistics, some 65,000 French people die each year from smoking-related illness or effects of second-hand smoke.
France hopes to ban smoking in restaurants and cafes effective February 2008. It will be interesting to see if the government is able to effect successfully what will be a huge cultural change.
Another amazing fact about France is that, like Chile, most shops close at noon and reopen around 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon, and then close around 7pm. Most (if not all) shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays and many museums are closed on Mondays. It means having to stock up with essentials (like wine and chocolate) on Saturday or suffer the consequences!
Finally, strikes are a way of life here in France. In a magazine we picked up (like Maclean`s) there was a joke worthy of relating. Three Frenchman are found alone in the Libyan desert and within three weeks, they are on strike against one another. Because of the recent train strike, we opted to drive directly to Toulouse from Mazamet and fly from Toulouse to Munich. It seems that things should be returning to normal this week but one can never be sure.
For the past five weeks, we have watched the greens and golden oranges of October turn to mid-November browns. Now, the bare branches on the forests and trees of southern France surround us so it is au revoir to Mazamet and Languedoc-Roussillon.
