The last time I was in Paris, the biggest disappointment I experienced was that it didn't really feel French. There are two reasons for this: first, all the French people had left for vacation (it was August); and second, the city had become so international that American fast food chains and other signs of internationalism were everywhere.
You don't know how strange it is to visit a nation's capitol, and feel that you could be anywhere in the world. I was saddened by the sensation, and suddenly understood why Parisians are know for being hostile to visitors. Foreigners are taking over their city!
One distinct circumstance was that when Mom and I went to a French cafe for coffee and a snack (at least in Paris a snack is still a French goody), I noticed that the only other customers there were from Scandanavia. Even more of a surprise, they were ordering Coca-cola and pizza! I couldn't help wondering why anyone would visit a Paris restaurant to have soda and pizza.
I would not have noticed the distinct lack of French people and culture in Paris if I had not been to other parts of France, throughout the south, that had their own ways of maintaining culture and language. In fact, the differences among the French cities are so enchanting, I intend to write a travel article about it. French cities are as similar yet different as American cities. But they are much closer together!
It has come as a relief to me to visit Toulouse, Nice, and Lyon, to find the French culture intact. I thought that I would love Paris, but it is really the more southern cities that I enjoyed, with their better weather, better humor, and stronger grasp on national identity.
Nevertheless, as the French say: vive la difference!
