And we all know that Napoleon really wasn't French either. But their women shave their legs so there is always something to "love" about the french.
I have received a few phone calls from my daughter. She has been exploring the attitudes, industry, and culture of France a bit and has been reporting back. I can't wait to sit down with her, consume a bottle of good red wine, and do some serious debriefing. I can't remember everything, but here is the sense of what I am hearing. She likes the French people that she has met. However, she says they initially treat her as though she was coming from the region of "Mad Max". Her acquaintances apparently think everyone in America uses a gun on a daily basis and lives in big cities. She felt that their assessments of American geography, attitudes, politics, and culture were a bit shallow, probably about what she would expect talking to an average American. The French (and Americans) apparently both have limited views and filtered mainstream news. She thought the French were quieter and more polite than many Americans. Their houses are relatively neat and relatively colorful. She likes that wine, and it's cheap. She says they have no California wines and many had never even heard of Cheddar (English) cheese. She initially thought that the French might have had a better understanding of European and American history than what she observed. Again, not much different from average Americans. They were surprised to see that she was so well educated and generally experienced in pragmatic things. (She can drive a tractor, fish, shhot guns, and build stuff.) She was surprised to see an element of class-distinction which really does not exist in the western United States. She believes that women scientists are not as common in France, and make 15 to 30 percent less than their male counterparts. She feels that workers tend to get pegged into certain work disciplines and that it basically it. They stay in those jobs. She feels that job advancement and opportunities are not based on merit or achievement, rather education and social status. I have no idea because I have not been to France and we have never discussed this issue in the past. She was supposed to go to the Louvre today because it is free on Sundays. She is on a budget, and generally pretty frugal. She also went to a military museum to find stuff of General Rapp, but has not reported in yet. She is mystified by European schedules. They eat late and work schedules are different! She says Spain is the worst. She also says work in France is lower keyed than America. People seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on small projects. They get a lot of time off, and tend to screen young women out of the worrkplace because they assume that many will immediately have children and go on assistance. The notes and paperwork of her French counterparts is neat and precise. Shhe got the feeling that they would starve in the United States working at that pace. Among other things, my daughter establishes and evaluates research vegetable plots for seed production. Basically, a plant breeder. Her boss in the USA works 12 hour days and handles thousands of test plots. The French counterparts handle only a small fraction of that amount of testing. While she is flying around the world examining thousands of disparate test plots, her French associates are studying and recording very small field projects. I am fascinated by her observations because I know how she thinks, and I have almost no experience with the French. Learning mode.
More alarming news! She says everyone in Paris has been nice to her. She says a lot of people, not necessarily French, run aorund completely confused. She was giving directions to people and she can't speak French! The Charles d'Gaul International Airport is crazy and "disorganized". She says there is far less of the urban ghetto scene in Paris than we have in our big cities. Rappers and funky hip-hop dudes are relatively hard to find. The Morrocans are a problem, but that is about it. She was blown away by the Louvre. She said it would take a week to see all the artwork in the Louvre, and the place makes the NY Metropolitan Museum look like a homely sister. She could not stop talking about the Louvre. She did not even get to see the French impressionistic paintings. Apparently, they were in a building across the street. She also did not see the famous painting by Gerard or Rapp laying the standards of Austria before napoleon at Austerlitz. Tomorrow at the military museum. So far, France is looking pretty good. She will be back for St. Patrick's day when we are having a party, although not traditional Irish stuff. Yes, we have no Irishmen today, except maybe me, but don't know. That's another story. QD
Probably because they have great French wines and cheeses anyway. But I am pretty sure that the ubiquitous Gallo wines, for example, can be had in France too. And if Jamie Oliver's shows are on French TV too, they will learn about Cheddar as well, hehe. There is some truth to that, I think. This "class distinction" is probably a little different from the British variety, but having gone to the "right" grande école/university, for example, opens quite a few doors, career wise, that otherwise may remain closed. In that regard, formal education may be over-emphasized in France. (Not my personal experience, just what I have heard from some French I worked with, and read in guides about studying/working in other EU member states.) Depends. Barcelona, for example, is a little different in that regard from Madrid. Having dinner at a restaurant at 9 or 10 in the evening (ie. start dinner at that time) is pretty normal in Spain. And some even take their kids with them then. France tends (IMO) to be a little earlier. But when I went to the US for the first time, I was quite surprised that many people go out to dinner at a relatively early time, 7 or so. Even for me as a German, that is early ... Probably some government sponsored charme offensive. Christian
LOL obviously were not Parisines, I am glad that she is enjoying herself over there France is such a lovely country yep there is class distinction in France and a lot of it does depend on which school you went to LOL not realy sure what you mean by work scheduals? the spanish & italians quite often have a siesta break around mid-day but work later so eat later over here in the UK we normaly work very long hours and go out for dinner at around 9ish. If she were to visit round the Normandy/Calaise area she would find some very nice chedder not sure about finding Califonian wine though :rolling: If she gets a chance she must visit Brittany and try the cider De Orc
Well, she is ready to come home. She is very tired and tired of the cold weather. She has no idea that we have had alternating snow, rain, sleet, hail, wind, sunshine, and clouds for at leat a week now. LOL In her latest report, today, she said that traffic is Paris is chaotic. She says the French have a problem with signage. Nothing makes sense. The local French do fine, but most of the tourists are running around confused. She is still amused by late dinners. She noted that Asian and American tourists line up at restuarants before they open. The French show up later. She says the public toilets are pretty bad. They require coins, have warning lights on them, and tend to be non-functional. As most other Americans, she is amazed by all the guns on the streets. We are supposed to be the gunslingers, but we don't have police and military personnel hanging around everywhere with machine guns. It was a little unnerving for me. In Germany, I felt OK with German cops carrying automatic weapons because they looked professional, under control, and intelligent. In Austria, it was OK, but slightly less urban. The Hungarian troops looked like Soviet-block soldiers with AK-47s and green wool overcoats, yet still not too bad. You want scarey, go to South America or Mexico. I have never felt comfortable with a 20-something Mexican kid wandering around with a machine gun. Having lived in Mexico many yeasr ago, I am almost certain that their police training and qualifications are not up to American standards. (Probably like Louisiana. LOL) Plus, they just don't have the body language to inspire much confidence. My daughter comes homes tomorrow. Finally.
Well, it does make a difference these days. I flew from CDG to LAX yesterday, and Paris (much like Düsseldorf where I live) was pretty darn cold, maximum 5°C. When I arrived here, Los Angeles had about 15°C ... (And yes, the CDG airport was a zoo for me too. Not a maze (well signposted), but it took a while until I figured out that, in order to get from one concourse to another, even at the same terminal, I had to take a shuttle bus. And then, another bus from the gate to the aircraft which was parked somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Actually I am very surprised that you saw so much police in the cities when you were in Germany. I don't see many police officers where I live, except maybe at "strategic" points like the airport, the main train station or the state parliament. And hardly any with machine guns. On the other hand, I saw lots of officers, with their arms carried very visibly, at LAX airport last night. Maybe it makes a difference where you go, or maybe we notice "foreign" officers differently than our "domestic" police officers? Paris may be a little different, especially these days with the demonstrations against the labor market reforms. Traffic in Paris may seem to be chaotic first, but one gets used to it. Heck, SoCal is different from NYC too. Christian
Quick dog, you should see what downtown manhattan looks like. The police truly look like para military now.
I am probably out of it these days. We had a Neighborhood Watch meeting the other night and the biggest problem the neighbors could come up with was the occassional guy parking on our narrow road and semi-blocking the traffic lane. I admonished by neighbors (and wife) to stop whining about nothing. We used to have almost nightly automatic weapons fire in Sacramento years ago. The Placerville Police Department made 20 or 30,000 calls last year, and the mean response time was two minutes! I made a few non-emergency calls myself, and I can attest to the validity of that response claim. Two-minute response times are unheard of anywhere else as far as I know. I get in and out of California airports now and then, but I have not been to Europe for at least five years. National Guard troops here in the USA probably have no bullets in their guns or on their persons! LOL. I travel in Mexico fairly often, and as I said, Mexican police make me nervous. I am sure they have bullets. They are probably locked and loaded with their safetys off.
Hello quick dog I'm glad your daughter finds people friendly here in France, she is really welcome and you are all if you wish to visit. I've been myself to the USA eight times the past twenty-five years and people I met there where very nice and friendly, despite what many folks here seem to think. It is the same, inverted situation. The main difference (IMO) is that in the USA people will try to go forward to meet the foreigner, where in France they go on their business so that you feel they don't show interest. The "connection" is more difficult to initialize. After "the ice is broken", believe me, you will find really nice people I really think that people are nice as long as you are ready to find them nice Cucumbor
I happen to believe this is the 'key' to the whole situation! You nailed it right on the head Cucumbor.:thumb:
Two of the three bottles of French wine that she had in her carry-on broke at the airport. I told her that it was God's way of telling her to drink California wine.
