July 14, 2024 • 30 mins
Edna Zhou is a journalist who has covered – and worked with – the Olympic games all over the world. As Paris prepares to welcome the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, she's here to help us navigate the French relationship to sports – and working out – as we discuss the word sportif.
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Credits
Host: Emily Monaco. @Emily_in_France; Website: http://www.tomatokumato.com and http://www.emilymmonaco.com Producer: Jennifer Geraghty. @jennyphoria; Website: http://jennyphoria.com
Music Credits
Édith Piaf - La Vie en Rose (DeliFB Lofi Remix)
🎵 MSKD Sounds: https://www.instagram.com/mskd_sounds/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRql... https://soundcloud.com/mskd_sounds
🎵 DeliFB: https://www.youtube.com/c/DeliFB https://soundcloud.com/delifb https://www.instagram.com/cativo.kevin/ https://twitter.com/DeliciousFB
About Us
From one Emily in Paris to another... just speaking French isn't enough to understand the intricacies of the locals, but it's definitely a good place to start. Famously defended by armed "immortals" of the Académie Française (no, we're not making this up) the French language is filled with clues that show interested outsiders what, exactly, makes the French tick.
Each episode, listen in as Emily Monaco and an expert take a deep dive into a word that helps us gain a keener understanding of the French.
Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/parisundergroundradio
Find Us Online
Website: https://www.parisundergroundradio.com/navigatingthefrench
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parisundergroundradio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parisundergroundradio/
Credits
Host: Emily Monaco. @Emily_in_France; Website: http://www.tomatokumato.com and http://www.emilymmonaco.com Producer: Jennifer Geraghty. @jennyphoria; Website: http://jennyphoria.com
Music Credits
Édith Piaf - La Vie en Rose (DeliFB Lofi Remix)
🎵 MSKD Sounds: https://www.instagram.com/mskd_sounds/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRql... https://soundcloud.com/mskd_sounds
🎵 DeliFB: https://www.youtube.com/c/DeliFB https://soundcloud.com/delifb https://www.instagram.com/cativo.kevin/ https://twitter.com/DeliciousFB
About Us
From one Emily in Paris to another... just speaking French isn't enough to understand the intricacies of the locals, but it's definitely a good place to start. Famously defended by armed "immortals" of the Académie Française (no, we're not making this up) the French language is filled with clues that show interested outsiders what, exactly, makes the French tick.
Each episode, listen in as Emily Monaco and an expert take a deep dive into a word that helps us gain a keener understanding of the French.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You are listening to Navigating the Frenchon Paris Underground Radio. For more great
content and a bonus episode of Navigatingthe French, please join us on Patreon.
Hello and welcome to Navigating the French, the podcast where each episode we
take a look at a French wordand try and see what it tells us
(00:22):
about French culture. I'm your host, Emily Monico. Today I'm joined by
Edna Zoe, a journalist who hascovered and worked with the Olympics all over
the world. She's here to talkabout the French relationship to sports and working
out as we navigate the word sportifso in the lead up to the Olympics.
(00:44):
I am super excited to welcome EdnaZoe onto the podcast today. Edna,
thank you so much for joining me. And could you give our listeners
just a little bit of a backgroundas to who you are, what you
do, and what your connections areto France and to the world of sports.
Yeah. So, I'm originally fromPennsylvania and growing up, my childhood
(01:07):
dream was always to work for theOlympics, and so everything I did kind
of as a teenager going into adulthoodwas prepping for some sort of career related
to international sport or diplomacy. Soafter college I moved to China first and
then Singapore. And while I wasin Singapore, I ended up volunteering with
(01:27):
the Singapore Youth Olympics and through thatI got connected to this international sports world.
And one day at an event,this you know Italian boss is like,
you know, if only you spokeFrench, we'd hire you. And
so I was like, all right, well, I'm twenty one, I
could move to France. Why not? Like very naive, so I started
looking for jobs in Francophone countries,any that would take me. Ended up
(01:51):
just getting an O pair job inParis. So in twenty twelve I moved
to Paris. It's where I metyou, and then I was an a
pair for year and I half whilealso becoming a sports journalist. So I
went to London and Sochi as asports journalist, then moved to Italy as
a sports journalist. That didn't workout so well, became a travel writer,
(02:12):
moved to China, moved to NewZealand, moved to a bunch of
places, including Thailand for the lastfour years, and then in between I
was also just freelancing, did ashow for the BBC and have worked on
my blog and done a bunch ofediting. So I've been involved in the
media space for most of my timeabroad. But then I was always back
(02:36):
to France whenever I could. I'dalways come to visit. I'd spend you
know, a couple months while Iwas freelancing. So I've always I felt
like part of my heart got leftbehind in Paris, and the sports world
is always very dear to me,even though my last OMPICS was in twenty
eighteen. Come chin. Oh wow. So you've had a lot of time
(02:58):
working in around the world of highlevel sports, and I know that you
also, in your time here inFrance did some sports playing. You can
tell that I am definitely not asports ball, but I'm going to do
my best here and so I'm I'mreally curious in our conversation today to kind
(03:19):
of address some of the ways thatsports are culturally perceived in France as compared
to some of the many, many, many other places that you've lived.
And obviously, you know myself,coming from the US, I've lived briefly
in Canada, but I mean mostof my time has been spent between France
and the US. So, youknow, one of the major differences that
(03:39):
I always saw was in the phrasingin France. You say faudu spa the
way that French people frame going tothe gym, but it's also playing sports.
And there's a big difference in Englishbetween like playing sports or like doing
sport in the UK and like workingout. So I led me to sort
(04:01):
of wonder if you get the impressionthat the French conceive of working out differently
than English speakers do. Yeah,I mean, so to preface, you
know, I haven't lived in Francefor a while, so I think things
you know, have obviously changed orcould change in the last few years.
But I noticed when I was therethat, you know, at leisure wasn't
(04:25):
the thing. You don't go outreally and show off, you know,
you're Lululemon and you're like working outLike in America, I feel, and
a lot of uh, maybe otherAnglo cultures, it's more like, yeah,
I'm going to the gym, I'mhitting my like f forty five,
I'm closing my rings. It feelslike this whole separate entity and culture to
like gym culture, you're following yourpeloton instructor on Instagram and all that versus
(04:48):
Oh, I'm playing sports, thisis a thing that I'm doing to win
or lose. It's more for thecamaraderie or the aspect of winning and strategy
versus like I'm just here at thegym to like get my my steps in.
And I think, I mean,obviously, like you mentioned, there
has been an evolution. Like Iwhen I first moved here, you would
(05:10):
never see French people running in theLuxembourg gardens, for example, and now
you do. So there's definitely changehappening. But I do kind of wonder,
like in the way that you weretalking about the way that English speaking
people Anglo people frame their workouts,there is this like competition mindset. There's
this like performative mindset. Did youget the same sense from the French people
(05:32):
that you knew when you were hereabout you know, the way that they
related to sports or the gym orworking out. Yeah, I would.
I feel like a really good exampleis like the kid that I wasn't a
pair to. His parents were youknow, fabulously wealthy, very well to
do. They wanted their son tobe well rounded, so throughout the week
(05:53):
he had tennis lessons and swimming lessonsand golf lessons, and I think I'm
missing one more sports. Oh andhe played soccer, you know, But
none of it was he was eight, right, None of it was like
we need our son to be likebuilt, you know, it was just,
well, these are important aspects ofcommunity. These are pillars that you
can cling to as you grow older, and so it's important for you to
(06:14):
get involved now, to know therules so that you can you know,
be fluent in them culturally, beyou know, socially accepted, you know,
when you're older. And so Ifeel like that's the sense I get
from most people in France that Iknew, and pretty much most people outside
of the US. I feel likethe US is very special in that kind
of like competitive mindset, whereas alot of other places I've lived it's been
(06:40):
more community focused of like, yeah, it's nice if you're good at it,
but we're not aiming for you tobecome, you know, an NCAA
champion or get drafted into the MLB. Like this is for community and for
your future as an adult. Absolutely, And I mean that is making me
think as well, Like when Ifirst came here and I was in high
school, I was very surprised tofind that, like French high schools don't
(07:01):
have a football team, Like it'snot the thing to go to the game
on a Saturday. Wow. Yeah, and that's such a staple of I
feel American high school dumb, youknow, totally. And maybe it's a
little bit more present in other countries, like I don't know, the UK,
(07:23):
maybe they have more of like abig game culture, but like,
yeah, it's more about having funmaybe. Yeah, Like I mean,
think about how often you're walking aroundParis and you're just seeing some old dudes
playing patunk. You know, LikeI'm sure some of those petonk games get
heated, but nowhere to the levelof like the rivalries you see and like
what's that called when they're in theparking lot the pregaming, Oh yeah,
(07:46):
you know what, I forget whatthat's called. But yeah, when they're
out tail yes, when they're tailgating. Yeah, the the tang thek is
never getting as heated as the tailgating. That is true. That is very
very true. And PATNK players,I mean a very present sport that you
see just around Paris. Also dependingon where you are, like tennis,
I know, you can get tenniscourts in a lot of the parks,
(08:09):
a lot of people playing like pickupsoccer. But then like you know,
I know, you joined like asports team when you were here, right,
to build community and to play Itwas Gaelic football, right, Yeah,
so that was my thing. Istarted playing Gaelic football, which is
an Irish sport that's kind of likethis mix hybrid between rugby and volleyball and
(08:33):
football and a bit of basketball.But ultimately you have to be very handi
coordinated to play this game. Butbecause the Irish never really expect anyone to
play it, there are teams allover the world. But I quickly learned
that they're just so happy to findanyone willing to play their like chimera sport,
that they're very welcoming. So whenI moved to Paris, first thing
I did was, you know,join the Gaelic football team just to build
(08:56):
a community. And sure enough theywere very welcoming and they helped me and
you know, get acclimated to Paris. And I think something you brought up
it made me think too. Ithink in France and other countries, sports
is so you know, socially orientedand in the US, a lot of
sports is the goal is to becomepro. You know, I think a
(09:16):
lot of parents put their kids intosports, and maybe in the UK too,
you know, if you watch thatBeckham documentary of like Okay, this
kid is my my ticket out,Like we're gonna become rich, We're gonna
get millions and endorsements and contracts,like your goal is to make it to
the Olympics or a team, youknow, something with a lot of money.
And you see that even in theway that I feel us, sports
(09:39):
facilities are way more you know,capitalized. You know, you have you
can't just play a pickup game.It's much harder. You have to pay
a fee, you have to bea member of somewhere. You can't just
like show up to a court andlike be like I want to play some
tennis. Someone's going to run outand be like do you belong? What's
your name? You know? Okay, that's really interesting. And did you
encounter about it all with your Gaelicfootball or was that mostly Irish people playing?
(10:03):
And oh so, what I lovedabout Gaelic football was that no one
in Ireland is pro. It's apurely amateur sport. Oh that's nice.
So you can be the best ofthe best, and they have, you
know, a following as if.It is a massive sport in the States,
like you know, the NFL theyhave their champions Ship games every I
(10:24):
think August is a huge thing.Like the Irish friends I had in Asia,
we'd always stay up late to watchit. But the players don't get
paid. They're purely amateur and theydo it for like the love of the
game. Oh wow, that's socool. Yeah, I respect it a
lot actually, because then yeah,you know, your heart is you know,
not to sound too lofty, butyour heart's in it for the right
place, you know. I playedwith some really so like the all the
(10:46):
top levels, like All Ireland,and so when I was playing Gaelic in
China and Singapore and all that,a lot of their top people played at
the All Ireland level. But thenthey're also you know, math teachers and
bankers and just like very normal corporateday jobs as well. Oh man,
that's really cool. But I hada thought too that in France, I
(11:07):
feel like you can really go toa pickup game, you can just hang
out. It's a very social sportand there's kind of a it's built into
society too that like as you age, you can do a you know,
adult teams, you can have yourPITTONK League or whatever, and in the
US you can't. And I wasthinking it's also because of things like health
insurance. I've noticed so many ofmy friends don't do things because they're like,
(11:33):
well, you know, my healthinsurance won't cover that, my deductible
is too high. If I,you know, break my wrist, then
I won't have health insurance or I'mout of a job, and then I
lose my health insurance. Like it'ssuch a subconscious weight that's always here.
When I moved to Denver for ayear, I was working for AmeriCorps,
which is, you know, anonprofit. They pay you very little.
(11:54):
You have to be on food stamps, like that's their whole thing. It's
on purpose. But I couldn't affordhealth insurance and so I didn't join the
Gaelic football team because I was like, if I hurt myself at all,
like, I can't work this job. And then I had picked up a
second job and I was like,I can't work that job either, And
so you see that in the UStoo, where then because of that the
paperwork to join anything is larger.I tried signing up for a Gaelic football
(12:16):
team in Chicago and they're like,cool, here are like six different documents
you have to sign and get backto US. You have to register with
the USGAA league, blah blah blah, you have to prove your health insurance.
Sign this, sign that, whereasevery other country I've played in there
like you have a mouth guard,you have passport. Cool, show up
at this time at this day,Like that's it, you know. So
(12:37):
I think that's also kind of ahindrance to sports in America being as casual
and as leisurely as it could be, and as we see in France,
because you have to go through allof these hoops and hurdles first. It's
not just a casual like, yeah, let's go play for fun. I
never even thought about that. Andit's interesting too, because so much of
(12:58):
the if you are playing adult sportsas an adult in America, it is
often through work, like you havea softball league and it's your office softball
league, right, Whereas here,like where I go and spend summers in
the South, there's like adult menplaying rugby on the weekends. And they
might definitely lose a tooth and that'snothing to do with their job at all.
(13:22):
Yeah, and even just like Ifeel that competitiveness and the health insurance
comes out. For example, ifyou're going to the beach, I don't
really see people like picking up agame of volleyball with strangers. It's more
like you get your friends together andthen you're like, hey, let's go
to the volleyball you know area atthe beach, Whereas I feel like other
places i've been, I'm thinking morelike Asia and New Zealand, it was
(13:43):
more likely to just rock up toa beach and be like, all right,
I have a volleyball. Who wantsto play? You know, strangers?
And again it's it really changes alot that you don't think about.
When you just have health insurance takingcare of you don't have to worry about
it. That is a very goodpoint I think I've seen definitely. I
don't know if I've noticed the volleyballthing because I'm usually reading when I'm on
the beach, but I definitely havenoticed people joining like soccer games, and
(14:07):
I know there's very complicated politics aroundPITTONK and who's allowed to play with whom.
But definitely I've seen people like justjoin in in like a soccer football
game in like a park somewhere.Yeah, there's a freedom in that just
being like, yep, I don'tknow your skill level. You could,
you know, just tackle me endme today, but I would be okay
(14:28):
if that happened. Let's have fun. Yeah, that's amazing. Curious about
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(14:52):
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to Navigating the French. So anotherthing, another sort of element of sports
(15:16):
culture that I find really interesting,especially you know when you change countries,
is the way that people feel abouttheir local sports team. And I think
you kind of brushed up against thiswhen you were talking about the way that
you know, parents are hoping theirkids are going to go pro like.
I did an episode a while agoon Terehwar, and my guest was talking
(15:37):
about how a lot of French peoplefeel about their region and their regions like
products or food or wine, theway that a lot of Americans feel about
our sports teams, and so Iwas just curious. You know, when
you are watching sports in France,I know that people watch a lot of
what you know, we hear callfootball what we would call soccer in the
(15:58):
States, or rugby. Do youget the sense that they have that sense
of like identifying with their team tothe same extent, or are they watching
it more you know, to seethe professionalism or the or the non professionalism
of the team. Yeah, Imean I think it's some of a some
of the Like I think it's naturalhuman nature to feel some sort of pride
(16:18):
over where you're from, or someloyalty or even just you know, my
dad liked this team or my momlike this team. So I am too.
I know I haven't really watched peoplewatching like the smaller like say Marseille
versus to lose games. You know, it's more you know, World Cup
or Euros or Olympics, and ofcourse people are decked out and there they're
(16:41):
blue jerseys and they're bape jerseys,you know. But I think in what
I've noticed the big difference is isthat, like the US, the culture
is more, it's more present outsideof games. I feel like in France
when the games are on, they'relike, yeah, go friends, al
and they're like totally tuned in.And then when the game's over, there
(17:03):
like, you know, okay,a little bit of celebration, like I
was there in the World Cup happenedin twenty eighteen, and you know,
people were on the on the bestdeal and like on cars and like that
does happen. But then it's kindof back to, you know, let's
talk about food, let's talk aboutart whatever. In the US it's much
more, let's talk about sports allthe time. My father in law,
(17:25):
for example, it's you know,if I don't really know what else to
say to him, it's just kindof a I know, sports is a
foreshore steak in the ground that wecan be tied to be like, ah,
did you see the Cardinals last night? You know, I also know
like when I whenever I get ona flight that's headed back to the US
in any airport in any country,I can immediately tell that it's heading to
(17:45):
the US because I start seeing peoplewearing sports jerseys. Oh yeah, you
know, the baseball hats and belike, Oh, that guy's from Kansas
City, or oh, that person'sa Pittsburgh fan. You know, I
don't really get that from any othercountry. Maybe occasionally like a rugby jersey
or a soccer jersey, but like, by and large, the Americans are
(18:06):
like dominating that sports jerseys in publickind of market. Yeah, that makes
sense, That makes a lot ofsense. And yeah, the baseball caps.
I feel like, you see peoplewearing Yankees caps here and I don't
think they even know that their Yankeescaps. I think they think they're New
York laps. Yeah, like that'svery much a fashion statement for sure.
I think. Circling back to thatparticular World Cup, I remember, actually,
(18:27):
you know, speaking of identity andkind of unity and community, when
France won that World Cup, TrevorNoah came out and said something. He
made a joke about how like Africahad won the World Cup for France.
Oh yeah, and a lot ofthe players came forward and sort of decried
him and said, no, itwere French first and French French always.
(18:48):
And there has been quite a bitof like a trend over time talking about
sort of mixity in on the Frenchteam and it being kind of a great
equalizer. Have you encountered any ofthat in France, of the way that
it's sort of a way in whichwe reckon with racial diversity in France.
(19:11):
I so I've seen, you know, articles and things about it, and
I think at a high level it'sit's what we all want, you know.
It's the same with I think hisname is Marcus Ashford in the UK,
but I'm not sure. You know, we and in the US as
well, like wow, look atthis great equalizer. We're on the same
team. But ultimately it's kind oflike how when Andy what is it Andy
(19:34):
Rottick or Andy there's someone who's Scottishand it's like when he wins, you
care like, oh yeah for theUK, and when he loses it like,
well he's Scottish. Ah yeah.I think most unfortunately, the reality
that I've seen for the most partis still when it suits you and you
can celebrate then like, yeah,we'll take them there ares. But then
(19:56):
when they you know, miss apenalty or when they get you know,
a foul, suddenly it's boo andthere's suddenly, you know, racial things
coming out. I know in Franceand the Italian team, there have definitely
still been some ugly, ugly racialthings happening at stadiums and things being said.
So it's like, yes, highlevel, you can say you're all
for it, but not everyone isthere yet. Yeah, and I get
(20:21):
the same too, even being like, you know, I'm Chinese American and
so people kind of claim me asAmerican or Chinese when it suits them as
well. You know, it's it'sfrustrating. I want to say you can't
have both, but you know,it's always going to happen, I think,
right when it comes to the Olympics, specifically for Paris, do you
get the sense, you know,having worked at multiple Olympics' Olympics, Olympics
(20:45):
High, Olympics high, do youget the sense that it represents anything in
particular for France as opposed to whatit might have represented for some of the
other countries where you've covered the Olympics. Oh, that's a good question.
Okay. So for background, likeI did Singapore and then London so Chi
(21:06):
as journalists, and then Rio andPyong Chang I did working for the organizing
committees on the media team. SoI've seen it from both sides and in
like a variety of different cities,and Paris definitely falls more in line in
my mind as the London side ofHey, we had it twice in the
past, let's have it again inthe twenty first century. Modernize it kind
(21:26):
of remind people like, hey,we're more than just the stereotypes of our
city. You know, it's ultimatelygoing to be cool to see things like
swimming in the Seine, even ifyou don't want to think about like ill
growth, it's the sin. Youknow, the pictures coming out from test
events where they're high diving next tothe Eiffel Tower, they're playing volleyball next
to Hotel de View, like ofcourse those images are next level. At
(21:49):
the same time, yeah, youthink about like Singapore had the first Youth
Olympics and that was kind of youknow, some people didn't really know much
about Singapore where it was if theyhad a sport culture. Rio. You
know, much can be said aboutplaces like Rio and Peongchang, where As
with any Olympics you get into youknow, should the money have been spent
(22:10):
this way? Was this the bestthing for this economy and the people.
But some of the positives I didsee was, you know, introducing some
infrastructure that hadn't been there before andreally introducing kids to sport. In Rio,
I was working the water polo venue, the venue that had the green
pool that was mine, oh mygosh. And yeah, but when the
(22:32):
water pole was going on, likeI remember, I became friends with some
of the water polo reporters and theywere telling me all about the kids in
the stands that they were talking to, who are suddenly like, I'm interested.
Now I actually started swimming, orI started taking lessons. I'm joining
a water polo team. Like Ithink the exposure, especially in those kind
(22:52):
of countries and places is really cool. And you know, obviously awesome that
Paris will be hosting. I'm surethere will still be many people in communities
and kids who will be exposed tosports that they otherwise wouldn't have. But
those are the differences you get whenyou have a London and in Paris versus
like a reown a Singapore. Yeah, and I mean I feel like a
(23:14):
lot of what we've been talking aboutin Paris, or a lot of what
I've been hearing because I work intourism, so I think people have been
saying, you know, Paris reallydidn't need this hotlight on it. Yeah.
I know. My photographer friends havebeen, you know, posting photos
of like, well, you know, just know, if you're here right
now, we can't really take picturesby the Eiffel Tower. You know,
A're going have to choose different placeslike it. Definitely. I see the
(23:37):
scaffolding going up because a lot ofmy friends are still there, and I
see their Instagram stories and it's like, wow, yeah, that's this is
all infrastructure. When Paris is communicatingabout these games, I see a couple
of different things coming up. Youknow. One of them is gender parody
with as many women competing as men. Is that something that you feel,
you know, is significant when itcomes to sport in France specific or is
(24:00):
this just something that was a longtime coming that's finally happened and it just
so happens to have happened in Paris. Yeah, it's more the latter.
I remember, even going back toLondon or Singapore. They already had the
statistics out for journalists of like,hey, these athletes are this per sent
men, this per sent women,And every year it would come closer and
closer to parody. So like,yes, hugely important. Many women still
(24:22):
are not getting the same treatment,facilities, pay access, all of those
things, and it's so important.But I wouldn't say it's like it's not
because of Paris that this happened.This had been rolling for a while.
I think the IIC had been makingit a priority to get them to parody.
That's really good news. Yeah,fantastic. Another thing I'm hearing a
(24:44):
lot about in terms of communicating aboutthe Paris Game specifically, is sort of
the climate awareness of something this bigand obviously, you know Paris being the
home of the Climate Accord, Ithink that people have been thinking about how
to use pre existing infrastructure and howto you know, reduce the climate effects
of the games in getting everything readyto welcome all of these people. Is
(25:07):
that something that you think is youknow, something that the games in general
have been working towards and it justso happens that it's calcifying in Paris,
or do you think that the Parisclimate cord had any effect on the way
that the games are sort of gettingset up here. Yeah, this one
I think actually is the latter.This one I think I would probably give
Paris some credit for I hadn't reallyseen it as prioritized in other games that
(25:30):
I've been to. Maybe it wasthere and I just didn't see it.
But I feel like Paris, especiallyknowing the history of like you know,
An Hidalgo, I think has beenpretty forward thinking on the ways that she's
turned Paris into more climate friendly orlike more walkable. You can correct me
if I'm wrong. I haven't stayedthat up to date on No, that's
you're absolutely right. Yeah, youknow, I feel like every time I
(25:52):
came back to Paris there were actuallymore pedestrianized roads. There are more streets
that had been taken away from cars, and I think that's really great that
they've you know, kind of puttheir money where their mouth is and it's
like, yeah, we're hosting amassive event. There's a large carbon footprint.
A lot of people are flying infor this, There's going to be
a carbon footprint just erecting and thendisassembling all of these structures. So it's
(26:15):
good that they're taking that into account, especially when all the scientists are kind
of saying, like, hey,climate change is happening a way faster rate
than we thought it would. Yeah. Where you and I kind of intersect
on this is I just covered therestaurant that they're building for the games,
where they're welcoming you know, threevery very mediatized chefs to cook for the
(26:40):
Olympians. They're going to cook inwhat they're calling the biggest restaurant in the
world. Oh and obviously, youknow, France being the country of gastronomy,
it's it's unsurprising that they're focusing thismuch on the food, but there's
very little of that food is fuelmindset in France generally. And I was
just curious, you know, ifwe bring it sort of back to the
(27:00):
culture around sports in general, doyou get the sense that the French and
I know we're generalizing, but wealways have to generalize on this podcast,
which is uncomfortable. But do youget the sense that they treat food as
fuel, that they think about therelationship between fitness and food in the same
way as someone, for example,in the States. Would I mean,
again, to generalize this is noteveryone, but generally I do not see
(27:26):
that at all. Like I remembermoving to France and like suddenly eating way
more bread and butter and cheese thanI ever had in my entire life.
And I was still like, Ifelt healthier than I ever had, you
know, And it's because I waswalking everywhere and the quality of the food
was better. And the first timeI went back to the States after living
in France for a few months,I still remember so clearly. My parents
(27:48):
took me to a restaurant I thinkit was the Olive Garden and I had
like my usual chicken pasta and Iwas like, oh, this chicken is
like sweet. I could taste thedifference and the yogurt with me. Everything
just felt so like syrupy, andI was like, okay, like they're
not lying about the whole. AndI would see people generalizing like, oh,
(28:10):
well, European food is better.I was like, oh, okay,
no, I get it now.I see where those rules and regulations
actually make a difference. I wouldalso say, like in the US,
so like every time I'm back inthe US visiting, or even if I
just have my VPN on and I'mlike watching a show with American commercials,
so much of the media messaging isaround how you look and what you're eating,
(28:32):
and are you thinking about your calories? You're not while you should be.
Have you heard of keto? Areyou doing paleo? Are you intermitute
fasting? Like? These are notthings that I would otherwise ever think about.
And I feel grateful that I grewup in a family household that,
for all of its problems, didnot ever really talk about weight or appearance,
(28:52):
because then I could just view foodas like, this is delicious.
I would like to eat more ofit and not have to think about like,
well, is is this the rightfuel? Are there enough fuel numbers?
You know? I think I've seenfriends go through that, and it's
just a really, you know,it's a heavy way to live. It's
a debilitating way, really, likeweighs you down, and when food can
be so enjoyable, to kind ofhave that weight around you, I guess
(29:17):
no pun intended, but it cantake away from that absolutely. And then
thank you so very much for joiningme on the podcast today. This has
been enlightening and I'm so glad thatwe got to chat. For anybody who
is listening who wants to read moreof your work, find out where eating
the world you are, which isalways a hard thing to figure out.
(29:38):
Where can people find you? Iam best reached on Instagram at expat Edna
excellent and are you still writing?Still freelancing writing about sports? No longer
writing about sports as much, mostlywriting. I'm doing a lot of freelance
stuff that no longer goes on myblog just because know how to is it
(30:00):
pays a little better. But Iwould like to get to a spot where
I can go back to just throwingrandom thoughts on the blog. Amazing.
Well, in the meantime, peoplecan give you a follow on Instagram.
We'll put that link in the shownotes. Thank you so much for joining
us, and have a fantastic restof your day. Thanks Emily too.
(30:22):
This has been Navigating the French.You can find more from me Emily Monico
at Emily Underscore in Underscore France,on Twitter and Instagram. This podcast is
produced by Paris Underground Radio. Tolisten to other episodes of this podcast,
or to discover more podcasts like it, please visit Paris Underground radio dot com.
Thanks for listening and abentu this episodeof Navigating the French. Was produced
(30:45):
by Jennifer Garrity for Paris Underground Radio. For more great content, join us
on Patreon at patreon dot com slashParis Underground Radio
You are listening to Navigating the Frenchon Paris Underground Radio. For more great
content and a bonus episode of Navigatingthe French, please join us on Patreon.
Hello and welcome to Navigating the French, the podcast where each episode we
take a look at a French wordand try and see what it tells us
(00:22):
about French culture. I'm your host, Emily Monico. Today I'm joined by
Edna Zoe, a journalist who hascovered and worked with the Olympics all over
the world. She's here to talkabout the French relationship to sports and working
out as we navigate the word sportifso in the lead up to the Olympics.
(00:44):
I am super excited to welcome EdnaZoe onto the podcast today. Edna,
thank you so much for joining me. And could you give our listeners
just a little bit of a backgroundas to who you are, what you
do, and what your connections areto France and to the world of sports.
Yeah. So, I'm originally fromPennsylvania and growing up, my childhood
(01:07):
dream was always to work for theOlympics, and so everything I did kind
of as a teenager going into adulthoodwas prepping for some sort of career related
to international sport or diplomacy. Soafter college I moved to China first and
then Singapore. And while I wasin Singapore, I ended up volunteering with
(01:27):
the Singapore Youth Olympics and through thatI got connected to this international sports world.
And one day at an event,this you know Italian boss is like,
you know, if only you spokeFrench, we'd hire you. And
so I was like, all right, well, I'm twenty one, I
could move to France. Why not? Like very naive, so I started
looking for jobs in Francophone countries,any that would take me. Ended up
(01:51):
just getting an O pair job inParis. So in twenty twelve I moved
to Paris. It's where I metyou, and then I was an a
pair for year and I half whilealso becoming a sports journalist. So I
went to London and Sochi as asports journalist, then moved to Italy as
a sports journalist. That didn't workout so well, became a travel writer,
(02:12):
moved to China, moved to NewZealand, moved to a bunch of
places, including Thailand for the lastfour years, and then in between I
was also just freelancing, did ashow for the BBC and have worked on
my blog and done a bunch ofediting. So I've been involved in the
media space for most of my timeabroad. But then I was always back
(02:36):
to France whenever I could. I'dalways come to visit. I'd spend you
know, a couple months while Iwas freelancing. So I've always I felt
like part of my heart got leftbehind in Paris, and the sports world
is always very dear to me,even though my last OMPICS was in twenty
eighteen. Come chin. Oh wow. So you've had a lot of time
(02:58):
working in around the world of highlevel sports, and I know that you
also, in your time here inFrance did some sports playing. You can
tell that I am definitely not asports ball, but I'm going to do
my best here and so I'm I'mreally curious in our conversation today to kind
(03:19):
of address some of the ways thatsports are culturally perceived in France as compared
to some of the many, many, many other places that you've lived.
And obviously, you know myself,coming from the US, I've lived briefly
in Canada, but I mean mostof my time has been spent between France
and the US. So, youknow, one of the major differences that
(03:39):
I always saw was in the phrasingin France. You say faudu spa the
way that French people frame going tothe gym, but it's also playing sports.
And there's a big difference in Englishbetween like playing sports or like doing
sport in the UK and like workingout. So I led me to sort
(04:01):
of wonder if you get the impressionthat the French conceive of working out differently
than English speakers do. Yeah,I mean, so to preface, you
know, I haven't lived in Francefor a while, so I think things
you know, have obviously changed orcould change in the last few years.
But I noticed when I was therethat, you know, at leisure wasn't
(04:25):
the thing. You don't go outreally and show off, you know,
you're Lululemon and you're like working outLike in America, I feel, and
a lot of uh, maybe otherAnglo cultures, it's more like, yeah,
I'm going to the gym, I'mhitting my like f forty five,
I'm closing my rings. It feelslike this whole separate entity and culture to
like gym culture, you're following yourpeloton instructor on Instagram and all that versus
(04:48):
Oh, I'm playing sports, thisis a thing that I'm doing to win
or lose. It's more for thecamaraderie or the aspect of winning and strategy
versus like I'm just here at thegym to like get my my steps in.
And I think, I mean,obviously, like you mentioned, there
has been an evolution. Like Iwhen I first moved here, you would
(05:10):
never see French people running in theLuxembourg gardens, for example, and now
you do. So there's definitely changehappening. But I do kind of wonder,
like in the way that you weretalking about the way that English speaking
people Anglo people frame their workouts,there is this like competition mindset. There's
this like performative mindset. Did youget the same sense from the French people
(05:32):
that you knew when you were hereabout you know, the way that they
related to sports or the gym orworking out. Yeah, I would.
I feel like a really good exampleis like the kid that I wasn't a
pair to. His parents were youknow, fabulously wealthy, very well to
do. They wanted their son tobe well rounded, so throughout the week
(05:53):
he had tennis lessons and swimming lessonsand golf lessons, and I think I'm
missing one more sports. Oh andhe played soccer, you know, But
none of it was he was eight, right, None of it was like
we need our son to be likebuilt, you know, it was just,
well, these are important aspects ofcommunity. These are pillars that you
can cling to as you grow older, and so it's important for you to
(06:14):
get involved now, to know therules so that you can you know,
be fluent in them culturally, beyou know, socially accepted, you know,
when you're older. And so Ifeel like that's the sense I get
from most people in France that Iknew, and pretty much most people outside
of the US. I feel likethe US is very special in that kind
of like competitive mindset, whereas alot of other places I've lived it's been
(06:40):
more community focused of like, yeah, it's nice if you're good at it,
but we're not aiming for you tobecome, you know, an NCAA
champion or get drafted into the MLB. Like this is for community and for
your future as an adult. Absolutely, And I mean that is making me
think as well, Like when Ifirst came here and I was in high
school, I was very surprised tofind that, like French high schools don't
(07:01):
have a football team, Like it'snot the thing to go to the game
on a Saturday. Wow. Yeah, and that's such a staple of I
feel American high school dumb, youknow, totally. And maybe it's a
little bit more present in other countries, like I don't know, the UK,
(07:23):
maybe they have more of like abig game culture, but like,
yeah, it's more about having funmaybe. Yeah, Like I mean,
think about how often you're walking aroundParis and you're just seeing some old dudes
playing patunk. You know, LikeI'm sure some of those petonk games get
heated, but nowhere to the levelof like the rivalries you see and like
what's that called when they're in theparking lot the pregaming, Oh yeah,
(07:46):
you know what, I forget whatthat's called. But yeah, when they're
out tail yes, when they're tailgating. Yeah, the the tang thek is
never getting as heated as the tailgating. That is true. That is very
very true. And PATNK players,I mean a very present sport that you
see just around Paris. Also dependingon where you are, like tennis,
I know, you can get tenniscourts in a lot of the parks,
(08:09):
a lot of people playing like pickupsoccer. But then like you know,
I know, you joined like asports team when you were here, right,
to build community and to play Itwas Gaelic football, right, Yeah,
so that was my thing. Istarted playing Gaelic football, which is
an Irish sport that's kind of likethis mix hybrid between rugby and volleyball and
(08:33):
football and a bit of basketball.But ultimately you have to be very handi
coordinated to play this game. Butbecause the Irish never really expect anyone to
play it, there are teams allover the world. But I quickly learned
that they're just so happy to findanyone willing to play their like chimera sport,
that they're very welcoming. So whenI moved to Paris, first thing
I did was, you know,join the Gaelic football team just to build
(08:56):
a community. And sure enough theywere very welcoming and they helped me and
you know, get acclimated to Paris. And I think something you brought up
it made me think too. Ithink in France and other countries, sports
is so you know, socially orientedand in the US, a lot of
sports is the goal is to becomepro. You know, I think a
(09:16):
lot of parents put their kids intosports, and maybe in the UK too,
you know, if you watch thatBeckham documentary of like Okay, this
kid is my my ticket out,Like we're gonna become rich, We're gonna
get millions and endorsements and contracts,like your goal is to make it to
the Olympics or a team, youknow, something with a lot of money.
And you see that even in theway that I feel us, sports
(09:39):
facilities are way more you know,capitalized. You know, you have you
can't just play a pickup game.It's much harder. You have to pay
a fee, you have to bea member of somewhere. You can't just
like show up to a court andlike be like I want to play some
tennis. Someone's going to run outand be like do you belong? What's
your name? You know? Okay, that's really interesting. And did you
encounter about it all with your Gaelicfootball or was that mostly Irish people playing?
(10:03):
And oh so, what I lovedabout Gaelic football was that no one
in Ireland is pro. It's apurely amateur sport. Oh that's nice.
So you can be the best ofthe best, and they have, you
know, a following as if.It is a massive sport in the States,
like you know, the NFL theyhave their champions Ship games every I
(10:24):
think August is a huge thing.Like the Irish friends I had in Asia,
we'd always stay up late to watchit. But the players don't get
paid. They're purely amateur and theydo it for like the love of the
game. Oh wow, that's socool. Yeah, I respect it a
lot actually, because then yeah,you know, your heart is you know,
not to sound too lofty, butyour heart's in it for the right
place, you know. I playedwith some really so like the all the
(10:46):
top levels, like All Ireland,and so when I was playing Gaelic in
China and Singapore and all that,a lot of their top people played at
the All Ireland level. But thenthey're also you know, math teachers and
bankers and just like very normal corporateday jobs as well. Oh man,
that's really cool. But I hada thought too that in France, I
(11:07):
feel like you can really go toa pickup game, you can just hang
out. It's a very social sportand there's kind of a it's built into
society too that like as you age, you can do a you know,
adult teams, you can have yourPITTONK League or whatever, and in the
US you can't. And I wasthinking it's also because of things like health
insurance. I've noticed so many ofmy friends don't do things because they're like,
(11:33):
well, you know, my healthinsurance won't cover that, my deductible
is too high. If I,you know, break my wrist, then
I won't have health insurance or I'mout of a job, and then I
lose my health insurance. Like it'ssuch a subconscious weight that's always here.
When I moved to Denver for ayear, I was working for AmeriCorps,
which is, you know, anonprofit. They pay you very little.
(11:54):
You have to be on food stamps, like that's their whole thing. It's
on purpose. But I couldn't affordhealth insurance and so I didn't join the
Gaelic football team because I was like, if I hurt myself at all,
like, I can't work this job. And then I had picked up a
second job and I was like,I can't work that job either, And
so you see that in the UStoo, where then because of that the
paperwork to join anything is larger.I tried signing up for a Gaelic football
(12:16):
team in Chicago and they're like,cool, here are like six different documents
you have to sign and get backto US. You have to register with
the USGAA league, blah blah blah, you have to prove your health insurance.
Sign this, sign that, whereasevery other country I've played in there
like you have a mouth guard,you have passport. Cool, show up
at this time at this day,Like that's it, you know. So
(12:37):
I think that's also kind of ahindrance to sports in America being as casual
and as leisurely as it could be, and as we see in France,
because you have to go through allof these hoops and hurdles first. It's
not just a casual like, yeah, let's go play for fun. I
never even thought about that. Andit's interesting too, because so much of
(12:58):
the if you are playing adult sportsas an adult in America, it is
often through work, like you havea softball league and it's your office softball
league, right, Whereas here,like where I go and spend summers in
the South, there's like adult menplaying rugby on the weekends. And they
might definitely lose a tooth and that'snothing to do with their job at all.
(13:22):
Yeah, and even just like Ifeel that competitiveness and the health insurance
comes out. For example, ifyou're going to the beach, I don't
really see people like picking up agame of volleyball with strangers. It's more
like you get your friends together andthen you're like, hey, let's go
to the volleyball you know area atthe beach, Whereas I feel like other
places i've been, I'm thinking morelike Asia and New Zealand, it was
(13:43):
more likely to just rock up toa beach and be like, all right,
I have a volleyball. Who wantsto play? You know, strangers?
And again it's it really changes alot that you don't think about.
When you just have health insurance takingcare of you don't have to worry about
it. That is a very goodpoint I think I've seen definitely. I
don't know if I've noticed the volleyballthing because I'm usually reading when I'm on
the beach, but I definitely havenoticed people joining like soccer games, and
(14:07):
I know there's very complicated politics aroundPITTONK and who's allowed to play with whom.
But definitely I've seen people like justjoin in in like a soccer football
game in like a park somewhere.Yeah, there's a freedom in that just
being like, yep, I don'tknow your skill level. You could,
you know, just tackle me endme today, but I would be okay
(14:28):
if that happened. Let's have fun. Yeah, that's amazing. Curious about
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(14:52):
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to Navigating the French. So anotherthing, another sort of element of sports
(15:16):
culture that I find really interesting,especially you know when you change countries,
is the way that people feel abouttheir local sports team. And I think
you kind of brushed up against thiswhen you were talking about the way that
you know, parents are hoping theirkids are going to go pro like.
I did an episode a while agoon Terehwar, and my guest was talking
(15:37):
about how a lot of French peoplefeel about their region and their regions like
products or food or wine, theway that a lot of Americans feel about
our sports teams, and so Iwas just curious. You know, when
you are watching sports in France,I know that people watch a lot of
what you know, we hear callfootball what we would call soccer in the
(15:58):
States, or rugby. Do youget the sense that they have that sense
of like identifying with their team tothe same extent, or are they watching
it more you know, to seethe professionalism or the or the non professionalism
of the team. Yeah, Imean I think it's some of a some
of the Like I think it's naturalhuman nature to feel some sort of pride
(16:18):
over where you're from, or someloyalty or even just you know, my
dad liked this team or my momlike this team. So I am too.
I know I haven't really watched peoplewatching like the smaller like say Marseille
versus to lose games. You know, it's more you know, World Cup
or Euros or Olympics, and ofcourse people are decked out and there they're
(16:41):
blue jerseys and they're bape jerseys,you know. But I think in what
I've noticed the big difference is isthat, like the US, the culture
is more, it's more present outsideof games. I feel like in France
when the games are on, they'relike, yeah, go friends, al
and they're like totally tuned in.And then when the game's over, there
(17:03):
like, you know, okay,a little bit of celebration, like I
was there in the World Cup happenedin twenty eighteen, and you know,
people were on the on the bestdeal and like on cars and like that
does happen. But then it's kindof back to, you know, let's
talk about food, let's talk aboutart whatever. In the US it's much
more, let's talk about sports allthe time. My father in law,
(17:25):
for example, it's you know,if I don't really know what else to
say to him, it's just kindof a I know, sports is a
foreshore steak in the ground that wecan be tied to be like, ah,
did you see the Cardinals last night? You know, I also know
like when I whenever I get ona flight that's headed back to the US
in any airport in any country,I can immediately tell that it's heading to
(17:45):
the US because I start seeing peoplewearing sports jerseys. Oh yeah, you
know, the baseball hats and belike, Oh, that guy's from Kansas
City, or oh, that person'sa Pittsburgh fan. You know, I
don't really get that from any othercountry. Maybe occasionally like a rugby jersey
or a soccer jersey, but like, by and large, the Americans are
(18:06):
like dominating that sports jerseys in publickind of market. Yeah, that makes
sense, That makes a lot ofsense. And yeah, the baseball caps.
I feel like, you see peoplewearing Yankees caps here and I don't
think they even know that their Yankeescaps. I think they think they're New
York laps. Yeah, like that'svery much a fashion statement for sure.
I think. Circling back to thatparticular World Cup, I remember, actually,
(18:27):
you know, speaking of identity andkind of unity and community, when
France won that World Cup, TrevorNoah came out and said something. He
made a joke about how like Africahad won the World Cup for France.
Oh yeah, and a lot ofthe players came forward and sort of decried
him and said, no, itwere French first and French French always.
(18:48):
And there has been quite a bitof like a trend over time talking about
sort of mixity in on the Frenchteam and it being kind of a great
equalizer. Have you encountered any ofthat in France, of the way that
it's sort of a way in whichwe reckon with racial diversity in France.
(19:11):
I so I've seen, you know, articles and things about it, and
I think at a high level it'sit's what we all want, you know.
It's the same with I think hisname is Marcus Ashford in the UK,
but I'm not sure. You know, we and in the US as
well, like wow, look atthis great equalizer. We're on the same
team. But ultimately it's kind oflike how when Andy what is it Andy
(19:34):
Rottick or Andy there's someone who's Scottishand it's like when he wins, you
care like, oh yeah for theUK, and when he loses it like,
well he's Scottish. Ah yeah.I think most unfortunately, the reality
that I've seen for the most partis still when it suits you and you
can celebrate then like, yeah,we'll take them there ares. But then
(19:56):
when they you know, miss apenalty or when they get you know,
a foul, suddenly it's boo andthere's suddenly, you know, racial things
coming out. I know in Franceand the Italian team, there have definitely
still been some ugly, ugly racialthings happening at stadiums and things being said.
So it's like, yes, highlevel, you can say you're all
for it, but not everyone isthere yet. Yeah, and I get
(20:21):
the same too, even being like, you know, I'm Chinese American and
so people kind of claim me asAmerican or Chinese when it suits them as
well. You know, it's it'sfrustrating. I want to say you can't
have both, but you know,it's always going to happen, I think,
right when it comes to the Olympics, specifically for Paris, do you
get the sense, you know,having worked at multiple Olympics' Olympics, Olympics
(20:45):
High, Olympics high, do youget the sense that it represents anything in
particular for France as opposed to whatit might have represented for some of the
other countries where you've covered the Olympics. Oh, that's a good question.
Okay. So for background, likeI did Singapore and then London so Chi
(21:06):
as journalists, and then Rio andPyong Chang I did working for the organizing
committees on the media team. SoI've seen it from both sides and in
like a variety of different cities,and Paris definitely falls more in line in
my mind as the London side ofHey, we had it twice in the
past, let's have it again inthe twenty first century. Modernize it kind
(21:26):
of remind people like, hey,we're more than just the stereotypes of our
city. You know, it's ultimatelygoing to be cool to see things like
swimming in the Seine, even ifyou don't want to think about like ill
growth, it's the sin. Youknow, the pictures coming out from test
events where they're high diving next tothe Eiffel Tower, they're playing volleyball next
to Hotel de View, like ofcourse those images are next level. At
(21:49):
the same time, yeah, youthink about like Singapore had the first Youth
Olympics and that was kind of youknow, some people didn't really know much
about Singapore where it was if theyhad a sport culture. Rio. You
know, much can be said aboutplaces like Rio and Peongchang, where As
with any Olympics you get into youknow, should the money have been spent
(22:10):
this way? Was this the bestthing for this economy and the people.
But some of the positives I didsee was, you know, introducing some
infrastructure that hadn't been there before andreally introducing kids to sport. In Rio,
I was working the water polo venue, the venue that had the green
pool that was mine, oh mygosh. And yeah, but when the
(22:32):
water pole was going on, likeI remember, I became friends with some
of the water polo reporters and theywere telling me all about the kids in
the stands that they were talking to, who are suddenly like, I'm interested.
Now I actually started swimming, orI started taking lessons. I'm joining
a water polo team. Like Ithink the exposure, especially in those kind
(22:52):
of countries and places is really cool. And you know, obviously awesome that
Paris will be hosting. I'm surethere will still be many people in communities
and kids who will be exposed tosports that they otherwise wouldn't have. But
those are the differences you get whenyou have a London and in Paris versus
like a reown a Singapore. Yeah, and I mean I feel like a
(23:14):
lot of what we've been talking aboutin Paris, or a lot of what
I've been hearing because I work intourism, so I think people have been
saying, you know, Paris reallydidn't need this hotlight on it. Yeah.
I know. My photographer friends havebeen, you know, posting photos
of like, well, you know, just know, if you're here right
now, we can't really take picturesby the Eiffel Tower. You know,
A're going have to choose different placeslike it. Definitely. I see the
(23:37):
scaffolding going up because a lot ofmy friends are still there, and I
see their Instagram stories and it's like, wow, yeah, that's this is
all infrastructure. When Paris is communicatingabout these games, I see a couple
of different things coming up. Youknow. One of them is gender parody
with as many women competing as men. Is that something that you feel,
you know, is significant when itcomes to sport in France specific or is
(24:00):
this just something that was a longtime coming that's finally happened and it just
so happens to have happened in Paris. Yeah, it's more the latter.
I remember, even going back toLondon or Singapore. They already had the
statistics out for journalists of like,hey, these athletes are this per sent
men, this per sent women,And every year it would come closer and
closer to parody. So like,yes, hugely important. Many women still
(24:22):
are not getting the same treatment,facilities, pay access, all of those
things, and it's so important.But I wouldn't say it's like it's not
because of Paris that this happened.This had been rolling for a while.
I think the IIC had been makingit a priority to get them to parody.
That's really good news. Yeah,fantastic. Another thing I'm hearing a
(24:44):
lot about in terms of communicating aboutthe Paris Game specifically, is sort of
the climate awareness of something this bigand obviously, you know Paris being the
home of the Climate Accord, Ithink that people have been thinking about how
to use pre existing infrastructure and howto you know, reduce the climate effects
of the games in getting everything readyto welcome all of these people. Is
(25:07):
that something that you think is youknow, something that the games in general
have been working towards and it justso happens that it's calcifying in Paris,
or do you think that the Parisclimate cord had any effect on the way
that the games are sort of gettingset up here. Yeah, this one
I think actually is the latter.This one I think I would probably give
Paris some credit for I hadn't reallyseen it as prioritized in other games that
(25:30):
I've been to. Maybe it wasthere and I just didn't see it.
But I feel like Paris, especiallyknowing the history of like you know,
An Hidalgo, I think has beenpretty forward thinking on the ways that she's
turned Paris into more climate friendly orlike more walkable. You can correct me
if I'm wrong. I haven't stayedthat up to date on No, that's
you're absolutely right. Yeah, youknow, I feel like every time I
(25:52):
came back to Paris there were actuallymore pedestrianized roads. There are more streets
that had been taken away from cars, and I think that's really great that
they've you know, kind of puttheir money where their mouth is and it's
like, yeah, we're hosting amassive event. There's a large carbon footprint.
A lot of people are flying infor this, There's going to be
a carbon footprint just erecting and thendisassembling all of these structures. So it's
(26:15):
good that they're taking that into account, especially when all the scientists are kind
of saying, like, hey,climate change is happening a way faster rate
than we thought it would. Yeah. Where you and I kind of intersect
on this is I just covered therestaurant that they're building for the games,
where they're welcoming you know, threevery very mediatized chefs to cook for the
(26:40):
Olympians. They're going to cook inwhat they're calling the biggest restaurant in the
world. Oh and obviously, youknow, France being the country of gastronomy,
it's it's unsurprising that they're focusing thismuch on the food, but there's
very little of that food is fuelmindset in France generally. And I was
just curious, you know, ifwe bring it sort of back to the
(27:00):
culture around sports in general, doyou get the sense that the French and
I know we're generalizing, but wealways have to generalize on this podcast,
which is uncomfortable. But do youget the sense that they treat food as
fuel, that they think about therelationship between fitness and food in the same
way as someone, for example,in the States. Would I mean,
again, to generalize this is noteveryone, but generally I do not see
(27:26):
that at all. Like I remembermoving to France and like suddenly eating way
more bread and butter and cheese thanI ever had in my entire life.
And I was still like, Ifelt healthier than I ever had, you
know, And it's because I waswalking everywhere and the quality of the food
was better. And the first timeI went back to the States after living
in France for a few months,I still remember so clearly. My parents
(27:48):
took me to a restaurant I thinkit was the Olive Garden and I had
like my usual chicken pasta and Iwas like, oh, this chicken is
like sweet. I could taste thedifference and the yogurt with me. Everything
just felt so like syrupy, andI was like, okay, like they're
not lying about the whole. AndI would see people generalizing like, oh,
(28:10):
well, European food is better.I was like, oh, okay,
no, I get it now.I see where those rules and regulations
actually make a difference. I wouldalso say, like in the US,
so like every time I'm back inthe US visiting, or even if I
just have my VPN on and I'mlike watching a show with American commercials,
so much of the media messaging isaround how you look and what you're eating,
(28:32):
and are you thinking about your calories? You're not while you should be.
Have you heard of keto? Areyou doing paleo? Are you intermitute
fasting? Like? These are notthings that I would otherwise ever think about.
And I feel grateful that I grewup in a family household that,
for all of its problems, didnot ever really talk about weight or appearance,
(28:52):
because then I could just view foodas like, this is delicious.
I would like to eat more ofit and not have to think about like,
well, is is this the rightfuel? Are there enough fuel numbers?
You know? I think I've seenfriends go through that, and it's
just a really, you know,it's a heavy way to live. It's
a debilitating way, really, likeweighs you down, and when food can
be so enjoyable, to kind ofhave that weight around you, I guess
(29:17):
no pun intended, but it cantake away from that absolutely. And then
thank you so very much for joiningme on the podcast today. This has
been enlightening and I'm so glad thatwe got to chat. For anybody who
is listening who wants to read moreof your work, find out where eating
the world you are, which isalways a hard thing to figure out.
(29:38):
Where can people find you? Iam best reached on Instagram at expat Edna
excellent and are you still writing?Still freelancing writing about sports? No longer
writing about sports as much, mostlywriting. I'm doing a lot of freelance
stuff that no longer goes on myblog just because know how to is it
(30:00):
pays a little better. But Iwould like to get to a spot where
I can go back to just throwingrandom thoughts on the blog. Amazing.
Well, in the meantime, peoplecan give you a follow on Instagram.
We'll put that link in the shownotes. Thank you so much for joining
us, and have a fantastic restof your day. Thanks Emily too.
(30:22):
This has been Navigating the French.You can find more from me Emily Monico
at Emily Underscore in Underscore France,on Twitter and Instagram. This podcast is
produced by Paris Underground Radio. Tolisten to other episodes of this podcast,
or to discover more podcasts like it, please visit Paris Underground radio dot com.
Thanks for listening and abentu this episodeof Navigating the French. Was produced
(30:45):
by Jennifer Garrity for Paris Underground Radio. For more great content, join us
on Patreon at patreon dot com slashParis Underground Radio
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