Xeno à la plage
One tourist
Two tourist
Red tourist
Beaucoup tourist.
Dutch tourist
Brit tourist
French tourist too
Belgian tourist? Yes,
There’s really quite a slew.
This one has a backseat bar
This one has a camping car
Say! What a lot of
Tourists there are.
Yes. Some are German. And some are Swiss.
Some are Swedish. And none I will miss.
Oh, why do they come
Every summer here?
To clog all the beaches
And drink all the beer.
Some throng the markets
And some hog the seats
And some pose for group shots
In the middle of the streets.
Few drive fast
And most drive slow
Clockwise instead of counter
Round the roundabouts they go.
From there to here
From here to there
These bloody tourists
Are everywhere.
Some stay two weeks
And some stay four
Some stay six weeks
And some stay more.
Where do they come from?
Oh, why are they here?
With any luck they’ll all go
Down to sunny Spain next year.
· · • · ·
Comment
- What, no Americans?
Oh right, foreign policy.
And that whole “freedom” thingy.
— Gord Fynes Jul 5, 1:08pm # - Oh my goodness….. as a parent of a small child, and as a resident of the home of the US’s College World Series of Baseball, I cannot stop laughing. I’m going to have to take off work early to change my pants.
We just had our barrage of “outsiders”. Entire sections of the city had to be avoided, especially my sons’ favorite “the zoo”. Why? Because it’s next to the baseball stadium.
My heart, and my hearty laughter, go out ot you, Gail!
Malboeuf
— Malboeuf Jul 5, 6:45pm # - Hello Dr. Seuss. Very clever. And what’s wrong with us Belgians anyway? We blend in beautifully with the natives. Allez!
— Anne Jul 5, 7:48pm # - woah we love you gail!
this made me hoot. gwad get em outta here! have a nice time in paris where at least everyone takes the metro and you can’t tell from their number plates!
— ruth Jul 5, 9:34pm # - I was a tourist when I moved to San Francisco twenty-some years ago. Shortly thereafter, “they” became the bane of my life; unable to drive in city traffic, loud and clewless walking past my flat, wandering into the streets as if they were in f$%cking Disneyland!
“Like cockroaches”, my roommate would say, “they are everywhere!”
Alas, I know that tourism is a huge component of this economy and, what with the cuts in federal support of cities and tech jobs going to China, we need all the help we can get.
I did have the pleasure of assisting an adorable couple (French, btw) navigate the city this weekend and it made their afternoon and mine. The continuous stream of tourists to “my” city reminds me that I get to live in a place that people save for years to merely visit.
“OK, you can come for a little while. But be nice!”
The south of France is dreamy, Gail, and I’m afraid you’ll just have to get used to the visitors. I hope that when I get to visit again I can behave properly, but if I drive too slowly on unfamiliar one-lane roads or pull over too often to pick apples off the trees I do hope you will look kindly upon me and be thankful that you live in a prime corner of paradise.
— Jeff Jul 6, 2:42am # - How very French is xenophobia; but remember who the foreigner is, Gail.
— Simon Jul 6, 12:26pm # - You’ve expressed the sentiment of the universe regarding its human tourists.
I watch them all come
I watch them all go
Some swift
Some slow
“Where do they come from?
Oh, why are they here?
With any luck they’ll all go
Down to sunny Spain next year”
— Jack Lobaugh Jul 17, 10:22am # - If I was English I’d say “bloody brilliant” but I’m American, so I’ll say “Niiiiice”
Just discovered your blog. Thanks for writing it.
— pacatrue Aug 5, 2:05pm #
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