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Friday, October 28, 2005

Oh It's Cold!

So my fears of winter having arrived were yet again a little premature. Apparently Paris is yet again experiencing unusual weather and this week has been fairly mild. So mild in fact that I have worn my flip flops the last two days. Being an enormous fan of flip flops I happily welcomed this change of weather and in addition I was thoroughly pleased to be able to witness one of my favorite French oddities one more time.

For some reason the French like to pretend it is not warm but that it is always cold. Along with this both men and women have a love affair with scarves. I first noticed their love of scarves over the winter, ok it's cold no big deal scarves are nice. But then came summer and they continued to wear their scarves and yet complained about how hot it was. I'd like to point out it was never really that hot whenever they were complaining, had they simply removed the 4 foot long scarf wrapped 5 times around their necks they would have realized that it actually felt pretty good outside.

So this type of behavior continued for most of the summer but they did finally start ditching the scarves once it became truly hot. However, at the first sign of cold weather out came the scarves, sweaters, jackets, etc. and despite how much it has warmed up since then they refuse to put them back up.

So as previously mentioned it has warmed up a bit again in these last few days. Today was a lovely 75 degrees and I pulled out the flip flops, capri pants, and tank top. Yes perhaps I did over retreat back to summer but I was never cold and I was comfortable all day. So as I was walking through the office one of my French coworkers had to stop and ask me if I was cold wearing my flip flops outside. I simply said that I was not since it wasn't cold outside. He then has to point out that he's wearing a sweater and has his coat and scarf and doesn't understand how I'm wearing flip flops. Unfortunately at the time all I could think to say was "but it's not cold".

So here I am yet again trying to figure out why the French insist on dressing as though it is always cold, even when it's not, and find myself asking "what is the deal with the scarves?".

3 comments:

Sanjiv Gajiwala said...

obviously the french are slaves to fashion - winter affords the best fashion options - including scarves!

Zac said...

I agree that winter is the best fashion season (yeah I am a little gay, ask Lori), but sweat is NEVER fashionable. I am proud of you for straight up telling your co-worker that it simply wasn't cold outside. Good job!

Anonymous said...

Haha...winter is the best fashion season. How fashionable is it when it's so cold that you have to bundle up in a big coat ("it's gortex") and your face is all red from the cold and your nose is all runny. Give me the warmth of the sun, a good tan, and a bathing suit or shorts anyday over that.