By Andy Brack
Perhaps the most delightful thing about vacationing in France this year was something beyond the great food, spectacular culture, lush vistas and kind people.
The best thing about this year’s time away from the United States was not having to hear about Donald Trump and politics every time you turn a corner. Maybe it’s not until one gets away for a bit that you realize how inundated and exhausted we are by politics through social media, television, radio, newspapers and all of the messaging that slams into our brains daily. Being able to mostly turn that off for a few days has been a vacation in and of itself.
Sure, we heard about the sudden bombing of Iran, the New York mayor’s race and the not unexpected announcement by S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson that he is running for governor.
But what’s been joyously missing is the rat-a-tat-tat of people dissecting every little aspect of what Trump and his administration are doing – even though they often just seem to make up stuff as they go along to respond to whatever is in the daily news cycle.
So maybe the best vacation advice of the year – either inside the U.S. or out – is to turn off social media and television for a few days to get away from the incessant hum and chatter of politics. It will be good for your soul.
IN FRANCE, my younger daughter and I had a good time visiting Paris, Bordeaux and several small villages along the Dordogne River. Here are some observations:
Air-conditioning: We visited during an unexpected heat wave in a part of the world that doesn’t do air-conditioning well. In one hotel, the lowest setting for the A/C was 76 degrees– and it was still humid. In an apartment we rented briefly, the 18-inch-thick walls did a great job of keeping out the heat, but it was still warm inside. To get cooler, we bought a $30 fan.
Food: Once you eat bread baked by the French, you won’t want the schlock that most Americans eat. It’s fresh, clean-tasting, hearty and inexpensive – as are wine, cheese and more. While you can still get junk in larger grocery stores, it’s interesting to look at how there are far fewer ingredients listed on packaging. Everything seems less processed.
Coffee: It’s just better. Anywhere you go in France – except maybe train stations – has better coffee than you generally get in the U.S. The portion sizes, however, are tiny.
Markets: Villages thrive on weekly markets where you can get everything from canned duck and the sweetest strawberries to olives, nuts, cheese, fish, meat, clothing, jewelry and all kinds of knick-knacks. We didn’t see a lot of Chinese-made junk.
Transportation: The high-speed trains between big cities are way cool. It took 2.3 hours to go 350 miles from Paris to Bordeaux, for example. Ubers are affordable. Trams are easy. But driving in a rented car on narrow French country roads can be exhausting.
Smoking: About the only disappointing part of some local restaurants were smokers at outside tables. While smoking doesn’t appear as ubiquitous here as it once was, it’s noticeable and makes one think about how much more pleasant restaurants are in the U.S. since smoking has been banned.
Guns: The culture isn’t permissive or obsessive on guns. People weren’t walking around with them. Gun shops were rare – most likely because of how hard it is to get hunting rifles here. About the only guns we saw were among trios of police officers in high-traffic tourist areas.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.
