So here I am, back in Sheffield. being the boring bastard that I am I thought I'd give you a taste of the Cote d'Azur with some holiday musings. (I'll be having a slide show round at mine a week on Wednesday!).......
I love France!!..... A bold statement I know after only 9 days in the country, but the laid back lifestyle, food and general ambience of the country totally won me over.
We stayed in part with some relatives of Sophie's and our host was a proper French bloke by the name of 'Fred'. Me and Fred got on like a house on fire with our shared love of red wine, Guiness (more of that later!) fags, good food, more red wine and the gaullic attitude of 'Hey, who gives a fuck!'. We spent a few nights drinking and smoking ourselfs into oblivion, conversing in broken English and dramatic hand gestures. We ate platefulls of king prawns and mussels which Fred could pick up for a few euro's a kilo!!! A trip every morning to the boulangerie also brought fresh, warm sticks (1000x better than the shyte in Morrissons) and quassants to die for! This trip was an education in itself as it involved 'crossing the road'. Now in France every car, be it old or new has a bump, dink, smashed bumper etc that it wears like a badge of pride. The French provide crossings, but I was told that they just mean they could be sued if they hit you on one. Being English, I naturally looked the wrong way when attempting a crossing. I found the best way was to close my eyes and leg it inbetween the vast amount of scooters on the road. It's worth taking your life in your hands every morning for the joy of the fresh warm bread.
A trip to the beach each day was obligortary and Cannes has some mighty fine beaches. Golden sands and the warm, clear blue Med.
Lets cut to the quick.......the booze! In the excellent supermarkets the wine can be bought for a couple of Euro's (and I'm not talking the acrid vinegar from tesco's) I'm talking Pinot Noir, Bourdeux's .....true greats! The sting was a trip to the 'Irish' bars on the seafront. To be fair, they're run and staffed by Irish people, but I paid 6 euro 10 cents for a pint of the black stuff!
this was tempered by being able to pick up a 3 course lunch with coffee for 12 euro. The food, quite literally 'pissed all over' our English fayre. These lads can cook, with a capitol
C!
Every Frenchperson smokes. Not poncy Marlboro lights, but the full on red lungbusters, the foul smelling and tasting Gallouise and probably their own bellybutton fluff. I'm sure I saw dogs and cats openly smoking in the streets. I'm only a light smoker, but it was nice not to have a raving brigade of non-smokers scowling at you everytime you lit up. The French know the risks, but they also know that 'It's your life and you can do whatever the fuck you want with it'.......this does include kissing everyone you meet on each cheek. This did play havoc with my inbuilt Englishness and had me holding out a firm handshake to any Frenchmen I met.
All in all, I want to move Sheffield to the South of France as I feel Sheffielders and frenchmen have more in common that we know!
VIVA LA FRANCE!!
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