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| A chapel for fishermen (click to enlarge) |
There is sweet living in France, in spite of the crisis. And yet I have more mixed feelings this time around.
The stay is in a fancy resort area of France where relatives happened to live way before it became a famous resort area. Living is cool, for the rich, the casual visitor or the native still hanging there. They all go to the same market two days a week, carrying all their grocery bag as there is no more the "paper or plastic" dreadful question in France: you bring your bags now, almost everywhere. All mix, whether they come from the fancy villa hidden in the pine forest or the fisherman shack. There is something about relentless sand and pines and rain that brings up a notch humility in all.
Civility in France is a welcome relief from the unbending vulgarity here, one that this time around I appreciated more than ever. In Paris we saw
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet walk in front of us while we had diner at a brasserie. What is noteworthy here is that the woman is the top challenger for Paris mayor election next year and she was walking alone in a busy street, no one stopping here, no body guards accompanying her, and yet recognized. This is simply inconceivable in Venezuela where one year ago I saw
Ismael Garcia attend the same pedicure as I do, accompanied with two body guards in a closed mall....
Today finally the United States Supreme Court bowed to what was unavoidable, to what civilized countries in the world had been granting one by one over the last two decades. Any two not directly related adults in a stable union should all have the same rights.
