ooooohhh-la-la!!!!!! --- I love to watch French men. They charm me silly. They are so – so – soooo vulnerable and sooo sexy. Somehow they always manage to look like they just got out of bed – hair tossled, droopy eyed, with an adorable little boy smile. I can’t explain it but it’s a turn-on. And they’re so polite. I even notice the ones who smoke because they have a tortured poet look that makes me want to comfort them - or seduce them. Sometimes when I step into a crowded train in Paris a French guy will offer me his seat. I’m not used to that. In New York some guys stuck to their seats like their asses were glued to them. That’s ok – in Manhattan it’s everyone’s butt for themselves.
But in Paris there’s a delicious charm in the way most men treat women. When a man offers me his seat I’m so flattered. Ahhh – my prince! I mumble a tiny “merci” – then immediately plaster my butt down. They smile when they hear my American accent. I still don’t know if they think it’s charming or goofy. Maybe they're thinking “Oh, these silly Americans – tsk, tsk…”
I also like to watch French women watch French men. Now that’s when the French laws of the jungle really kick in. Those darn French women – how do they do it? They communicate without communicating but it’s always perfectly, sexually clear. They revel in their bodies. They have such styyylllle…and they wear these bright, impossibly long scarves and they toss them around in such a way it gives them an “I don’t give a damn” chic. Huh??? What the hey??? I bet they learn that from the craddle. My mom sure never taught me that...
One of the best times in Paris happens on sultry summer nights when French men and women – and a sprinkling of lucky foreigners – meet on a small, wooden walking bridge on the Seine. They light candles and spread tablecloths piled high with the finest wine, bagettes, and all kinds of French delicacies. Tourist barges pass underneath the bridge and the French wave at them and say “Boujour les touristes!!!” The tourists always wave back - and in that moment I remember how lucky I am. I get to stay on that bridge as long as I want.... :-))
