Why I Want to Hug Everyone in France

As the title of this post suggests, today turned out to be a great day. Nathan and Finn are still out on their Casis adventure, so Vivi and I have had a girls' day. I started the day by making a list of the things I need and want to accomplish before we leave Hyeres, as today marks the halfway-point in my stay here. (It occurred to me after making the list that there's something terribly American about making a to-do list for the time I have left here in southern France, especially as my list has on it things like, "sit at a cafe and write" and "try crepes," but it pleases my pragmatic American self to have my free time here organized. That's not too sick, right?)

Our primary task of the day, as I mentioned when I wrote this morning, was to get a train ticket for our journey from Hyeres to Paris next weekend. I was a bit nervous about buying the ticket on my own, so I Google Translated (can I use that as a verb?) a few helpful phrases I might need at the ticket counter, then set off with Vivi in the stroller for the train station. The walk was just a bit shorter than our walk to the grocery store, and it was relatively pleasant, though this afternoon was warm. I should have gone in the morning, but after our late night at the music festival, I wasn't eager to get up and around early.

As has been my experience of so many locals, the train station ticket agent was hospitable, friendly, and very proud of his native land. When I stepped up to his ticket window I apologized in French for my poor language skills, then asked for an adult and a child train ticket. "You speak English?" he asked. I nodded. He proceeded to speak to me in English throughout the rest of the transaction, even as I responded in French (I'm here, so I might as well work at improvement, after all). When I told him how much I was enjoying France so far, he seemed quite pleased. He said, "It's too beautiful to live here," and tried in somewhat patchy English to tell me that Americans are too stressed out, but the French enjoy life. (See, didn't I just say that myself?) "Oui," I agreed with him. "Vive la France!" He laughed, and that broke open the conversation right away. He chattered on then about how good my French was (ce n'est pas vrai -- c'est terrible), and then sold me a first class train ticket for less than I thought I'd pay for coach. So, vive la France indeed! Now I know that national flattery is the key to the French heart. (And since this place is gorgeous and everyday here feels like a day on the best vacation ever, flattery is no problem.)

Following that I was in such a good mood that I walked toward home again with my head in the clouds. The birds were singing, the sidewalk cafes were brimming with cheerful conversation, and the air smelled pleasantly like Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen. (I haven't yet figured out which plant it is here that exudes this coconut scent, but I often smell it drifting on the breeze.)

Vivi and I then strolled over to Parc Oblius Riquier, a truly lovely park not far from the center of Hyeres. The park is home to a petting zoo and aviary, so we were treated to parading peacocks and a particularly friendly ostrich. Vivi was delighted by the birds--especially the sherbet colored parakeets; and I was enchanted by the beautiful flora of the park--laurels (not oleanders, I've been told), mimosa trees bedecked with their orange-fuzz blooms, fruiting orange trees, and, of course, more jasmine.

On our way home we stopped at a pharmacie for hypoallergenic sunscreen and I managed an entire conversation in French (hallelujah!). It wasn't pretty, but it was the most complicated and complete fully French conversation I've had yet, and I succeeded in conveying what I wanted to the pharmacist and in walking out of the store with it. Yea! I felt like such a champ, I took myself (and Vivi) to the cafe for chocolate ice cream after that. Ice cream and limonade--a semi-sweet and citrus bubbly drink that was exactly what I needed to cool off after our walk.

As I write this, I realize that we did nothing, really, of note today, and this post is probably just hum-drum to you readers. But perhaps that was what was so perfect about the afternoon. It was hum-drum. It was the kind of day you'd have in your real life--not your "hey, I'm in France!" life. No stress, happy conversations with vendors and neighbors, a trip to the park, etc. Have I finally fit myself into the fabric of French life? Not really. But I felt the teeniest, tiniest bit closer to that today, and it's all about small victories when you're in a foreign country. So, again, vive la France! J'adore la France! J'adore Google Translate! J'adore tout le monde! (In other words, a little linguistic breakthrough goes a long way.)