I’ve been wondering for ages why there’s no Pizza Express or Tootsie’s equivalent here…I’m afraid that I’ve come to the conclusion that the French are actually proud to be like everybody else around them and not to be original in any way or go against the flow/stand out in a crowd. For an English person originality and the courage to stand up for what we believe in is admired and encouraged…here in France they just think there’s something wrong with you! The French I have realised are an extremely conventional people, dare I say even sheeplike in the comfort they take in being like everyone else. The way they dress, the combinations of things they eat and the times at which they eat, the way they raise their children, the way they treat their dogs,the way they behave when in a couple…the list goes on and on. They are, to my way of thinking, suffocated by all these rules and regulations and are very rarely “thinkers outside the box”. I’m not having a go, it really is just what I’ve observed in six years of living here and two French boyfriends.
So…in short…I just think the idea of opening a “different” restaurant which would give on the choice to eat at “irregular” hours would simply be too bewildering for them!
Hi Richard, Hope... I wasn't tedious... even though your post sent me on my own "diatribe"... which was totally spontaneous and fun. Point is, I'm French... and that's the whole point... I responded as a French person... "collective-self" surging! Archaic sense of belonging and rules thereof in a light-hearted way :)
Let me resume it one more time... number 1 hit in France at the moment by Bénabar is...
"Je suis politiquement correct... ET JE T'EMMERDE!"
My first home is on the Isle of Man (2nd home - the Aude) and the local phrase here for those who question the Island was - "if you don't like it, there's a boat at 9am" - well it's 8.45am these days, but that's being a bit pedantic. So, the Luddites abound not just in France.
I like the cut of your jib Richard and please do post on here again, your article has certainly created some considerable interest and debate, which can be no bad thing. Well done that man!!
GOD HOW TEDIOUS ! I shan't bother to put a post on here again because frankly half the people who partipate in the debate simply aren't intellectually up to it.
Edward. I'd be grateful if you'd done me the courtesy of reading my post (question) before going off on a diatribe (like others):
1) I don't live in France. The clue to this is where I wrote "in the High Street in the town nearest my (holiday) home, Aubusson". I put the holiday home bit in so as readers would know where I was coming from, and indeed my likely knowledge of the finer workings of the French tax / benefits system.
2) I haven't mentioned Sunday anywhere in my question. Ranting about Sunday is a frolic of your own...
3) You are on a website called "Survive France". Do you suppose that your own accusation that the English "form an English club so that they can moan about the country they have moved to" could be applied to you in any way shape or form ?
4) MOST IMPORTANTLY: I wrote " I'm not really asking whether ....... this is a good or bad thing (most of us enjoy France precisely because it offers a 'slower' lifestyle). My question is WHY are they like this... I have some theories, but I'd be interested in other peoples' views.". I am not advocating that we turn France into TescoLand (as you put it), I am asking WHY it is that France has resisted this change whereas many countries (e.g. UK / America / Ireland) have not.What is it about the French cultural identity or tax system that makes them behave this way, as distinct from the English or Americans ?
5) Point (4) above is a rather more subtle question than simply saying "France is Rubbish". By contrast numerous of the replies (yours included) are of simply rants to the effect of "France is Great ! How dare anyone say ANYTHING agaisnt her. Anyone who says anything different is a ketchup toting moron !". Those that pedal such symplistic asinine views are actually displaying their own unquestioning bigotry by accusing others of it.
6) You are probably not conversant enough with current affairs to realise this so I shall explain it to you: George Dubya said "The French don't have a word for entrepreneurs". Even he meant it ironically when he said it. It got a certain notoriety because whilst the word is obviously French, many people may question whether the French are as commercially minded as other countries. It is because of the irony of this renowned statement that I put it as the header for the question, not because I actually think the French don't have a word for business maker.
7) You are quite right, I have never run a small business in France. Nor do I know what cotisations are or for that matter how they work. That is why I wrote "what is your theory ? Is there some tax / economic reason ?". I was hoping that someone with a more intimate knowledge of the system might explain it to me ! Per haps you can....(although I suspect you'd be able to offer no more than mild generalisations about the system....)
We could exchange volumes on this no doubt. At 18 I was told I was no longer at school and now told that verbatim replies from books or lectures were over, they had to be my thoughts back up by the written word of others with many years of learning. I do not enter into things I know nothing about because I cannot satisfy myself 45 years on. If I do not know I go to find out and then I find out from other sources until from them I have my knowledge and opinion. Then I speak and write. To simply cite what one has read without thinking is alien to me and should be to every person who goes through higher education. Unfortunately the sausages are beginning to run countries now, they make first class politicians for some unknown reason.
a real shame! I remember being shot down in flames by one of my italian lecturers becaue I said what I had heard/thought on a certain subject... answer came back "why do you think/believe that, on what grounds" and when I realised and admitted my grounds for believing it were pretty much hearsay "don't ever quote something you can't back up and justify etc." - valuable lesson and thankfully we were never asked to just accept but to go away and research most essays being just that - it's all in the library, there's the title, I want an essay back next week! It all seems to be part of the dumbing down process which everyone denies but knows that is going on - sister in law has a degree from oxford poly in tourism and leisure and loves saying in the middle of diner parties "oh when I was at Oxford..."!!! And when I had a conversation about the UK becoming a republic one day she replied against the idea saying "have you seen the Alhambra palace? do you want Buckingham palace to end up in that state..." I didn't have the heart to point out that Spain is a constitutional monarchy like the UK and her argument didn't hold much weight - she simply can't reflect on a subject - that's what's being produced now! we'll be over run with saussages from the big machine before long!
Very well. Just cooked quail (caille) with saute patates (NEVER say pomme de terre hereabouts), carrots, mange toute and fennel au gratin. All three women ate in silence (one of my daughters doesn't normal do NOT talking) and I am pleasantly filled myself. Chocolate pate with creme anglais (custard in old money) to follow and now I do not frankly care what anybody does not have a word for. Me, time for the big open fire with a large malt. Now just how well can that be?
Andrew - guess what one of the major carps of my OH and myself was teaching is Swansea for five years? And I only taught postgrads on Masters courses. That British academics keep their beaks shut and allow that to happen for the business managers who cram in as many tutorial fee paying mugginses as possible is breaking the back of what were once centres of excellence. Great ain't it, because it has kicked the ball back in the court of a handful like Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and truly old universities who still make students READ for a degree and not pass exams on the back of handouts which is all they read, preferably online so that they do not need to use dirty paper (to quote a student). I have taught in other countries too and in some, I whisper for them in case I am caught, they still think. The age of the great intellectual, truly great ones, is gone because of the big sausage machine...
Entreprendre - Entreprise, and of course Entrepreneur , are of course , all French Words !
It's quite Normal that UK use these words in their language, as of course the official language of the UK is ... Yes of course - Norman French ( La Reine la veult, etc )
Spread thinly , like jam , a little culture goes a long way
As far as your conclusions are concerned , I hope not ! - but you may be right ...