Last week my family had the enormous pleasure of being host to three Français (my husband's best friend, his wife and their daughter) for the greater part of their vacation in the United States. It's always fascinating hearing the observations and first impressions of a first-time visitor to the States (which Florence was, she being a Parisienne). The family's first stop was New York City, and these were Flo's initial observations (with eyes and heart wide open):
- senior citizen discounts for things like movie tickets and food items (which she found practical and convenient for the elderly - and not so common in France)
- many people walking around with something to eat/drink
- the lack of obese people (that she was surprised not to see)
- walking ads/billboards for nearby shops (which she found very amusing)
- big athletic shoes on women (which utterly confused her as she wondered why/how they could dress in such cute outfits then sport big hulking sneakers)
She made many great comments and provided an opportunity to get a fresh vantage point on French-American cultural peculiarities...
So, so interesting! I can totally see her point of view too:) Though of course New Yorkers might consider themselves different from the rest of America (well, at least maybe parts of America consider NY a place apart:). It's all that fantastic public transportation and walking that forces most New Yorkers to exercise, haha.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Lulu,... NYC is NOT a picture of America (same is true for Paris and France). Another interesting observation is Flo felt the energy and diversity of NYC made it feel very similar to Paris, but she countered that Paris is much dirtier! Would you beg to differ?
DeletePS. Beautiful photographs, love the B&W!
ReplyDeleteThank you my friend! :)
DeleteInteresting observations - yeah, we take some of our cultural differences for granted! I can see where the sneaker thing can be so weird....
ReplyDeleteLovely photos - I love seeing Paris through your eyes.
So true Shirley, traveling helps us better understand (and hopefully accept) each other's differences at the end of the day. Thank you for stopping by :)
DeleteYour post made me think Catherine (kudos to you!) -- NYC is definitely an icon as far as the USA is concerned... but totally not representative of the country in which I live. By the same token, I know we Americans have a certain visual of France in our minds which likely does not represent the country in total.
ReplyDeleteSo much to learn and see. Loved your post and images. xo
Thank you so much Nancy, and I so agree with your comments. Makes me wonder if we can really go anywhere now without the lens of preconception... (though the other day I visited a place without having done any prior research or seen any pictures - and it was wonderful! kinda like how children see the world :)
DeleteThat is so interesting to see what people think about a place and then have see what things are kind of really like! Love your black and whites!
ReplyDeleteGetting a first-time visitor's viewpoint certainly helps us develop new eyes and a renewed appreciation of our local landscape :) Thank you for coming by Emily!
DeleteThis post makes me smile! xo
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