Our own Bord Failte is not behind the door in advertising the beauties and general attractions of Ireland for the tourist. Aren't we to have a record influx this year? And following yesterday's Eye, it was not possible to pass the French Government Tourist Office in Suffolk Street, Dublin. We do it our way, the French in theirs - particularly in one outstanding booklet/pamphlet, The Plea- sure of Travelling in France. It's lively, bitsy, brilliantly illustrated and typographically eccentric in an amusing way. Seventy million tourists can't be wrong, for they claim that number of visitors in 1998, "making France the first tourist destination in the world!" Yes, they put an exclamation mark there, as if surprised themselves. Presented in small items, it's remarkable how much you learn of the country. You're aware, of course, that they so often refer to their country as the Hexagon, that term being interpreted as a plane figure having six sides and six angles. "This nickname is a real blessing for schoolchildren: six quick lines are enough to draw a simple map of the country." A heading goes "Paris by day, Paris by night .. . Paris forever", with quotes to follow: "An eternal city, Paris. More eternal than Rome, more splendorous than Nineveh" (Henry Miller). Moliere: "I believe that, outside Paris there's no safety for honest people." And Sacha Guitry, described as man of letters, theatre and wit, said that to be a Parisian is not to be born in Paris but to be reborn there. Under a heading, "Savoir Faire", we are told that France is a land of culture .. . the subtle loops of Calais lace, the bewitching presence of a perfume from Grasse .. . the rising scent of mutton stew with broad beans. "Payment in foreign currency?" is a heading. "The French like to be paid in French francs", though large hotels and luxury boutiques may accept foreign currency. (Wouldn't count too much on it, would you?)
Oddments: The post office at 52 Rue du Louvre never shuts. France has 5,500 kms of coastline from the Channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with the largest beach in Europe at La Baule (Loire Atlantique department). Also the highest mountain in Europe - Mont Blanc, at 4,807 metres. Finally, why, when other countries have accepted the lion, tiger, bear or bull as emblems, does France have the cockerel, "a quarrelsome braggart which harangues the farmyard with its discordant cry?" The paragraph gives a wordplay reason and ends "cocka-doodle-doo."