you can live in southern france for many years and even many generations, and still be considered, among the natives whose geneology can be traced back to the middle ages, something called “un estranger” or “une estrangère.” in other words, your great great grandfather may have moved here from italy or spain, and every generation since may have lived exclusively in france, and yet you are still sort of “an immigrant.” i suppose it’s not that much different in the united states where certain second-generation western- and eastern-europeans think of themselves as more “american” than the great-great grandchildren of enslaved africans who built the country by the sweat of their brow. anyway, that is a long and indirect way of saying that eucalyptus trees can be found all over southern France, and not a single one of them is “native.” yet they are beautiful, and fragrant, and apparently here to stay.

eucalyptus

autignac, france