Stephen Clarke tells in first person narrative the story of a young Brit (himself) who goes to Paris on a year long contract to help open tea rooms. The typical stereotypes of French culture, compared to that of England, are highlighted in the book. I walked away from the book thinking that all French people care about are food and sex. Surely, it's not true, but I could understand why someone would rather think about these things more so than politics, war, economy, and all the other things that affect our life. I'm not a 'live to eat' person (rather I 'eat to live'), but after being in Holland for some time, I can appreciate one's desire to eat something that appeals to the human palate. As for sex, do I really need an explanation here? Anyhow, in two weeks time, I will be in France myself for the second time. The first time was to Paris in 1998. This time, a group of us are off to Avoriaz in the French Alps for a week of snowboarding. Armed with a handful of vocabulary and a few phrases, I will see for myself if indeed the French are all about food and sex:
Excuse moi, parlez-vous Anglais?Je m'appelle Diana. Je suis un American. (Maybe I should leave this out). Ou est la toilette?Vous etes une pomme de terre.Voulez-vous couchez avec moi?Oh, about the book.... Yes, the author's quite witty so it's a fun book to read. And
merde means shit. 4 stars.
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