It is not home anymore but still, it feels like home / Ce n'est plus chez nous et pourtant, on se sent toujours à la maison...

Like the other tourists, we decided to be photographed with a Leprechaun in Dublin

Stag party man trying filling up the Leprechaun's gold pot

It is not that I despite my homeland (France is a lovely place to live in) but, at a young age I always thought that “grass was greener abroad”, especially in Ireland.

View from our hotel room in Kilkenny

Eight months ago, when we left Ireland for good, I wouldn't have thought we’ll be back so quickly. We came back because we were invited to the wedding of an old friend of ours in Kilkenny. It was a traditional Irish wedding that occurred in a catholic church, followed by a party with Irish music in the playlist. 

Being in Ireland reminded me how much I love that place even if it rains a lot. I love it, because there are life scenes that are peculiar to Ireland and that can only be seen over there.

Now, imagine you’re sent by mistake to Ireland without knowing it; if you do not hear the Irish music in the soundscape, how would you know you’re in Ireland? 

We brought Teddy to the world famous Ha Penny Bridge, Dublin

Easy. Going outside of the plane you’ll be blown away by the strongest salty wind storm you may experience in your life. You’ll be welcomed by beautifully layered grey clouds and eventually a few showers. If you’re going to the closest supermarket at 10am in Ireland, you may bump into guys who just purchased cans of beers. Only in Ireland, you drink beer in the local pub as your breakfast (the traditional Irish breakfast being a pint of Guinness with a plate of oysters). Then, taking the public transports, you may observe the new faces around you for a while and notice hysterical noises coming from the back. It would be a group of suburban’s teens dress up in a very colourful way and wearing “Amy Winehouse” type of hairdo. Going to the city, you’d experience a very relaxed atmosphere and listen to a few Irish performers playing rock music on the main streets. Pubs are easy to spot; there is at least one every 100 meters. Finally, it smells fish & chips. You may also notice girls wearing pyjamas and slippers in Dublin city centre or people completely drunk walking like zombies in the middle of the road, blocking the traffic; or you may witness a violent alcoholic person being pushed out of the local public transport by the policemen. This is the sad face of Ireland: alcohol consumption has a very high rate in here. Then, if you pay attention to what the Irish people say, you may find their language funny. They will “thank you a million” for buying something or scream to one another “Stahree budz!” (How are you?) and reply “I’m grand!”. Even if Irish people do not believe in fairies and leprechauns like the stereotype would like to, I would like to emphasize the fact that Ireland truly is a magical place. It is an island worth discovering to the full. I'll always be Irish by heart (even though I am French). 

Temple bar, the most popular and the most arty place in Dublin.
Kind of quiet in the day time, it looks very different at night.

Our lunch meal (joke)