Don’t quite get these Frogs yet…
I’ve always supported the Frogs. I’ve battled continuously to learn their ‘belle langue’. I have defended them when people called them arrogant. Hell, I even became friends with a few of them…
And that is all despite them being a historical foe, and ‘that game’ in Cardiff last year (that cut deep). But ‘merde’ are they annoying sometimes. They do not follow queues, they do not let you pass when getting onto the metro, and they do not smile when walking down the street. They’re unbelievably bureaucratic. They’re always on strike-I mean you’d think that 5 weeks holiday, plus a 35 hour working week would be enough?
Customer service? I once went into a shop to get a refund, the guy pointed me to a queue, I lined up, was sent back to the original guy who said ‘oh yeah, but unfortunately I finish in 5 minutes’. WTF, mate?
However it IS the ‘beautiful language’ (despite a kiwi accent ripping it to shreds). It is an amazingly beautiful country with so much history that deserves to be discovered. I have been treated better here by most people that I would be in my own country. I’ve eaten food I didn’t even know tasted so good. And sometimes, just for a split second, I’ve felt français (For example starting to do the ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ shoulder shrug and face pout). I feel like I’m balancing between really understanding them, and giving up for life. This voyage will hopefully fill in the gaps.
Learning a language in a foreign country must be one of the most confidence and character testing things to do. If you’re a bit slow with languages like me, it takes years of study, only to arrive and feel like you have to start from scratch again. You have to make new friends, find new crappy jokes, and struggle to show some of ‘you’ between your garbled French. Some laugh in your face the moment you open your mouth, others reply in their broken English as if you’ve got a disability. And the worst- when you have been speaking and two seconds later you realise you said ‘nice arse!’ rather than ‘thank you’ (Merci beaucoup/beau cul!). Or ‘I’ll f**k one of those’ rather than ‘I’ll take one of those’ (yep, I managed to do that). But this makes it worth it. It is a desire to talk to other people you would never otherwise be able to- to truly LIVE their culture.
And it’s this desire to meet new people, enjoy their countries, and share a joke with someone who you don’t even speak their language that makes us want to continue on our voyage.
So it’s up to the Frogs first…
Point de Depart- Lyon
The start of our trip is from Lyon, France. The centre of gastronomy in France, Lyon also boasts a rich history dating back to Roman times. As we show you Lyon, we will post our videos here and on our videos page of what to do in this beautiful city.
