True...and noone seems to mind if they crap on the sidewalks either.

It's called atmosphere. :D

Non, non, non. Paris has cleaned up its act enormously over the last 5 or ten years, certainly from when I first visited in the early 90s. I was there in April this year and nary a dog poo to be seen.

Actually, come to think of it, seemed fewer dogs too.

Stuart

Stu
You may well be right. I have not been there for years (boycott, ya know).

The economy is so bad there now, perhaps they cannot afford to feed large dogs any longer....or maybe they tired of stepping in doggy doo....nah, that couldn't happen.

Or the dogs are on the menu...

Anyway, I dig the French. They're direct with no b.s.; sort of like New Yorkers. It's a welcomed change from the occasional flakiness of L.A. folk. And they are polite - you just need to get into the groove of them. The country folk are like anywhere else - slower paced, easier going, etc.

It also helps to show respect and at least try to speak their language. Even bad French is acceptable. Language is a prideful thing with them, as it should be with the citizens of any country.

Ah yes..the boycott...punish the people by punishing the government. Worked well in the oil for food program too.

Out of curiosity, fint, is there any other country that you admire, respect, and think the USA could learn much from?

I did speak French. fairly well. They were rude. I guess my accent was not up to their standards. My German was initially much worse...but the Germans were quite friendly and went out of their way to help me converse....as did the Italians, Spanish, etc.
I spent most of my time in Paris....so the country folk might be better.

There are several countries that I have visited that are quite wonderful in certain ways. There are lots of people and places in the US that stink too.

I cannot think of anywhere I would prefer to live permanently....but I have considered spending summers in northern Australia (winter there).

Ironic that you would post that in this thread...since the French were key in the failure of that program. Of course it did not work when the very folks in charge of administering it were cheating to line their own pockets.

I personally have not encountered this. Yep, met one rude French barman, but heh, par for the course in many places. My experience is that once an effort is made to communicate, Parisians are just fine. I did observe some Americans once get the treatment, but even the Americans i was drinking with at the time were appalled by the behaviour on exhibit. It awful to observe badly behaved countrymen making a***** of themselves abroad, innit?

I was there with my wife and small children just trying to quietly sightsee and have a meal or two. There was no reason to treat us badly.
I did not observe any Americans misbehaving...but I did not go to any bars..etc

I was in Paris and rural France earlier this year. I came across some aloof French people (you know, when you're shopping or somewhere "cool" and the staff are too cool to offer good service :rolleyes: ), but the number of rude ones was approximately the same as all the other places we went.

I love Paris - I believe that as a city, if one can't find something enchanting there, then you must be kinda dead inside :)

Then again, I really like San Francisco, so maybe my blessed little liberal heart is attracted to Paris and SF, and big bad conservatives don't like them, because they're too "liberal".

Re: Re: Re: It must suck to be french
 

Ah, you must be one of those clear-thinking individuals that has swallowed their reactionary "sky is falling" rhetoric hook line and sinker. I'm sure over time, in unmonitored, uncontroled application, there is an adverse affect on the environment. I'm sure when children are exposed to a high enough concentration, there are problems. It all boils down to level of exposure and time of exposure. Many of these substances have been banned because they MIGHT, at some unreasonably high level of exposure over some unreasonably long length of time, cause problems. We are usually talking several fold (sometimes several thousand fold) any likely exposure level, and sometimes several lifetimes of exposure. There are substances that are proven to do immediate harm; there are some that they only suspect might over time. Unfortunately, they all tend to get lumped together by these radical environmental whackos that are incapable of understanding the differences. Using some of the "safer" ones, in a strictly supervised emergency application, is no longer an option, even if it presents no risk. It's a shame that there are folks running around out there contributing to the decision making process that obviously have no clue, and are willing to sacrifice some one else's livelihood in a very immediate, tangible way, in the support of their idealism. All I was getting at is there is no balance or compromise in this arena anymore; thank you for putting an exclamation point on it for me. You unwittingly did a far better job than I could have.

Funny.

I've been to France a lot -- 22 days within the last 18 months. Never once was I treated with anything but utmost courtesy and friendliness. This was mainly in Paris and Provence/Cote d' Azure.

But sometimes peoples' treatment depends on how they present themselves. Not that fint would ever be anything but cheerful and positive in his demeanor...

I think the issue in Paris is partly that they are overrun with tourists, so they may not be as gracious with the day's 30th confused tourist speaking difficult-to-understand French as they should be. Even in Paris, if you get off the beaten path - say, take your kids to a little neighborhood park or wander out to the non-touristy arrondissements - the people get more normal.

I lived in Paris as a kid and in '98, so my French, although rusty, is correctly accented, so I get along fine there. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to go back since '98.

In our daily life, we know quite a few French folks. My kids go to a French school where about 1/2 of the families are French nationals, and we've been hosting French students during the summers for the last few years. They're really nice people, the kids and their parents. Not saying they are nicer than Americans - I personally believe most people from most countries are pretty nice folks when you get to know them. They are not big fans of some of our current government's policies, but ditto for 1/2 of the US population. But they are fascinated with America. I really like showing them around Northern Calif.

My opinion of the French government is less positive. They've really got to get rid of Chirac. What a dinosaur.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1121798935.jpg


brilliant!

Well that explains a lot...LOL
Just a bunch of USA haters enjoying each other's company.

Ah, come on, Fint. That *****'s not fair, man - to Tech nor to the French... :(

It must suck to be fintstone.