I was surviving happily in Paris recently and talking about holidays.
I have been pretty annoyed, shoked by the attitude people had toward travelling.
Basically, they view the country they travel to like a product. They buy their holidays the same way they buy cheese…
Did you know that to sell Mauritius in Paris, the travel agencies give a warranty that their will be 10 days of sun out of their 15 days of holidays.
The happy customer will buy a whole package: plane ticket, hotel and… SUN!!!
From this experience he will get nothing but a beach which he should consider a paradise. His idea of a paradise is a long white beach with sun.
They want a long white beach? We will give it to them! The hotel location has no white beaches, the sea shore is indeed beautiful but they don’t care. They want the beach. So, boats load up tons of sand, destroy the sea in the lagoon.
It’s the same guy who will explain that it’s so terrible to cut trees in the amazonian forest but they don’t realize that its their commercial attitude toward things that drives the business.
Talking about Mauritius, one of my friend is on holiday there now and he had to face a cyclone as soon as he arrived.
I mentioned it and they were all laughing like how much he planed it and now there’s no sun.
I tried to explain that having the experience of a cyclone is not necessarily a bad experience.
In Mauritius we face it with fascination for such a powerful demonstration from mother nature and we are scared too because it will destroy things. (nobody dies we have years of rehearsal).
My friend instead of laying on the beach has been completely taken cared of by my family.
Going to a country is to go there with the right attitude. It’s not just about laying on the beach and benefit from the much required sun. I can tell that in most mauritian heart their will be a warm welcome to you foreigner.
Enjoying Mauritius is about opening to the locals, not laying in the sun.
I already know the answer to that point. When I go to some places, I paid that much. I don’t necessarily want to talk to people. I just want to enjoy my sun peacefully, I paid for it.
Well, that’s my point and the circle is closed.
Blog de beton 
Thanks for this post really true…I think you saw the same people laying on the beach in Pucket 🙂
It was the worth part of Thailand when I stay there.
Yes, I agree we must speak with local ppl but European doesn’t have this sense of opening mind…
The European think, if someone speak with me…that’s because he want something in return.
I promise a non-smelling metro in Paris for those who want to go there!
They really do have weird marketing ways to sell dreams… I guess there is anyway more to enjoy than just sand and sun.
If you could buy the Sun why not just purchase it in your own country then there wouldn’t be a need to “not talk” to the rest of the world.
I think there are 2 reasons:
1 ) Did you know that the celtic word for cloud is “sky”. This tells a lot about the english star dome ^^ It’s a little better in Paris but not much.
2) They would still need the long white beach.
Bonjour, je suivais ton blog avant quand tu parlais de Bangkok, maintenant un peu moins mais c’est juste parce que j’ai moins de temps, c’est toujours très intéressant et l’anglais ne fait pas peur… pas comme les Français..haha!
C’est intéressant la vue que tu as sur Paris, moi je suis du sud, la mer, les vignes, la garrigue… les cigales, l’accent qui chante! Alors pour moi aussi, paris ce serait survivre!!!! Paris me fout la trouille! C’est pas une ville normale… les gens me foutent la trouille, ils tirent une gueule de 3 pieds de longs… mais comme tu l’expliques, il faut peut-être un temps d’adaptation, creuser un peu et voir le coeur des Parisiens…:)
Merci pour ton blog, qui sent moins la papaye et plus le fromage, rrrrhhhhaaaaa j’adore le fromage!
Sonia