Thumbs up or down?

We join you again from aboard a train, this time taking us from France to Switzerland. For both of us, it’s our first time in Switzerland and we’re looking forward to the unexpected. But, before we arrive, we have four hours of reflection time while the French countryside zooms past us.

This morning, over a breakfast of croissants, we were asked an interesting question by our hosts (side note: we could not have anticipated a warmer welcome in Lyon…Eric and Aila were sensational!) Anyway, their question was this: “Was there anything that particularly shocked you about France and the differences that exist between the US?” We answered through various anecdotes that illustrated some of the principal differences we’ve experienced, however, most of them derive from our first experiences in France five years ago.

So, for this post, instead of focusing on what activities we participated in while in Lyon, we’ll do a couple general reflections on things we love- and things we don’t love- about the places we’ve been so far.

I’ll start with Spain. My impressions will likely be different from Liv’s, however, I’ll try to think exclusively about those things that we encountered together. Let’s start with some of the good things:

-People generously call you guapa

-There is an abundance of jamón

-Unlike France, the showers actually attach to the wall above your head so you don’t have to make the decision to hold the showerhead or shampoo your own head

-The price of wine! And sidra!!

-Pinxos in San Sebastián. Little gourmet open-faced sandwiches.

-Great blinds that allow two exhausted travelers to sleep well-past their biological alarm clocks.

Now some of the Spanish things that we like –um- less:

-The obsession (that boarders of neurosis) of zapatillas (house-slippers)

-The inevitable shoving and shoulder bumping that happens in the street. What else could you expect from the country that has the bull as their animal emblem.

-The tissue papers that pose as napkins in bars. Should you get a drop of sidra anywhere, be prepared to waste about 40 sheets of this imposter material.

-Light switches outside of the room in question.

Now for the things we like about France:

-BREAD! You needn’t cross more than one foot over the border and the bread transforms into something exquisite.

-Pepper! After living in a country, Spain, that seems to reject pepper, it’s a delight to rediscover these little black specks.

-All of the chateaux that pepper the landscape (you see what I did there?)

-Most well-dressed, chic-looking children in the world.

-Digestifs. Tasty shots of hard alcohol that you drink after a meal to facilitate digestion

The bad sides of France:

-Digestifs. After aperatifs and all the wine you’ll have with dinner, this extra shot will feel like a very bad idea the next morning.

-The PINK toilet paper. What the heck? Given what we’re going to use it for, what’s the sense in making it cute? It just looks alarming once in the toilet bowl.

-Words the end in –GUEUX. Olivia does an excellent impression of the SNCF woman saying “Pérgueux” over the train loud speakers. Her version sounds like “Perry-goughghhuuu”

-Waiters who scoff and make a snorty sound when you order one 7.20 euro hot chocolate to split instead of two.

So, there you go: Those are our general reflections of the first 2 countries we’ve visited. We’ll check in again after we’ve crossed the Swiss border. Tally-ho!