Friday, February 29, 2008

Allez France!

You have to laugh, don't you? There's not much to choose between a self-righteous 'idealist' like this guy, and the destructive pleasure-seekers who also treat 'Abroad' as a theme park on which to project their sorry selves, rather than a real world with real people and real cultures - and indeed languages. Excellent work by the French, I'd say.

7 comments:

  1. '[P]eople thought he was a freeloader', apparently. Well, score one for the 'people' because that is what he is.

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  2. Of course, he should have gone through Holland! they understand the lingo better and have a historical affinity for hippies and hippiness.

    It's sad really, this is a journey inspired, I'm sure, by Satish Kumar's peace walk from the grave of Gandhi to the grave of JFK, meeting the leaders of the four nuclear powers on the way - the whole time travelling penniless! It is a remarkable achievement because it shouldn't by rights have succeeded. It is very admirable of this young fella to try.

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  3. They should have dressed as Vikings and asked for spam.

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  4. We're driving to Florida next week and will be begging food and drink along the way as part of our campaign for lower income taxes.

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  5. I'll be in la belle France in a few weeks and I can't wait. Learning the language when I lived there twenty years ago was both necessary and wonderful. My 14 year old son, already a francophile too, has been mastering French with the help of Rosetta Stone (great language program on CDs; kid got a hot copy for $5 and it's got 200 languages on it!).

    France is the one place I know in Europe where it's still important to speak the language. And, frankly, how is the guy in the article going to learn French walking around the coast of Britain: Was that a misprint for Brittany???

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  6. And, frankly, how is the guy in the article going to learn French walking around the coast of Britain:

    Ahh Susan, the same question occurred to me. But then, again, the pursuit of knowledge is the cornerstone of our civilization...

    D.

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  7. he wrote: "...not only did no one not speak the language..."

    Apparently, French is not the only language he can't speak.

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