Rediscovering France

An overview: My oldies are both retired elementary school teachers living in a little farm, in a house situated in the middle of our ricefield. Habitants of our little barrio are mockingly called taga-bukid or taga-bundok due to the hills around the area. They are first-time travelers outside the Philippines, both on their 70s and are religiously catholic.
(Our house in the province hiding in the middle of our riceland)

Their arrival in France made me rediscover this country I now call home. Allow me to introduce to you France as I rediscover it from my parent's naïve and uncorrupted eyes.

Paris, Walang Kaparis: Have you ever heard about this? My mom said she's been hearing that line when she was a kid. And indeed, for her, it's Paris, walang kaparis.

Tourism: According to them, France could live with tourism alone. We've been to Paris, Lourdes, Midi-Pyrénées (mountains) and La Vendée (facing Atlantic Ocean) and we never ceased to bump into tourists of different nationalities. If only we could do the same in the Philippines, that would translate to more jobs and more income to the government.

Houses and Hotels on top of the mountains: So now they understand why Frenchguy loves to stay in our little farm. It's his dream to have one like ours. Taga-bundok ka dyan!

Streets of Cobble Stones: So for them, France is really rich. In the Philippines, they put stones inside the house, here, even on the streets. And when they arrived in the centre ville of Dijon where streets are covered with Burgundy stones, grabe daw talaga hehe (Burgundy is also known for its white-pinkish stones).

Map Reading: So there's the driver..and next to him, the map reader. And yes, all of the houses we've been are equiped with at least the map of France.

French Dining: It lasted 4 hours during bébé's baptismal party. Busog na daw sila, kelan daw ba matatapos? By the way, we had 5 servings from starters to dessert.

White Dress for the Baptismal Ceremony: Not anymore. French people don't invest anymore on white ensembles which is destined to be used once. Bébé was the only one on white gown. Pinay pa rin yan.

Pain or Baguette (French Loaf): Parang unan na daw kalaki. And these frencies just place them anywhere.. iniipit pa nga sa kilikili hehe..

Prices: How many times should I tell them stop converting before they actually stop?

Flexitime: Now they're thinking that I'm a big boss because I go and leave my office anytime I want. Pass 8:30, they start to worry for me because they're thinking I'll be late. [Moi] I don't badge nga My. [Mom] Uy, big boss ka na talaga ha... that's almost everyday! Alam ko na bat makulit ako..

Bourgogne Escargot (Burgundy Snails) and Frog Legs: Sosyal daw ang kuhol at palaka dito, sini-serve sa restaurants.

Condom Automatic Dispenser: In almost every corner, be it in Paris or in small villages in France. Immoral daw pala ang mga Pranses. (Hyper catholic nga sila di ba..).

Nudity on Commercial Ads: Immoral daw pala ang mga Pranses Part II.

French Kiss Everywhere: Immoral daw pala ang mga Pranses Part III.

Modern Farming: Alleluia for what technology could do. Would you believe that they had as much interest in this field as what they had for the Eiffel Tower. I guess my father was dreaming of having one for his farm.

Beggars: Most of them don't speak French, they don't look kawawa at all, some even looks macho and able-bodied to plow our ricefield, iuwi na lang kaya sa Pinas at pag-araruhin.

Lady Bus Drivers: My father was amused to see that. Wala daw ganun sa Pinas.

Old People: Old and yet still climbing mountains, still driving cars, still gorgeously living their life!

Mc Donalds: [Moi] My, ano gusto mo? [Mom] Yung me rice. And I was wondering why they push me to eat in McDo instead of other restaurants. Miss na pala nila ang rice.