"So Proud to be in France Today ..." a Paris Travel Page by cochinjew

It was as if everything came to a halt..the entire country rejoicing in the freedom of an adopted daughter of theirs.. the release of Ingrid Betancourt..the pronouncement from Presidential Palace.. her children and the french president making available the plane for immediate departure for the family to go to Colombia to be with their sister, mother and aunt.. INGRID BETANCOURT.. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to go on the plane.. Felt so emotional watching this historical moment, watching it on French TV, on Internet French 24 english channel and seeing her coming out of the plane at CATAM airbase in Colombia.
The French people deserve great credit for keeping this struggle. this is a victory for all of us, French and Otherwise.
Vive La France

Just this last night, entertaining a visiting american couple, at the delightful ambience of Closerie des Lilas, I had to thank the Spirits for giving me Paris, as a gift so frequently. Where we sat last night, Hemingway had spent a few nights in his heyday, this restaurant having been open since 1847.
Driving at night, showing the guests the lights of Paris and explaining a little history, past Notre Dame, Louvre, Palais, historical schools and monasteries, I felt humbled by the association with this great city. Feel so blessed to have been able to live both in London and Paris, two of the greatest cities on Earth. Hemingway coined, the moveable Feast, and it truly is ..
In Jest, we used to talk about our life in La Habana, as a moveable feast, paraphrasing Hemingway's idea of life in Paris.. Paris is a moveable feast, it stays with you!
Stars changed in my skies, and it looks like that i would be a regular visitor to this city of charm and dreams.
Looking forward to the next few days in Paris and then it is back to the New World but plan to spend most of June, July and august in Paris and France. with short jaunts to other continents.
April is ending which has been a wonderful month: began with Australia, a wonderful time in KL and Penang, meaningful visit to Cambodia, great food in KL, new good friends, La vida realmente es un sueno.

I have been in Paris once a month during the entire year of 2007. On 1st december, you find me in Paris, after a delicious week in Havana and a relaxing week in Miami. and I am taking Air France to Madras and then Singapore on Air India Express and Jetstar to Saigon, Vietnam Airlines to Siem REap, Jetstar back to Singapore, Bus to malacca, and air indian express to cennai and kingfisher to bangalore and Bombay and Continental airlines to New York and Miami. all this in 11 days.. but this is my Friends, Food and Far East trip just to visit friends i have not seen in a while. Friends are those in whom you invest time...
Facial on Monday at Institut Scandinave Beauty Salon. A Brunch on Sunday with friends, Branley on Monday, will call Myanmar Embassy whether they would give me a visa overnight! and then at 9 am on Wednesday you will find me at the new AF terminal at CDG
Now begins the task of learning French, and speaking it properly! Thinking of taking a month long course at Alliance Francaise in Paris, along with students from Asia and Au Pair girls from Poland! But I realized that if I took the course in the afternoon, there would be more serious students of French as students and au pair girls would like to explore Paris in the afternoons...
have begun to listen to French Music and Watch French Videos and read the weekly Le Monde in French ( knowing spanish helps). On my next visit in November 2006, plan to see a logotherapist ( speech therapist ) who could help my australian palate and tongue pronounce u and other french phonetics strange to us!
Might as well join the Frequent Flier Programme, Blue, of Air France, after all from now on, it has to be, vive la France!

I am intrigued by the french definition of national identity, so different from that of England, the one I am familiar with and totally different from that which defines an american identity in USA and Australian identity in Oz.

Spending time in Paris, is a delight for one used to eating well, only it is easier to here than anywhere else. A bientot!

Many a times I am waiting for my partner somewhere or other in Paris and it is an occasion to watch people. Whilst this is not as Cosmopolitan as London or New York, for a person used to those cities, the faces are far more interesting. Much less of an asian presence and more of a maghreb and african presence. Today watching the rush hour home at La Defense, I was enchanted by black faces as smooth as ebony with joy and surprise, an occasional tamil face of Pondicherry, multiple memories of north africa, an occasional Haitian, many from guaduloupe or Martinique, tamuls from Reunion... but all french to the core in the way they dress and comport themselves. It is truly an education for me. Have not come across many english speakers, especially the harshness of an american accent of english or the lazy drawl of an aussie accent. Occasionally I see a face I can identify as South American and I want to approach them and burst out in my cuban spanish, but I restrain myself. The definition of who is French is totally different from who is English (black British but not Black English) or American