“Douce France” (Sweet France) is a famous song composed by Charles Trenet, interpreted for the first time in front of French prisoners in Berlin during WW2. It is a sweet, nostalgic song. You can read the lyrics, and translation, it is quite beautiful. In my travelling around the world, I sat in many French cafes or restaurants abroad called after the title of this song…
There is a German proverb that describes feeling great somewhere, saying “Heureux comme Dieu en France”: To be as happy as God is in France. God or no God, happy or not happy, France is one of the most wonderful places in the world.
Mont St Michel and Mont Blanc. Long beaches of Normandy and Bretagne. Sleeping volcanos of Auvergne. Dordogne and its castles and fortified villages. Provence and lavender fields. Amazing Alps. Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lille, Toulouse. And Paris, City of lights.
There is no bad wine, and there is no bad food in France. So many museums you could spend a lifetime in them. Lakes, rivers, forests, valleys, gorges. So many things to do and see. Parks, national parks, amusement parks. Music, comics, films. Festivals and festivities.
And for some, the sweetest language spoken on Earth. Even the most basic sentences in French sound like a love letter, I couldn’t agree more.
The nicest thing about France is that it is so enormous, and so varied, that no matter how many times you visit it, and no matter how many weekends, short or long, you dedicate to exploring it, it will not repeat itself.
The only bad thing is that it is lousily expensive. And the language is difficult to learn. And people are a bit cold.
Everything else is just perfect.
Bon voyage or Bienvenu!