I really tried to not bother you with this but ( I could't control myself anymore) as a french girl how did you feel about Gojira on the Olympics? And on a scale of 5 how irritating is it to be in Paris during the games? Because I'm imagining parisians huffing and puffing over their croissants daily because of it.
Hey Nonnie 🧡
You are NOT bothering me at all!! Not in the slightest! I woke up to your ask and it made me smile and chuckle, thank you 🧡
Of course I can only talk for myself, but everyone I talked to about it felt insanely proud about Gojira's performance!!! Even amongst those of my friends or coworkers who are not into metal, and didn't know the band before its opening ceremony performance, everyone was THRILLED and thought it was pretty neat! Which says a lot about how the people around me feel about the French Revolution, heehee: OFF WITH THEIR HEADS 😌
Unfortunately, we still have royalists (and even Napoleon partisans, if you can believe this shit). Those were NOT pleased, social media demonstrated. Given the current political divide of our country, the fact that these people got pissed gave Gojira's number some extra nice flavour.
Deep down, it makes me a little sad that it triggered such violent reactions from the conservative crowds. I was 10 in 1989, when the country celebrated the Revolution's bicentennial. I wasn't living in Paris back then (Paris and the rest of France are two different things. I say that without any judgement, anyone will tell you so. Also, I feel 99% Parisian but I grew up in the South of France, where my family still lives), and what I remember is a year of happy, uniting celebrations. But we didn't have social media back then.
I'm sorry I'm so chatty, I'll try wrapping it up. Being in Paris right now is exactly the opposite of what I expected: not irritating AT ALL! The city is virtually empty. Everyone is either gone or attending the games. Don't get me wrong, it has been. A lot. The city was under construction work for the best part of the past 3/4 years, so Parisians did spend this whole time huffing and puffing over their croissants daily because of it, as you so very accurately put it, only to rally the minute the opening ceremony started (which is such a French reaction: complain first, rally later). We are very proud of the way Paris was pictured. I cannot stress that enough. Plus France won so many more medals than usual, and at the end of the day, we are a very chauvinistic people ("chauvin" in French means "proud of one's country", without the negative connotation that the word "chauvinistic" can have in English).
I'll end this essay (I'm so sorry, I don't know concision) with this poster I saw the other day. It's a pun on "Flamme Olympique" (Olympic Flame) and "Flemme Olympique (Olympic laziness ehehehe)
