Last night we went to see the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in concert at the Halle aux Grains (old grain storage hall converted to concert hall). Strauss and Tchaikovski; free tickets. That's one of the beauties of Toulouse: culture is accessible and affordable. Why? because in France the arts are subsidised by the government. They are not forced to rely on ticket sales, marketing and patrons like in Australia.
In the late afternoon I met Trish for a cuppa at the Salon de Thé of which there are a few in Toulouse; they are a great alternative to the bustling bistros if you want to have good conversation. Trish is an Australian, a Sydneyite from my end of town. In Sydney she works for the Opera House. She is in Toulouse because at 47 years old she decided to pack it all in for a 1 year sabbatical and live her dream: live in Toulouse and learn French in France. Since I thoroughly respect her courage and motivations I offered my services from time to time to help her practice her French conversation and so that is what we did yesterday. But of course since we are both Aussies we also mused on the differences between France and Australia and the pros and cons of each. There a lot of things I miss about Australia: the ocean, the sunshine, my family and friends, 'fair go' and 'she'll be right mate' which the French could really do with a good dose of, TRUE freedom of speech; and the quality of life to name just a few. But there are also things that I don't miss and one of them is the American stain. The dumbing down of the nation and the low standard of education. Unfortunately France is at the other extreme of the scale. They have formed an elitist society where your education level defines you (why not when higher education is free here) and the name of the grande école you attend is your passport to a bright future. Yes yes, I know... the Ivy League, Oxford and Cambridge have the same effect but my feeling is that in France it is much worse than that. And people are stressed and self-conscious - they have great trouble laughing at themselves like the Aussies can for example. They kiss both cheeks for hello and goodbye whether they have just met you or not, yet hugs and other tactile signs of affection are scarce.
This said I am finding it much easier to connect with people here than I did in Montreal. And I think that as long as my work situation doesn't turn out to be crap, I will be happy here for a while.
Toulouse is a beautiful city, it's young and dynamic, it's well situated geographically, the food is good...
Why can't we have the best of both worlds? :)