Brentwood Beat
My wife insisted it was time, after many years, to take a trip to France.
“France?” I asked. “Why France?” I was thinking more along the lines of a warm beach. Hawaii, perhaps. But she has always had a thing for France. I think all women do. France is romantic.
I remember traveling to France during my college days. The place seemed very unfriendly at the time. It was 1973, the Vietnam War was raging, and Americans weren’t very popular. Maybe it was our long hair, beards and other scruffy ways. But our little traveling group definitely felt like we were on the receiving end of a lot of cold-shoulder treatment.
My, how things have changed!
We just got back from two weeks in France, and I’m delighted to report we had a phenomenally good time. The French could not have been more friendly.
We visited Paris, the D-Day beaches of Normandy, Lyon and Annecy. I recommend them all to a prospective traveler. June 6 is coming up soon. The history of D-Day is well preserved in Normandy, and well worth seeing. I saw much to recommend France.
We were there when the election results came in. Centrist Emmanuel Macron had just won. It seemed clear that most of the French felt relieved that Marine Le Pen didn’t win.
The French people we bumped into did not want to see a French version of Brexit or Donald Trump play out.
Interestingly, one Frenchman we spoke to said that because Brexit and Donald Trump had just occurred, voters were ready to embrace a centrist Macron. He said had Brexit and Donald Trump not happened, that would have made a Le Pen victory more likely.
As the French woke up to the new political landscape, we detected more and more glimmers of hope unfolding on a daily basis. Macron is young, has business experience, and he started his own party; a poke in the eye to what everyone seems to agree is a very tired establishment.
And now Macron is going out of his way to pick cabinet members from the left, right and center. Half his cabinet is female. I find this is a very hopeful beginning.
Some people told us they are looking at Macron the same way many in America viewed Obama when he was first elected (remember “hope and change”?)
People in France seem happier and healthier than Americans. They are thinner, eat better and enjoy their cafe society. People laugh and talk. They aren’t in as big a rush, and they can put work down at the end of the day. Public transportation is phenomenal.
Paris is now making a real bid for the 2024 Olympics, so Los Angeles has competition. 2024 will be the 100th anniversary of the Olympics last held in Paris. Plus, everyone is feeling for France these days, after the awful terror attacks.
If for some reason we don’t win out on this one, I hope Los Angeles will keep trying. Transportation officials say having the Olympics will help speed up building projects, like an extension of the Metro line to the VA. I’d hate to see this new level of ambition undermined.
I’d love to see more outdoor cafes in Brentwood. The French have this one right. Let’s slow down a bit and enjoy one another.
The only “negative” I perceived, was that the French smoke more than we do.
There is much we can learn from the French. Any smugness we have regarding our alleged superiority feels very outdated, just like my thinking that France was unfriendly toward Americans.
And maybe it’s time for us to start thinking ahead. Who will be the American version of Macron? Can a fresh face, a real centrist, someone young and innovative, emerge the way Macron did?
If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that anything is possible these days.
