This article is ©2004 Aalok and is published here with the authorization of its author.

May 1st, 2004

It was not what I expected it to be! The pleasure was not that much for being there but it was more for being among them! How wrong I was about the French!

My visit to France was under an cultural exchange programme.We landed in Paris on 1st May 2004. We were escorted to our french hosts' homes after a brief introduction. We were a bit nervous about how it was going to be! Surprisingly we were all greeted with such warmth that almost immediately we were feeling quite at home! Not all the hosts were good at English but language did not become a barrier at all... It was an intense inner need to converse and to know each other that we were talking all the time and it was real fun!
Ours was a three weeks programme. One week in Paris and two weeks Marseilles.

Paris

My hosts in Paris were Nelly and Pierre and Stephan and Deborah.I have hardly seen any nicer people on this planet!They behaved as if I was the host and they were the guests!

During my stay in Paris I saw Eiffel Tower, Arc-de-Triomphe, Musée d'Orsay, Opéra, Montmartre, Musée du Louvre, Latin Quarters, French Senate in Luxembourg palace, Chateau de Versailles, Centre des Recollets, CECOS sperm and Ovum bank, Pasteur Institute, Notre Dame, The Grande Arche de la Défense, Bibliothèque Nationale, Pavillon de l'Arsenal, Champs Elysées and many other things! You just cant see enough of Paris in just one week!

The beauty and the craftmanship of all these monuments are just perfect and you better see it than reading any insufficient description by some traveller. In French Senate we were greeted by a good Senator and he himself surprisingly took the pains to show us around and took us to the main hall where the session was in progress!It was a wonderful experience. I can not remember his name but he seemed very frank and polite unlike some other politicians I have come across.

Marseilles

After our stay in Paris we went to Marseilles. It is the second largest city of France on the Southern coast. People of Marseilles are very nice and welcoming. They say Marseilles is famous for its hospitality and I have reason to believe them!There I stayed with Auguste Mezin and Claude and after that with Alberto and Veronique. I owe them a lot. They made me realise how selfless and generous a human being can be!

In Marseilles we visited the Old port, Chateau Gombert, The Pannier, Saint Thys, The new port, Regional library, Grand Littoral mall, Aix en Provence, Luminy University, Calanques, Friche de la Belle de Mal, A theatre for art performances, Cassis, a wine factory Chateau Virant, Frioul Island, Institute of Emmaus Notre Dame de la Garde and many other things.

Conclusion

The most impressive thing about the whole tour is that France has managed to maintain its heritage and infrastructure facilities both without compromising any. Its really remarkable! And there is no much fuss about it! People live generally comfortable life and eventhough there is some unemployment problem and other little issues lurking in the back ground, everything is handled and taken care of efficiently.

Political people does not seem to blow bugles of what they do or have done so far!At least it does not appear eyesoringly public!People are somewhat reserved but there is an inner spring of feeling that you can discover once you let them open up! In short , this is a marvelous country with marvelous people which seems an enviable combination!

You must visit France atleast once just to have the feel of it.. I do intend to visit it once again as there I have left many many sweet memories and many many sweeter friends behind and I cant bear the thought that its all over!It can not , it will not!