Monday 20 September 2010

Cold blooded cousins?

There are sterotypes for a reason.

"Americans speak loudly". Well, we do.
"Germans wear socks with their sandals." A lot of them do.
"The French always wear scarves"....

I went out running yesterday. It was about 60 degrees (15-16°c) but drizzling very slightly. Most of Lille was out for the dominical walk at the Citadelle, the only "real" park in Lille. Since there was a carnaval (games, ferris wheel, etc) set up, there were more people that usual.

At first, I noticed a kid about Suzanne's age being pushed in a stroller. The kid had on a scarf. I thought, ok, no big deal. I wore one last week when I had a sore throat. Then I saw a family walk by, and another, and another. All their kids were wearing winter hats, scarves and their winter coats with the hoods on over the hat.

As I ran around the park, I noticed at least a half dozen fellow runners wearing woolen hats and gloves...

My conclusion : the French are partially cold blooded.

6 comments:

Mil said...

they do wear a lot, even men. My sister commented on this when she came last November. Sometimes they're even kind of frilly scarves. This wouldn't fly in the south of the US!

Amber said...

I agree! Jeremie asked me to turn the heat on this weekend and I told him to put on a sweater if he was cold. After I had to go to Ikea to buy "winter blankets" for the bed because he was "too cold" at night. Wimps!

Chilly Brit said...

Ahaaa! That also explains why british girls here get spotted a mile away with their bare shoulders and legs... But i do believe in nurture more than nature, where resistance to the cold is concerned ;)

Allison said...

I have to laugh at the "Americans speak loudly" comment... one of my sons, born and raised in France just like his brother but strangely having inherited more of the US genes, was asked to get his ears checked when he was in Moyenne Section at the Maternelle: the teacher said he talked so loud all the time there must be something wrong with his hearing!!

Anonymous said...

have you seen the scarves tied OVER the hood of the coat yet?! Then you'll know it's winter in France.

Reb said...

Glad I'm not alone on this one!

Allison, very funny. My husband says the same about our daughter.

Emmy, I find the scarf over coat thing to be very disturbing...

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