I am currently a high school graduate from the Philippines and I have won a grant to study for four years in fashion design at one of the posh fashion institutions here in Paris. This will entirely be my very first time in a foreign country. When the Philippine Airlines flight I boarded from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila first took off, I almost puked not out of seasickness or jet lag but because I’ll be going to a Babel-like land – a land that is bereft of spoken English and everybody is speaking French. I have been told that English and French are cousins because they originate from one language which is Roman and thus they are called Romance languages. So that’s my only consolation. Besides, I have been told that people in Paris are intellectual in nature and thus are more romantic. So I have to keep that in mind as an inspiration and to forget my loneliness because I’ll definitely be missing family and friends back home in the Philippines. Besides, I want to meet foreign guys. I’m curious to know their culture.

When the plane touched down at Charles de Gaulle International Airport, that’s when I immediately went to the women’s room at the airport and puke. I also wept and sobbed there because it was really a foreign land. Everybody around me was Caucasians and there were only a few English signs at the airport. Of course, I knew the procedure beforehand on where should I go next but that numbness feeling still freaked me out. I later learned that not all of these people are Roman Catholics like me although Catholicism is still the dominating religion in the country. There are lots of Muslim migrants here from Morocco and at this point in time in December, they are celebrating Eid ul-Adha. It is the commemoration of the willingness of prophet Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.

Then while resting at the airport lobby after puking the Philippine Airlines breakfast (which was actually still Filipino food), I suddenly remembered the movie I saw a few years ago called The Terminal. The Terminal was about a man who had no citizenship and had lived for more than a decade at Charles de Gaulle. I later learned that the French Red Cross took him into custody. The real-life movie was directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks. The cinematography which touched me so deeply was done beautifully by Janusz Kaminski. Then it dawned upon me that I was actually sitting in the terminal where the same person in limbo had his life. Then I slowly smiled. Paris after all will be a challenging experience. I may not be lonely here as I think.

And so, I slowly wormed my way window shopping at the airport – exactly the same area where the guy in The Terminal was strolling. There were lots of boutiques there, the same ones you see in Manila such as Valentino, Lacoste, Gucci and what-have-you. There were a few bistros and cafes offering authentic French delicacies but I begged myself off for that momentarily. There is time to enjoy bouillabaisse and other yummy French food later.

THAT may well be some irony, huh? Christmas is supposed to be solemnizing the birth anniversary of the Messiah but spending it in a naked city is best reserved for adventurers. Well, of sorts. Adventurers in the naked city of Cap d’Agde in the Mediterranean south of France are definitely not conservative Catholics, which most of France is. They are just there for adventure during the holiday season but they are not perverts either. So you may as well join them because they are just like the rest of us only they are naked. They are naked because of their free will to be that way and because the place dictates them to be. Some of them may not even be nudists at heart but they work there are waitresses or bartenders and that’s the norm there. Clothed people are accosted there but the naked city of Cap d’Agde cannot be seen from up above because the entire area is domed much like the setting in the movie The Truman Show. Only it is real.

Cap d’Agde is not a representation of France though for the rest of the country is serious, straightforward and conservative. Think of Joan of Arc. The French people are definitely the most treasured possessions in France. They may not appear to be as jolly as the Italians yet they are passionate at heart. That is why French is considered to be the most romantic language because romance is neither forced nor outward, it is simply an inward emotion. And the French can best represent that. There are lots of places in France where one can find to be titillating and romantic. Examples of which are the majestic Notre Dame Cathedral, the Shakespearean Library in Paris, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the banks of the River Seine and so many others.

French food is something portrayed as elitist in pop culture. But this is not true in France where French food is a staple even among humble rural farm growers. French elegant dining is only reserved at high end restaurants where the crème de la crème of society hang out but one can still savor delicious, nutritious and quality French food any time of the day in small eateries. I mean, come on, they don’t import what they eat here so you may as well count that as French food. Do I hear any argument there? Oops.

The traditional French breakfast is composed of baguette whipped with butter and croissants downed with black coffee. This is especially true during the nine dawns preceding Christmas where religious French folk wake up and go to mass as part of the vigil of Christ’s birth. After mass, they savor their breakfast and what better way to start the day than to have a brewing cup of hot pure black coffee to keep you awake all morning long. After breakfast at one of the eateries outside church, you may decide to jog all the way home. In this way, you can spend on taxicab fare and you can also care for your health.