Coming to Paris for the first time was a dream come true. Living in Paris for three months was beyond that. If it wasn’t for my three kids and my family, I think I would of stayed in Paris. I missed them terribly, and the distance between us made me feel blue. Thanks to technology (Skype) I was somehow able to stay sane. I met interesting people through the Accent program and made good friends. In the middle of the program, I was jet setting to different countries almost every weekend. Flying for fewer than 60 Euros was a deal that I couldn’t surpass. I must say that the most memorable trip was Normandy and Brittany. Everyone in the group went. In Normandy, France at the Normandy American Cemetery Memorial we were able to step on American soil for the first time in months.
Seeing the American flag was kind of odd since we were in France. The French had granted this land to the Americans after WWII. I didn’t know that there was American land in France, nor did I know about the connection between the U.S and France. The only French gift to Americans that I knew about was the Statue of Liberty. I think that now, the connection between the U.S and France is not as strong as before. I remember back in 2003, there was an issue with the Invasion of Iraq that created a conflict between the U.S and France. The U.S decided to boycott French goods and renamed French fries, “freedom fries “. Luckily, this was temporary. Other than that I don’t know much about the political turmoil that might exist between the two countries. Cultural differences play a big role in political connections, and these differences always interfere in alliances. Since there are many differences among the two, I don’t believe there will ever be a 100% easy alliance between France and the U.S.
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