I know I’ve written about this topic before here; so for those of you who have followed me for at least a few months, I’ll try to make this one a little different…
I’m not a big traveler so my favorite place I’ve ever visited was also the longest I’ve ever been on and the furthest I’ve ever traveled from home; namely my trip to France following my sophomore year in high school.
I think its almost crucial for people to visit a foreign country at some point in their lives; particularly for Americans. We all have a sense of loyalty and patriotism to our home countries. But for some reason, Americans in particular seem to think we have all the answers. We think that there’s nothing to be learned from other cultures and other countries; countries, mind you, that have existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Even as a 16 year old kid, this trip was a real reckoning for me in that regard.
Here in the states, the legal drinking age is 21. In France, it is 16; however most French people don’t pay a lot of attention to this because alcohol isn’t this taboo thing they’re told to avoid. Alcohol is such a big part of the French culture that French kids don’t think of getting wasted at a house party as a cool thing to do. Its not rebellious when you grow up with it in your house every day.
Speaking of things that American are almost puritanical about…the beaches. While France has its share of nude beaches, it’s nothing to see women topless at a public beach in France (at least 30 year ago, it wasn’t unusual). For a 16 year-old virgin, this was crash course in self-control and being cool. At this point, the only topless women I had ever seen were in movies. Now they were all around me…in different sizes, colors and…ages…
I could go on and gush about the language, the architecture, the history and the food; but so many others have done this far more eloquently than I can. All of that is true. But there was some earth-shaking for 16 year-old Rob to be in a place and speaking a language that I had only previously seen in textbooks. Students – particularly when they get older – like to ask “When will I use this stuff I’m learning in my real life”. There it was! All around me! It was time to see what I knew, in the school of real life.
True Story: the first, and only, time I’ve ever gotten stuck in an elevator was in Paris. If you haven’t had this experience, try imagining getting stuck in a over-crowded elevator and being the first person to realize it, after you’ve read the “elevator capacity” sign that’s written in a foreign language. Both of my high school French teachers were awesome, but they didn’t teach me how to say “Excuse me everybody, but apparently, we’ve exceeded the capacity for this tiny elevator” in my two years of French class. Fun times.
For amazing as France is for its culture, language, art, food and lifestyle, I think this trip was almost more important to me for what it taught me about myself. As I mentioned in the other post about this trip, it changed me as a person on many levels. For that, France is STILL my favorite place that I have visited.
What or where is your favorite place that you have visited? I’d love to hear about your travel experiences!
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