From Distant Climes They Came

That was my first time to set foot on French soil.

And my first time to meet French comics fans.

And my first opportunity to mingle with my French comics- creating counterparts (all of whose drawing skills put mine embarrassingly to shame).

And also, uh, my first time to stumblingly place an order for French Egg McMuffins at a McDonald’s not far from my hotel, using what’s left of my high school French while hoping none of my culinarily cultivated convention hosts would spot me doing so.

It’s always easy for me to remember which year I made this trip, since George W. Bush was busy starting a war while my plane was over the Atlantic. Once I had settled into my hotel in Bordeaux, CNN International provided me with stimulating views of tanks barreling through sandstorms as preparations were being made to visit shock and awe on the citizens of Baghdad.

A welcome postscript to my introduction to les choses français occurred a couple of weeks ago, when Laurent paid a visit to the Cruse-Sedarbaum homestead here in North Adams. Laurent arrived with his girlfriend Lawrence in tow, as well as their friends Yan and Hélène, a charming couple who have only recently relocated from Bordeaux to Quebec.

The four of them stayed overnight with Eddie and me before proceeding to New York City. Laurent had never visited America before, and hence this would be his first exposure to the Big Apple. We recommended the street vendors’ soft pretzels, of course, and I made sure he knew to visit my favorite Manhattan comic store, Jim Hanley’s Universe. We also provided the traditional suggestion that everyone keep their wallets in their front pockets while making their way through dense crowds.

"The city is really magic," Laurent wrote to tell me once the gang had returned to Yan and Helene’s Ottawa digs. "We were amazed at every street corner."

Snapshots taken during Laurent’s North American vacation are now on view in his blog. Seeing New York through Laurent’s eyes reminds me why I’m grateful to have experienced life in that city for as many years as I did.

Which is not to suggest that Eddie and I aren’t thoroughly pleased to be living in rural Massachusetts now.