So France...

Hello everyone, welcome back!

I realize that I started this a little backwards, what with my post yesterday not having anything to do with my amazing 3 week jaunt to France. But I had to get that post written, and just figured that it would be ok with everyone if I skipped out on my welcome back post.

Truth is, I have no idea how to write about the trip. It's so big, and I really don't want to give you all a blow-by-blow of each day. So I'll round up the trip, give you a few excerpts from my diary of the trip, and a few interesting observations.

I traveled with a group of students as an educational trip on the modern history of France. That's a pretty broad statement, but it's a broad subject. Essentially we were tourists who happened to be students, with a professor along to point out some signifigant cultural sites. There were under 20 people onboard, so everyone got to know each other really quickly.

We traveled around Bordeaux and the wine country, went east to Nice and the riveria, then meandered north until we hit Paris. Every section was different from the last, but it was all amazing. The architecture, art, food, wine...the ocean, starry nights in tropical heat, with the lights of small towns winking across the bay...This all does not give the glimpse of 3 weeks of constant travel, but I've decided for all our sakes, I'm not going to rehash the enitrity of the tip. Sufficed to say, it was 3 weeks I'll never forget.

At first, I was a little nervous meeting people. I mean, I'm getting better at chatting up strangers, but at the same time knowing you have to make conversation for 3 weeks with people instills paranoia; what if I look like an idiot now, how well will we all get on after 20 days? But people were open and friendly, conversation flowed easily and ideas and observations were gladly passed around between us. Really, I couldn't imagine doing it with a better group of strangers.

There were two discernable groups, the 'cool kids' and everyone else. The 'cool kids' were the ones there on their trust-fund's budget, and focused on shopping at Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Not that I have anything against that...but there was a definate lack of interest in things like, say, the Louvre. Then there was everyone else, who needed more of an interest in the couture side of things...

Amazingly to me, I was able to bounce between both groups. I dined at expensive resturants with group A, and hit the museums with group B. One girl in particular liked pretty much only me and one other guy on the trip. We would steal away and find a local patio, drinking and smoking and talking about her sex life. It was very Cabaret-esque, I was the reserved Brian, her the bohemian Sally...she's promised to take me out in Toronto and show me how to have a good time. The thing I loved about our relationship is the fact that though she's the socalite partier, she's still got a brain and cutting wit, and she never once looked down on my less-than-fabulous party life.

Days flew by, trains took us miles and miles across beautiful green fields and vineyards, and even to a few other countries (Italy, Switzerland). We drank, sang, swam, studied...truly the freedom every student dreams of.

An excerpt from the diary, 15 May:
"I'm sitting on our patio, just popped the cork on a half-bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge and opened a bit of chocolate. I've spent almost the whole day alone, which had felt both good and bad. THe nice part was the freedom from tedious moments: I go where I want, when I want.

But naturally, I miss being part of the 'the group' and all that entails. I've probably also missed a nice dinner, since I just ate and nobody else seems to be home. Except (blank) that is. When I got back from the pool he was here 'chilling' and has since fallen asleep on the couch. At least he left the BBC on. I wish he wasn't here though, if I'm doing this alone-for-a-day thing I want to enjoy it completely alone.

The frogs have started to sing."

Alright, time for observations.

I swear my gaydar was broken. Literally every young guy in France could be gay! They all wear sexy jeans, take care of their hair and skin, and are literally all gorgeous. It's amazing to walk amongst so many hot guys, but a little disconcerting because I can't tell if anyone's gay. But that wasn't the purpose of my trip...though it would have been a nice bonus if anything happened...which it didn't. So no, sorry, no sexy French stories for you.

Homosexuality in France seemingly is more accepted than here in North America, but that's a pretty unfounded claim. There were two instances of gay couples that would have turned heads in Toronto, but didn't in France. The first, at a train station. We were standing on the tracks, waiting for a connection, and ignoring the train next to us. Two younger guys came up the stairs, one leading the way to a train door. He stopped, turned, and embraced his boyfriend. They kissed, it was a passionate and sexy and very real. He turned again, and borded the train, while his boyfriend stepped back and waited on the tracks for the train to leave. It was very, very cute, but while it was happening I couldn't help but stare thinking "There are boys kissing in a train station!"

The second instance was in the Louvre, in one of the great halls of paintings. Couches were placed in the middle of the room to let tourists sit and admire the massive portraits and scenes displayed on the walls. We walked in, jaws dropping for the 53rd time that day at the beautiful art hung on the walls before us. As we wandered around, I looked at the couches; there were two guys who were sitting 'dangerously close' to each other for straight guys. A few moments and glances later, and they were kissing, arms around each other, in the middle of the museum. And nobody stopped, stared, pointed, screamed or otherwise gave outward indication they noticed or cared. Both of these things were shocking to me, but in a good way. After all this is 2007...

Another observation was my openness with my sexuality. Well, I wouldn't go so far as openness, but I didn't disguise my sexuality. Not that it came up really, but one girl, Ella, was talking about her best friend who was just coming out back home. She was obviously needing someone to talk to about it, and I always engaged her in frank conversation about the subject. But I didn't exactly scream, "Hey, everyone, guess what!"

One night we were seperated from the group, and ended up sitting on a park bench in the town's centre square. She brought it up again, and after a bit of discussion, I said point blank, "So, do you think I'm gay?" She hesitated for a minute, that hesitation you have when you're about to accuse someone who might be straight of being gay, but then said, "Yeah, it's crossed my mind." So I told her the truth, and got to complain how lucky her best friend is, who has been seeing this great guy...etc etc...It felt nice to be starting a friendship with that out in the open, and it really wasn't a big deal. She didn't care (obviously) and it really just took the place that it should: reserved for the 10% of my person that sexuality takes. I'm sure that the information circulated, but nobody said anything more about it.

All in all, it was a great 3 weeks spent. I can't believe I'm home, after looking forward to going for so long, but I've got a huge number of memories as well as some new friends to reminisce with. So welcome back, I'll do better next time at summarizing 3 weeks of my life. I'm sure I'll touch back on the trip again in future posts. And forgive me for rambling so long...