Mark's eJournal August 24, 2009 – Glasgow

The French take their summer 4-week vacation usually between July 15th and September 15th. It’s known as Les Grandes Vacances. They desert Paris and leave it to the tourists. Restaurants put signs on their doors stating the dates they will be on vacation but these dates are merely suggestions. Check before you decide to walk to your favorite restaurant. That “back August 15th” sign is approximate. It could be the 17th, the 20th or even September 15th. This long vacation ends with “La Rentree” [or homecoming]. No more telephone messages stating that due to the short-staff situation no calls can be answered or returned at this time. Revived, reinvigorated, and refreshed after La Rentree, the French return to work on all cylinders. Instead of the short staff excuse, it’s “why don’t you call somebody who gives a merde”…..

So it comes as no surprise that we too, being Parisians, decided to leave for a fortnight’s holiday in Glasgow.

Stepping off the plane, it is hard to not make comparisons. Leaving the dry, hot weather of Paris and landing in the cool, moist weather of Glasgow; the 90’s of Paris for the 60’s of Glasgow [or 30’s of Paris for the teens of Glasgow for you metric-minded folks]; is like night and day. It’s refreshing. It makes my long runs easy. And then you notice that instead of the calcareous pebbles that dominate the paths and fields of the gardens and parks of Paris, the pavements and paths are dominated by tarmacadam…..which is not surprising since the Scot John MacAdam invented the stuff. We arrive at Katherine's sister May's house in Glasgow and immediately notice how green & lush her garden is.

And while you’re running, you make another observation. The Scots are friendlier than the French. Now, don’t get me wrong. The French friends we’ve made are every bit as friendly as our Scottish friends. Even the shopkeepers whose local shops we frequent are as friendly as their Scottish counterparts. But the French don’t go in for “glaikit” smiles, eye contact, and good morning to passing strangers. The Scots, on the other hand, encourage it. French runners don’t even acknowledge other runners. The Scots nod their head or wave a hand. Pass a Scot walking their dog or just walking in the park, and they’ll say good morning to you. Not so the French.

But the most shocking comparison is prices. After years of traveling to Britain, we usually pack the grocery advertisement section of the papers so that we can compare prices between the US and the UK. The UK is always more expensive. It’s always dollar to pound ratio. Now living in Paris for 4 months, we know that Paris is expensive but not by how much. What the UK prices are to the US prices is what the Paris prices are to the UK prices!!! With the exception of wine prices, it’s amazing how anybody living in Paris can afford anything…..including us.

But the silver-lining in Scotland is the beer prices, easily half the Paris prices. So it’s wine in Paris and beer in Glasgow…..and that’s it from me, I’m off to the pub.