Parlez-vous français?

There is no doubt that Indochina was once a French colony. What we know today as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were under French control until the Americans and the Communists arrived, after the second world war!

Here in Cambodia, specially in Siem Reap (near the Angkor temples) people greet themselves with the ever-so-french 'ça va'! The restaurants, bars, pensions and even some official signs bear French names or are in French. As a matter of fact the French themselves are everywhere!

I guess every average Frenchman dreams in running away from France. They say they love their 'hexagone' but given the chance to skip French taxes, French laws, French life and French conneries they do it at the blink of an eye! It is not only here in Cambodia. I have seen that in Morocco, Mauritius, Tunisia and even Shanghai.

They come, get married to a local and open a restaurant. Than they play French music, smoke Gitanes Blondes and take the piss out of the American tourists that plague all the corners of the world. It is an interesting scenario. There is even a cigarette brand called Alain Delon! After a few years they start missing La République but do not have money to return. Or would not fit back into the ever so intricate French society. So here they stay...

As I was having lunch today at a French resto the owner's HUGE black dog that was wandering around the tables decided to sit right over my feet. So there I was, petting Oskar (the dog), having to eat with only one hand (the other one was dirty with dog hair and whatever else they have), listening to le rock français and overhearing the owner's conversation on the phone, en français, bien sûr.

Today I went to the airport to greet a friend of mine who arrived from Dubai. It felt really funny to be with all those tourist guides carrying a little name sign and being observed by every single jet lagged person exiting the terminal. I felt as a local, as if I had lived here for many years, even felt a little French! And that is weird!!!

Carla is now asleep at the hotel. We will stay here a few more days. I do not know what to do since yesterday I did all the sightseeing needed. She will go to the temples tomorrow and I may stay around the city, maybe go to a 5-star hotel's swimming pool. The heat here is unbearable and there are few people outside at this time of the day. Feels like the Sertao in Brazil (or Texas, I imagine).

At the same time I am reading a book by Isabel Allende, where she tells many tales about food and afrodisiacs. Quite an interesting combination. A dog, a baguette, a book and many lascivious ideas. It is a pitty I am feeling so dirty, with no courage to undress in front of strangers and have smelly body touched by someone else. This is only when we stay at a 5 star air conditioned hotel! ha ha ha