I’m sitting here on my last full day before I re-cross the pond. If you like I’ll share a few thoughts with you guys and gals when I get back. Promise not to show images of patriotic Yanks with their Trump flags and MAGA caps.
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I hope you had a safe trip back. Would be interested to hear your thoughts.
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Yes, I may have to make the journey next year but its a logistical nightmare from down here as only CGD fly direct to where I need to go and I don’t have the confidence to go alone, Madrid would be nearer but again getting there from here!
CDG can be a nightmare to get to if you’re coming from the south, whereas Madrid’s main airport, Madrid-Barajas (there are two others) is north of the city, so easier to access from France.
Alternatively, a train from Perpignan or Girona looks a reasonable option
I tried posting a couple of links, but they didn’t work on SF - so google 'Perpignan to Madrid airport by train and you’ll get more info.
Perpignan is my nearest home city, am in their agglo. Obviously it depends on who goes where but my destination is not a usual one and flights not that often to Europe.
I wrote this during a five hour layover at Lisbon airport. I was returning to Europe after six weeks at three different locations in North America. Vancouver Island, San Francisco and Washington DC. It gave me the opportunity to think about, and compare, living in two very different environments.
The first thing that came to mind was the wildlife. Even on the edges of Silicon Valley there are deer roaming freely in built up areas. All along the pacific coast I saw whales, dolphins, sea otters and sea lions. Bald eagles and pelicans in abundance. Not to forget the hummingbirds. Very different from where I live in the Pyrenees where almost all the wildlife had been wiped out by a combination of toxic chemicals used in agriculture and hunting. What remains is largely nocturnal.
The less appealing side is the rampant consumerism. You may think your local supermarket offers plenty of choice on a wide range of goods. Wait until you visit Walmart or Safeway. The pressure to buy more is relentless. It is not uncommon to see people driving huge pickup trucks which have obviously never been used to carry anything. I asked a friend why this was. He said they have always driven vehicles like that and continue to buy them when they have retired and have no use for them. I saw the sacks containing one weeks waste for a household of two people. One big sack alone full of aluminium drinks cans. Amid all this excess it is not uncommon to come across people living, literally, on the street. There are an estimated 50,000 alone in Los Angeles. And so it goes on. The huge contrast between the lives of the haves and the have-nots. And of course there is public healthcare, or the lack of it. I know from personal experience that, in the USA, the first question asked by a doctor or a hospital is “How are you going to pay?”
PS. Shiba, have you considered Barcelona. It is the one that I use whenever I have to cross the pond. There is more choice, and often better deals if you are prepared to change planes when you fly to Canada or the US
It made me glad that I live in Europe and more particularly France. But it also reminded me of the advantages of living in a big united country. There is no war in North America. Canada and the US live in relative harmony. It underlines the advantages of a united Europe and makes me even more suspicious of the motives of the anti-European Brexiteers. Are they just puppets and, if so, who are the puppet masters?
No, I have never been anywhere alone other than Brest to Montpellier and here to Stansted this year. I don’t have the confidence after a lifetime of always having someone with me to travel alone now and would be all alone in a huge country if something went wrong. My destination would be Charlotte Douglas Airport in NC. You are right about the absolute disgusting consumerism in the US, my family who have just moved from Texas said it was nothing to dump your vehicle on the side of the road if you didn’t want it and they just don’t have recycling in any form there. Credit seems so easy to get but then as you say, medical bills are frightening, my daughter paid €9000 for the cat to have a treatment for the dispersal of a calcium granule in his uterine tract, she now has insurance on him and the two dogs. I think if I did get there I would take out as much medical insurance as I could, you just never know what is around the corner and too late if you don’t - could lose my home to pay for it!
It’s pointless to compare lifestyles between countries that are polar opposites, the US is a 24/7 society where people live to work and it’s often cheaper to eat out than prepare the same meal at home. On the flip side the basics (healthcare, housing and education) are crazily expensive which is why millions can never afford to retire and huge numbers of people are homeless.
Oh there is. Not externally. Internally.
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