September, everybody's back at work.
At coffee break, colleagues ask me about my recent vacation.
I said it was in France.
"Where?" "Oh, somewhere...
I guess in the South, but not quite, I'd say rather southish...
" I am embarrassed, since my astonishing precision is rewarded by puzzled, ironical looks...
Driving back home, I try to figure out how I could forget the very name of the quiet village where I spent a fortnight with some friends, in a small villa lent us by my friend's brother.
Evident: we practiced a lot of windsurf, travelled around, but never met anybody from the place.
Which remained anonymous, at least for me, because it had no face, no human being reminding us of it One can conceive tourism as a way of seeing new places, relaxing, having fun, or recovering some energy.
It works.
If travelling, one wants to enjoy new landscapes, taste different food, experience other leisure activities.
Globalisation has brought the world closer.
Oil prices keep increasing, yet internet simplifies the task of tour operators and airlines, to the extent that flying is cheaper than ever, thanks to airplanes exploiting their capacity at unprecedented rates.
Personally, in this getaway exotic frenzy, I wouldn't want to miss the most enjoyable aspect of it all: getting a taste of new cultures.
I mean,experience the way the natives of the country I visit live their lives.
What are their habits, their way of seeing life, having fun? For this reason I like bed and breakfast.
There, I always get a chance to know people from the hosting country, oftentimes through the hosting family.
Their hospitality is often warm, although, at the beginning, they seem sometimes a little shy.