“Comme c’est beau ici!” or “How beautiful it is here”.
The baggage carrousel at Orlando International Airport was surrounded by excited chattering in many languages. But, it was a comment in French that really captured my attention.
The French family must have left awful weather somewhere in France, as the man poked his head out the exit a number of times and always came back with a similar comment: “Il fait chaud ici” or “Il fait du soleil ici” (It’s hot here, or it’s sunny here).
We could identify with his sentiments because we’d left brutal, frigid weather in Illinois that morning. The high temperature was predicted at 1º F (minus 17º C), with a wind chill of minus 20º F (minus 29º C). It actually hurt to be outside for more than about a minute, even when bundled up.
On the way to the airport in a neighboring town we drove past the remaining evidence of an ice storm a few days before. It’s treacherously beautiful—all the trees are white-silver and sparkling in the sun, as if they’ve all been dipped in shiny silver paint and sprinkled with silver dust. Nature’s natural Christmas decorations. But…many branches are down, many trees bent under the weight of that ice. This is the negative side to the prettiness.
The contrast in Orlando could hardly be greater—sunny and very warm.
So, we agree, “Comme c’est beau ici”.
Is it true that, if an American meets another American in Florida, instead of ‘Hello!’ they say ‘Snap!’?
Hi Keith,
I’m not sure about that one! Never heard it myself.
Rod and I are sometimes in a strange no-man’s-land. We are now American citizens, but don’t sound like americans, so most locals still think we’re “from somewhere else”—which is actually true. But, it’s also good, as we can straddle both worlds, and move easily between them.