French affair

Arrgh. I have a sudden longing to visit France. All Peter Mayle's fault! I bought one of his less famous book - French Lessons - from the bargain bin and before I knew it, this hankering for French food and French countryside took root.

Hmmm I can't really recall when my inclination for all things French started. When I took French lessons (at the regrettable Cambridge Language Centre)? When I first read Peter Mayle's "A Dog's Life" in VJ? When I watched my first and incidentally favourite French movie Jeux d'enfant (weirdly translated by the producers into Love Me if You Dare)? When I travelled through Provence a couple of years ago?

Or it probably started the first time I visited Paris many years ago. I remember certain bits of the trip very clearly. It was after PSLE. I was crazy about a toasted roadside tuna baguette. I admired an artist painting along the pavement. The big "Carrefour" sign near my hotel was a touch of familiarity. I bought a miniature porcelain doll. The enormous rose window in Notre Dame de Paris left me breathless in awe. The evening cruise on River Seine, the Eiffel Tower all lit up. Snow falling gently on Cinderella's castle. Who cared if the other rides were closed?

I must must must go again!