Liberty

France is so interesting. I feel like life is so laid-back and charming. People spend all of their time outside reading, biking, shopping, dancing, and napping on the lawn of the castle. We can't figure out when our favorite pastry shop opens and closes, but I have a theory that it goes something like this:

When the planets are aligned in just the right way and the breeze is light, the store opens. By the time a cat has walked by the front door three times, the store closes. When the direction of the wind changes, the store opens again, then closes when the cat walks by three times, then opens again when the planets realign themselves properly, and the cycle continues. The French seem to understand this delicate harmony between pastry and galaxy, but it's a secret we hungry Americans who want nothing more than a strawberry tartelette have yet to discover.

I like France a lot, and this makes me wonder why they are so fascinated with America. They really are. Many people we talk to in restaurants and all over talk about how much they want to live in New York City (Karen, our waitress at the Chinese restaurant, wants to live in Manhattan), and how much they love our culture: apparently our movies, music, and tv shows make up for the fact that they think we're lazy and fat. A few have said that they just feel like Americans are more free. I wonder if that's because we really are, or if it's because that's what we keep telling everyone? Apparently there must be something to it because the French people I know in America feel that they have more freedoms. I need to do more investigations on this!

I guess one thing people have said is that they are fascinated that a black man can run for president and a woman can run for vice president. That's still unheard of in parts of Western Europe, and I think it's just something I've been taking for granted.