Things the French excel at

Suspension.

And the utterly beautiful and sublime original Citroen DS.

No they haven’t forgotten – they are not just tedious enough to go on about all the time it after 70 years.

And to be fair my grandad helped too, and he was French – it was a wide ranging European/Global war so he probably help prevent YOU from speaking german too.

He saved a number of British paras in the occupied zone and got his Legion D’Honneur given to him by De Gaule himself as a result, so there.

I jest, my grandad wasn’t even in france, he was somewhere in darkest indo china i believe..shooting those pesky japs

French troops were awesome too no doubt…de gaule was a bit of a dick though..i’ll stand by that comment

de gaule was a bit of a dick though

Really? You a Pétain man yourself? 😯

scaredypants – Member

If the French want other people to speak their language, then *they* are going to have to get used to hearing it spoken badly.

au contraire – they bloody love it when you have a go, IME. I once got a 25% discount off a pair of ski gloves because I asked for them in French

+1

My French is rubbish but I do make an effort with the pronounciation. You can often see their eyes light up when they know from your accent you are English but at least making an effort to respect their language rather than expecting them to speak English. I’ve never really had a problem with being understood either.

(me, in france, in a shop, holding a battery in one hand, pointing at it enthusiastically with the other, i can see the batteries on the wall behind the counter)

“bon-jor…. esk-ah, voo-savey, kelker-shows kom-sah?”

to be me with blank indifference.

there are other examples, but really, i am trying.

He was waiting for “S’il vous plait”, ahwhiles.

Mmmmm, I’ve never really noticed the language thing that has been mentioned above all the time I have been here to be honest. Well not outside of Paris. Certainly here in Haute Vienne I’ve had no issues with the locals at all. My French is not great but I do try, and it is improving daily but has a way to go. I have never asked anyone to speak English, though a few have done so voluntarily once I have tried French.

I’ve been treated more rudely in a shop in Nth Wales in the 80’s than I ever have been in France! And I don’t think that the English shopkeepers are against being awkward with visitors who are trying to speak English to them but are perhaps getting words muddled and mispronounced.

Hiya,

Err planning ahead they are a complete success at. In comparison look at UK for the following:

1. Energy
2. Transport
3. Education

It is embarrasing to see how good they have things compared to us. OK national debt is high, but at least they have infrastructure to show for it ;-(

Best Regards
Jerry

He was waiting for “S’il vous plait”, ahwhiles.

And possibly “Monsieur”.

Without that you might as well have said “Oi! Froggy. Quick sharp.”.

I once got complimented on my pronunciation of “Gold Leaf” in a French tobacconist.

English people tend not to realise that bon jaw is not the same as bonjour and urn pan is not the same as un pain.

Writing cheques. Specificallly they are good at waiting until all their items have been scanned at the supermarket checkout before looking in the depths of their bag for their cheque book.

Oh, and finally, the French excel at putting cocoa in their chocolate. Not buttermilk. 85% Noir. Happy days.

I live on the Swiss/ French boarder. I’m in France most days and don’t think they really excel at anything. I can’t think of one thing that I’ve thought, ah, this is better than the UK.

An example of how simple words might not sound as you think. You need some plumbing fittings and want to get off the bus at the nearest stop to Leroy Merlin DIY emporium.

What do you say to the driver? Now check if you made a noise (s)he would understand:

to be fair the Millau viaduc was designed by Norman Foster .

Though the bloke who made it stand up was French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux

pastries.

Having spent time living in Normandy my view of France is that it’s a great place. For every irritant of some rules there are just some many things (often small) that make such a civilised place to be. In the rural areas mainly, cities are as crap as here in many ways. One thing I did notice was a racist under current but given that in rural Calvados anyone from Deippe was a stranger let alone a Parisian, I suspect unknown stranger was really the problem. I was school by our village Maire on why the Front National were evil, but then the Gastapo had cut his brother throat and smashed his hands with a rifle butt. He liked Americans as well as English, want to keen on Germans though.
France it’s a great country, in the same way (but different) that ours is. Sorry to be a bore.

What’s not to like about a country where some believe that a bowl of coffee and a calvados constituttes a good start to the day?

Not the stabby bit like…

There was a French couple that took over and ran a bakery in Aberdeen, they made amazing butteries, I shed real tears when the sold up and moved on. I think they were appalled by the way we do bread and shit in this country. I used to look forward to going to their shop on a Saturday morning, asking for stuff in my halting French.

Swearing, they are brilliant at it.

And I do love a French accent… 😳

However, if the one I ventured into in fountainbleu is anything to go by, they are criminally shite at Indians….

One thing I did notice was a racist under current but given that in rural Calvados anyone from Deippe was a stranger let alone a Parisian, I suspect unknown stranger was really the problem. I was school by our village Maire on why the Front National were evil, but then the Gastapo had cut his brother throat and smashed his hands with a rifle butt. He liked Americans as well as English, want to keen on Germans though.
France it’s a great country, in the same way (but different) that ours is. Sorry to be a bore

Does the racist element correlate with the Vichy France/Resistance and Occupied France divide?

Small toilets by some of the Autoroutes
For the love of god and the baby jesus , a pedastal, 2 footholds and a bottomless pit of turds dropped by hungarian lorry drivers.

Is it part of some national joke ? There is probably a special sign that means these bogs are resvered for Johny foreigner so lets make them as gross as we can , then 6 miles up the road there is a toilet with a seat , and toilet paper and a flush mechanism and hot running water . Not some sort of chemical warfare / breath holding endurance competition.

Puligny Montrachet – no other white wine is ever needed (ok the odd Meursault perhaps)

The Gallic shrug

I always think French society is more considerate of people whilst in England we are just foder for the big corps.

Making stunning looking aeroplanes.

Such a vast choice of wines that there’s one you’ll like if you try enough. With a few notable exceptions new world wines are so samey that they don’t bother with anything more than the cépage on the label. It’s a combination of terroir, cépage and vinification that gives a wine its distinctive flavour. There are half a dozen whites I like:

Doux:
Sauternes is the reference, but a Jurançon doux has a slight acidity I prefer.

Medium:
Gewurztraminer as an apéro or Riesling with a meal.

Dry:
I usually drink fizzy so a Crémant brut from Alsace, Bourgogne or Bordeaux.

With climatic change grapes are being grown further and further north. Some of the famous regions are suffering from a lack of water and some vinyards reverting to more rustic vines that are more resistant. In the long term some of the current famous names will be unable to maintain qulaity whilst others will be producing better wines than ever – even Kent.

Speaking French. They’re the world leaders at that.

I was there last summer and was amazed at that. Even six year olds can speak it fluently, we don’t even start to learn French here until we are about twelve and they can do it at six! Six!!

baguettes, or any kind of French bread for that matter. can’t be recreated in the UK at all.
Their cheap beers, Pelforth et al.
Charcuterie
poissonaires who open at random times
The Super U jingle
civic pride & random small village fetes dedicated to goat, mussels or guinea fowl.
Rabbit in the supermarket, with the head still on.
farmers who maintain their tracks and leave them open for random mountain bikers on holiday
shutters on windows
making smoking still look cool, damn them

Haven’t read the whole thread so apologies if it’s been mentioned, but they put on the most excellent local festivals in their town squares; Saturday night, everybody out, sit down meal with the whole community and excellent food at reasonable prices, no trouble or leeriness, quite often free entrance, children and adults and elders socialising together. Usually free, as well.

Bloody marvellous culture if you ask me. Great campsites too.

civic pride

Yes, that. Quite a lot of the other stuff flows from this, imo. It’s something we have long abandoned.