ninme

Boston Globe – Au revoir Paris, hello Wolfeboro<br/> France’s president plans N.H. respite

France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy would not have to stray far from the Champs-Elysées to find a summer holiday spot most Americans can only dream of. A castle in the Loire valley. A country estate in Provence. A villa on the French Riviera.

But non.

Sarkozy, his country’s celebrated new leader, is planning to get some rest and relaxation on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee.

Wolfeboro — a popular vacation destination for countless Bostonians — is buzzing with excitement about his visit.

Why? Why wouldn’t he go someplace nice, like Yosemite, or San Francisco, or Napa or the Redwoods…

It is unclear whether Sarkozy’s family is accompanying him or why he has chosen Wolfeboro; local residents interviewed did not know of any previous connection.

Let me clear this up for you all: The US is just so cheap right now. No, this is why: Worlfeboro is in New Hampshire, right? Surely he’s planning on studying the benefits of the 2nd Amendment. Watch out, the banlieues!

Meanwhile, I keep running into people speaking French. Standing outside on a front yard talking (like Americans never do), on the bus, in the grocery store looking at hair dye (they were teenagers), in the French bakery at the market with a breakfast of pastries and lattes (college-aged). You can spot them a mile away since they’re always dressed really well. There’s also a fair number of Germans. You can spot them too because they’re shorts are always practical for walking in the city heat and shorter than you’d expect.

And hey, with the dollar to the Euro what the Canadian dollar always used to be to the dollar…