Nathalie Boyer - J'adore

J'ADORE

Ten things that I love about Vancouver :

1. The incredibly beautiful setting of mountains rising above the ocean. Inspirational. Incroyable!

2. The fresh sea air that blows in off the water. It makes you sparkle.

3. Running or biking around the Seawall. A treasure in the heart of the city.

4. Picnicking at the beach in the summer.

5. Fantastic sushi at a price that must make them weep in Paris and Tokyo.

6. Non-smoking Clubs and restaurants. You can show the French a thing or two about being civilized!

7. Recycling policy and environmental programs. Vancouver really is Green!

8. Everywhere you wander in the city, there are little parks like discarded emerald shawls, embroidered with flowers.

9. Sailing on a day filled with sun and light and a warm breeze.

10. When it stops raining, and the way it smells after a spring rain.

Ten things that the I miss about France:

1. Strolling on the Champs Elysees with no particular place to go.

2. Having a little Pastis on a terrace of a cafe. It is the first thing I do when I return to France.

3. The first sip of the Beaujolais nouveau in a Zinc Bar in Paris.

4. The endless, ongoing political debate in the streets and cafes of Paris, where everyone has an opinion and seems to know what is going on.

5. The politically incorrect behavior of the French.

6. The flirtatious ways of French men. Mais, Non? Mais, Oui! And the way French men dress.

7. Swimming in the indigo blue of the Mediterranean.

8. An icy cold Rose slipping down your throat on a blistering hot day in the summer after you have been driven into the shade by the heat. A perfect way to surrender to the sun. I seem to be doing a lot of drinking in France, don't I...? It is the French way, darlings!

9. Ogling the beautiful people on the Cote d'Azure. And then commenting on their clothes...

10. My good friend Guy and his beautiful Peniche (boat) on the Seine River in Paris and my friends and my family.