Dr. Dodge: Passion for Health

Our month-long vacation in France was special. Sometimes vacations, instead of being restful, can be pressure-packed experiences as folks cram everything possible into their vacation time. I have done that. This vacation was different. It was a true vacation.

We explored the areas we visited in a leisurely way, meandering through our days rather than racing through them. Some days we ventured a little more afield than others, but we usually limited our goals. We sampled experiences gently instead of devouring them on the run. Above all, we made no attempt to catch every possible tourist highlight.

We learned interesting things from the cross-cultural aspects of this vacation. Living in an apartment, walking the streets, riding on the trains and buses, and shopping for groceries brought home commonalities and differences between life in Europe and America in a way that being with a tour group never could have done.

French cantaloupes are smaller than American ones, but much tastier. We never tired of them! Groceries are more expensive in France than in Florida. Gasoline is expensive in Europe, costing about $100 per fill-up. French cyclists protect their brains: they always wear helmets. The French don’t protect their lungs well: smoking in public is rampant.

Yet, we learned firsthand that in spite of differences, people are much the same around the world. The French are sometimes said to be cool and distant to Americans, but we did not find this to be true. Whenever we approached them, we found them to be warm and gracious. Carol’s ability to speak some French was a big help. When the French saw her effort to communicate with them, they were very responsive.

Her relatives were welcoming, as one might expect, but we found hospitable receptivity in many other instances also. Our hotel clerks went out of their way to be helpful to us. When I asked for help in selecting an ideal restaurant to celebrate Carol’s birthday, the young lady at the desk in Mallemort asked for a little research time. The next day, she told me of a wonderful restaurant in a nearby town. Thanks to her suggestion, we enjoyed a memorable birthday dinner under a gorgeous full moon in the French countryside.

Alain, the manager of our apartment complex in Antibes, adjusted our reservations so we would not have to move to a smaller apartment that had originally been reserved by our timeshare company for our second week there. He did this entirely on his own initiative, at some extra trouble to himself, simply to make our stay easier. What a thoughtful man!

Going into Frankfurt our last day, we got lost in the outskirts of the city and had to stop at a gas station to ask for directions. A customer in the station heard us ask for directions to the Holiday Inn and told the clerk that he was going that way, suggesting that we follow him. We agreed gladly. There were many turns over several miles, and we would have had a difficult time finding it on our own. When we got there, he waved to us and went on his way, a grand example of German thoughtfulness. Thanks to all these vacation experiences, we returned home refreshed in body, mind, and spirit.