[Superman]

Culture

We stayed in AirBnB’s. In two instances, we were in a room of someone’s home. We were located in the hearts of the old downtowns in these cities, near all the sights to see, and we walked everywhere. We ate at the restaurants where locals eat and shopped at the grocery stores where locals shop. We never stepped into any wood-framed structure. All the buildings we entered were made of stone except the airports which were steel and glass of course.

The French are not snooty or arrogant. Paris can be considered the capitol of Europe and it is a big city. Big like Chicago but 2000 years older. They don’t smile at each other as they wander around. You’d stop smiling and waving too, if you walked past 1000 people a day. Shop owners don’t want to hear your funny story from yesterday. They are busy. They want to know what kind of croissant you want and how you want your coffee.

Otherwise, both the French and the Italian peoples are very warm and nice. Their societies differ from ours in one great respect: Their lives are centered around their free time, and friends and food, not work. Shops have what we would call odd hours. At least twice a day, or perhaps just ALL day, restaurants are packed with happy people drinking wine and eating great food. These people do not sacrifice their happiness and peace of mind for the benefit of production and commerce. There, it works the other way around. American workers are the most productive on the planet, and maybe the least happy. At the end of three weeks, we didn’t really want to come home. I do not speak French or Italian, but I do love hearing the French language spoken. It, and the city of Paris, are just gorgeous.

In both Italy and France, they expect you to bring wine and food onto their trains and busses. They expect you to be comfortable. In fact, they insist.

We loved the cities we visited. If/when we visit these countries again, we will likely focus on rural settings. I have a hunch that we will like Italy and France even better when we have experienced country life there. With time spent in their countrysides, there is a risk that we will look into available real property there.