Before independence of India, in 1947, what we knew about France was what we read in the literature provided to us by the English writers and the stories narrated by the members of Indian elite; primarily the Maharajahs and the Princes of the Independent States. We were intuited to believe that France was what Paris was, and Paris was, what Pigalle was (Pigalle is an area in Paris that is swarmed with night-clubs, and pornographic activities). Our minds were preconceived with the ideas that the whole country, with its chateaus and villas was abounded with unclad women, and to retain a mistress was a norm rather than exception.

When my daughter approached me with a proposal to marry a Frenchman, my reaction was "A Frenchman But in France they don't marry, they just live together." She tried to convince me that France, outside Paris, and its chateaus and villas, is bestowed with an entirely different character."

And from my personal experience I vouch for the truthfulness of her statement. It is more like Punjabi character. In her Tenth Wedding Anniversary Party, for which we had flown from Toronto, she had invited more than twelve couples, most of them French. They all knew about my apprehension and comments at the time of her marriage proposal. It became a big joke; almost all of them approached me with their family histories--most of them had been married over ten years and there had been no unnatural and unethical divorces or abandonments of spouses in their families for the last two or three generations.

She lives in Daix, a suburb of Dijon. Dijon is a major town of the area known as Bourgogne, Burgundy. It is in the heart of most famous wine area known as such. With the discovery of an impressive Greek vase and the gold diadem, Dijon traces back its historical lineage to the period five centuries before Christ. The Historical vestiges of Roman Civilisation can still be seen in various places; centuries old churches and monasteries stand testimony to that. To protect themselves from the plundering Barbarians in third century AD, Dijon and other towns in the area had walls built around their centres. These walls are still known today as Castrum Walls. People of a tribe who originally came from Burgundarholm Island (today the Danish island of Bornholm) gave their name to Burgundy. The independent Burgundy was taken over forcibly by the King of France in 1016 and during 14th and 15th centuries dukes of Burgndy became very powerful, even more than the King of France. It became a great Christian centre and in due course, the court of Burgundy attracted famous sculptors, designers, and painters. In the academic field it leaped ahead as well; the University of Dijon and the School of Fine Arts were founded in mid-18th century.

Although small in area, the combination of geographical and geological factors of gentle slopes make wines of Burgundy famous world-wide. The vine was introduced by Romans, but it is the ideal terrain and the hard work practised by the Burgundians, through out centuries, which made it achieve such a well-deserved reputation.

Its flat land produces cereals, sugar-beet and oil rape seeds. Dijon is also famous for its food products; production of mustard makes it renown internationally.

Characteristically, the people of the area are as bubbly as its champagne, sweeter than their sweet wine, full-bodied as their red wine, and as spicy and warm as their mustard. There is an extraordinary fervour when acquaintances meet each other; a woman meeting a woman or a man meeting a woman passes light and gentle kisses on both the cheeks, and when men meet and depart they always shake hands. Their visitations are informal; passing by, unannounced, they just pop in to inquire each other's welfare. The family cohesion is prevalent considerably; with the encouragement of their parents, grown-up kids prefer to stay home till they are married. There are no restrictions towards the boy-friend or girl-friend relationships and youngsters spend more time together at homes rather than roaming around in the streets and degraded clubs.

Their gourmet is exquisite and their eating habits are sophisticated. We had opportunities of visiting a few French families. As soon as you settle down the question comes, "Voulez-vous un aperitif?" First time when I was put this question I whispered to my daughter that the host was a peculiar man as, on our very first meeting, he was calling us, my wife and myself, a pair of thieves. "No Dad," was my daughter's reply, "he is asking if you would like to have a drink?" And it became a big joke during all our visits.

`Vous' (you-aap or tussi) changes to `tu' (thou-tum or tu) with the growth of familiarity--another touch of Punjabi culture.

The `aperitif' is generally Port, Whisky or Champagne. The most delicious drink I ever had is the champagne laced with black-current liqueur (cassis), another famous speciality of Burgundy. After a couple of aperitifs we were invited to the table. Each place-setting had five wine glasses; to satisfy my inquisitiveness, my daughter whispered to me that they were for different types of wines. "Couldn't we drink from the same glass," was my comment. There was one empty jug lying in the middle of the table; if one did not like certain wine, one could pour that into that jug, it was an accepted norm and would cause no embarrassment, I was told.

The first glass was honoured with very sweet wine, which was imperative for the starter of liver and toast. The second course was fish cooked in wine and laced with cheese and garlic sauce, it was simply out of the world. I have never tasted a delicacy so delicious in my life. The fish was accompanied by medium sweet wine, and there went the glass number two. The third, and the main course was unique itself. It was roasted leg of deer marinated in whisky. Boiling hot brandy was poured on the slices of the same in a flat casserole, and lighted up. The flames were still towering when the tray was brought to the table. It went down lusciously with red-wine. Then the table was nearly cleared and the cheese board appeared. France is counted as the number one in the production of great varieties of cheeses, although quantity-wise Holland claims to top the list. There were six different types on the board and each one was mouth-watering. The vintage red wine made it much more palatable. It was Christmas period and the champagne escorted the Christmas pudding with toasts for Bonne Sante--good health and Joyeux No.el--happy Christmas.

We settled down on the sofas in the lounge with liqueurs and brandies. When they learned about my whisper, at the beginning of the dinner, regarding the number of glasses for each person, they wanted to know what we did in Punjab.

I reacted, "We! We in Punjab are very simple. We have whisky as aperitif before dinner, whisky with dinner, whisky after dinner and whisky before we go to bed, and just one glass was sufficient for all that." And perhaps one day this will become a National joke in France.

Perhaps it would be quite infelicitous if I do not mention the French Mademoiselle, France Dee Kurry. Her ravishing fair complexion is absolutely devoid of red or white splotches (unlike a few other European Nations); consequently the application of make-up is not very common with young girls. Her sharp features transmit a bowshot straight to the core of your heart and when she pronounces pardon--pardou with rounded deep red lips, you get a sensuous tingle running through your spine.

P.S. My thanks are due to the local tourist-office and library for historical and geographical references.