French people & French kissing

Hi Lynee,

Its very nice. You should try it.

😉

Petite Anglaise: But why is the method attributed to the French? Maybe crc95 could help out here. Did the French invent the exchanging of spit? Donerail

Donerail : yes, we’ve always been good with tongues. Ladies take notice.

CRC

crc97320: I notice the name change. Is that because of the relocation? I need some advice on currency exchange as I will be leaving for LaFrance tomorrow night. I have cash US$, a debit mastercard, and a credit mastercard. I’m told that the debit card is the way to go relative to getting Euros. What’s your advice. Last Fall I was exchanging cash at Thomas Cook’s and got screwed bigtime. Relatively and metaphorically speaking. Donerail

debit card

SalB: Merci. We are off to La France. Donerail

Hello,

Don’t know mate. They have this idea that they are the best lovers. I’m not saying anything, because I’m a laaadddy.

BTW, saw this programme on TV and it had a great quote between Brits and French – that the Brits had great humour but the french were more sensual – would agree with this.

Take care all, xx

Petite Anglaise: The Brits must have a great sense of humor. They have to put up with having a Queen and the antics of the "the Royals." All paid for by your taxes. Donerail

Yes Donnerail, our sense of humour rocks. Theres nothing more satisfying than seeing one of our late Royal’s having a monumental gin bill being paid for by us. Fabulous. Makes my day, not.

Can I also take this apt time to commend the American sense of humour, currently personnified by your glorious president. However, not wishing to detract the lime light from Mr Bush, lets not forget the last one and his fondness of cigars. Money well spent on both sides de la mer(de).

Bisoux x x x x

hi

can anybody tell me something about french people, in terms of attitude, my cousin told me that french are mean people, is that true? how are they called the best lovers, and this french kiss, are they really good on this?

As far as the French people and attitude, we have found them to be very polite, kind and helpful. I have no idea why your cousin would say they are mean.

They approach life differently and I suppose it could be interpreted wrongly but even then, the word "mean" would NOT be descriptive.

They don’t walk around smiling at everyone and saying hello to strangers. That’s sort of an American thing to do. However, if you are in some sort of difficulty (lost, for instance), if you ask a Frenchman for help, you will get it cheerfully. On the other hand, if you are in some difficulty and do not ask for help, you will be ignored. The French assume you have enough sense to ask for help when you need it. This is often misinterpreted by Americans.

In a restaurant the waiter will come to your table and take your order. If you have questions about the menu, he will graciously answer them or if he doesn’t speak your language, he will try to find someone who does and they will answer your questions. Your waiter will NOT introduce himself to you. He assumes you know he is your waiter if he is taking your order! He will not come back several times to see if everything is all right. He assumes you will have enough sense to catch his eye or call him if there is a difficulty. Your waiter will assume that you wish to eat without being disturbed by the wait staff.

At the end of your meal, the waiter will not put the check on the table and tell you he will be your cashier. He will utterly ignore you. To get the bill, you will have to catch his attention and ask for the check. He assumes you wish to visit with your dinner companion for a while and he does not want to disturb you. He assumes you will have enough common sense to request the bill when you are ready to leave.

All of this can be very annoying to Americans who are used to having their server tell them their name, to ask several times during the meal if everything is okay and to bring the bill before they are through eating. In America the waiter is expected to turn over the table and make as much money as possible. In France the waiter is expected to serve you your meal and stay out of your way so you can enjoy it.

You will also find there are not as many guard rails at tourist attractions. The French assume people will have enough sense to stay away from the edge of a cliff or that parents will take care of their own children.

It’s a different culture and a different attitude. It’s why people travel . . . to experience something different. It seems unfair, undere the circumstances, to expect everything to be like home if you travel half way round the world.

Honestly, when you ask a French person for assistance of any kind, they go out of their way to help you. They pride themselves in being able to solve problems and your problem is no exception.

Possibly your cousin was teasing you?!

SalB: Sounds like the French are very sensible to me

LVB, You should know. Aren’t you French?

BTW, We didn’t make it to Strasbourg. We had reservations in Barr at Chateau l’Andlau and decided to eat there the first night. It was so good that we ate there the second night too.

We didn’t go to Strasbourg at all. First, we’ve been there many times and we hadn’t seen Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle. I know it’s supposed to be a tourist trap, but we wanted to see why. It was actually a great experience . . . well, possibly excepting the hike straight up a mountain to get there! The castle was interesting and the views from the castle were to die for. Spectacular. The hike back down the mountain to the car was much MUCH easier!

The next day we got detoured and then got lost. That’s my specialty! By the time I found us on our Michelin Road Atlas, we were so close to the Abbaye on Mt. St. Odile that we decided it would be a shame to miss it. It is definitely worth the trip. Afterwards, we decided to see what was in Selestat. We stopped in Obernai on the way and loved Obernai. Selestat (highly touted in tourist guides) was okay but we really liked Obernai much better. We also visited the Spice Bread Museum only to discover it wasn’t open that day. So sad . . . We consoled ourselves by buying some gingerbread cookies at a nearby store. They really!!! decorate their gingerbread in Alsace.

By that time, we decided it was getting late and we were still jet lagged! We drove back to our hotel and had our second meal there. It really is a good restaurant in a lovely setting. It is also quite inexpensive . . . although the food is more expensive than it was a couple years ago.

Next day we drove into Bavaria where we were supposed to be vacationing. We spent two weeks there and one week in Austria. Liked Bavaria much better than Austria although we did like Innsbruck. We both decided we definitely like France MUCH better than either Germany or Austria. Bavaria is terminally cute. You can only take so much "cute" before you want a spare Gothic cathedral.

Drove back straight through Strasbourg (and didn’t get lost!!) to Saverne where we spent two days. We were sort of chilling by that time since we had done pretty intense sightseeing in Bavaria and Austria. In Saverne we stayed in a neat Logis right downtown old town. We were a block from the canal so spent a lot of time watching boats go through the locks. The whole town turns out to cheer them on (and tell them what to do when they can’t work the lock). There was a little cafe right on the canal and we wasted a LOT of time there. We visited the church, chateau and gardens, walked along the canal and generally walked miles. It felt good after driving all the way from Austria. We ate in our hotel again and it was wonderful including an incredible buffet breakfast on Sunday morning! Madame also owns a pastry shop!!

The last day we drove to a tiny town called Plailly a few miles north of Paris. It was really out in the sticks. We visited the Abbaye Royale de Chaalis and the adjoining Musée Jacquemart André with its Park and Roseraie and skipped the giant sand dune park across the road. It had amusement rides and if we’d had our grandkids, we would have gone, but not just us. The rose garden was in full bloom and very spectacular. We had dinner at our hotel (Auberge du Petit Cheval d?Or) in Plailly and it was very good. We had a three hour very relaxing dinner. There were no other Americans so it was nice and quiet, outside under the trees. Perfect ending to our trip.

The next morning we had a 15 minute drive to CDG. I think we may use that hotel again. It’s very convenient to CDG and completely out of the way. Of course if we were just visiting Paris, we wouldn’t have a car and would stay right in town and take the RER to CDG.

It was a great trip although I’m looking forward to Sept. and October in Normandy much more. My husband really wanted to see Bavaria and since we started and ended in France, I was okay with it. We had a lot of fun. This fall we’ve rented a small house in Normandy and are staying put the entire time. I’m looking forward to it. We chose Normandy because it’s apple season in apple country. If it works out, we’ll rent the house every year and invite our kids and friends over. If it doesn’t work out, hey, at least we had an adventure!!

How was your summer . . . or is it still summer?

hi SalB

are you french? i think you know french people that much, as i was reading your letter, i find it good but it seems that french aren’t friendly or rather not approchable…something like that…. hospitality is one of the good character traits, and i really want to know parisians as well, i had a french teacher and he said they ignore people sometimes because they are always busy. and they are sometimes called "rude"… sorry to say this, i just want to know a bit attitude of the friend i have in paris….

and thanks for complimenting french people..what else do you know about them? are they good lovers?

I’m not French. My husband is of French ancestry but that goes back several generations. We spend as much time in France as we can just because we like it there.

You said, ". . . it seems that french aren’t friendly or rather not approchable" I think my reply to that is that the French are not "familiar" which is what Americans seem to view as friendly.

The French take friendship as a true obligation. You have to involve yourself in the lives of your friends and to be there for them. Because this requires a great deal of time and effort, they are not ready to become friends with everyone they meet. Americans are sort of like puppies; they love everyone. It’s kind of easy-come; easy-go. The French want to know you before they befriend you because you will be a friend for life.

Obviously, a tourist is not going to make French friends easily. They don’t have enough time. I suspect it’s easier for the younger generation as they are more what you call approachable. They tend to use "tu" instead of "vous" and are generally more familiar.

We appreciate the formality in France. I’ve never been comfortable with the waiter who comes to the table and announces, "Hi. I’m Joe and I’ll be your server tonight." Quite frankly, I don’t care what his name is and I’m not about to start a relationship with my waiter. I also hate being addressed as "you guys" first, because I’m not a guy and second, because it implies a familiarity I’m not willing to return.

This does not happen in France. There is that little barrier of formality. It’s nice because everyone knows where they stand and can assess the situation before they change it. It used to be more like that in the US many years ago.

Believe me, when you have a French friend, you will have a true friend for life. Treasure him/her.

As to your last question, I don’t feel it is any of my business and probably none of yours. If you are that curious, go find out!

SalB is right, and the magic words if you need help are: "excusez moi Monsieur ( or madame ), mais j’ai un problème…" and you explain your problem. French like to solve problem 😉

Montjoly.

hi SalB

i want to talk to you more because you make sense when you talk about the french. by the way i am not american, and if you have to spend some holidays, i’d like to invite you to spend a few trips to Philippines, it’s a nice country though not so nice compared to france…..
well, i know this friend of mine (french) some 5 years ago, and he is really nice and polite and very friendly, i hope he could really treasure our freindship for life.

here in philippines, filipinos are very hospitable and you’d feel comfortable being with them because they are friendly and very much approchable. have a visit and you’ll know.

Hi. I don’t know much about the Philippines but I know a lot of people from there. Our church is more than half Filipino and our best choir is a nationally famous Filipino choir. They place first in competitions all the time. You’re right, they are very friendly and welcoming and their church music is very beautiful. I really like their food too!

I’m not too excited about sitting on an airplane long enough to get to the Philippines though! That’s a loooooong trip! I’m thinking it is also very hot and humid and I don’t care for that either. I’m told it is very beautiful and the photos I’ve seen reinforce that.

My husband and I are both very interested in European history, art and architecture as well as the scenic beauty so we go to Europe. We have friends in the Caribbean and visit them (despite heat and humidity) and that takes about all our time. We like to travel in the US and Canada too. However, we also love our home and like to spend time here. You only have so much time . . .

SalB
may in know what your church is? is it catholic or protestants or something? i know a church which has really good choir, the church of christ….is that your church?
i hope oneday you could travel to philippines i can guide you here

The church is Catholic and no, it isn’t the Church of Christ.

Currently we have no plans to travel to the Philippines for reasons I delineated above, but thank you for your kind offer.

Hi! I’m new to this site, and I’m so glad to read so many interesting articles about France. I especially enjoyed reading your articles. I think you really have a good understanding about France and the french people! I do agree with a lot of your insights.

I have some questions about the french. I hope I could get your opinions/thoughts. When the french say that don’t hesitate to send them mails, or they welcome your mails, do they mean it, or are they just saying it?

Whenever the french made me think that we’ve developped enough trust to become "friends", they pull back, or even disappear. It has happened to me twice, and it is quite frustrating. How should I interpret their behavior?

I’d appreciate very much if I can hear from you.
Thanks in advance!

Sorry that I wasn’t familiar with the use of this forum. I clicked the wrong reply icon. My previous post was a reply to SalB’s article dated 03 August 2005 :

Hi!SalB: I’m new to this site, and I’m so glad to read so many interesting articles about France. I especially enjoyed reading your articles. I think you really have a good understanding about France and the french people! I do agree with a lot of your insights.

I have some questions about the french. I hope I could get your opinions/thoughts. When the french say that don’t hesitate to send them mails, or they welcome your mails, do they mean it, or are they just saying it?

Whenever the french made me think that we’ve developped enough trust to become "friends", they pull back, or even disappear. It has happened to me twice, and it is quite frustrating. How should I interpret their behavior?

I’d appreciate very much if I can hear from you.
Thanks in advance!

JDP:Interesting, do you have an email addy to correspond to?

Imseol,pls. send correspondence to olliverhrs@yahoo.com
thanks