Ask a frenchman
 

Ask me anything about France, French people, french culture & history, French/U.S. relations and anything french-related. I'll answer to the best of my abilities.

Re: Ask a frenchman
 

Shouldn't you be more grateful to Americans that you're not speaking German?

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Shouldn't you be more grateful to Americans that you're not speaking German?

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I was expecting that one [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

A typical frenchman would respond "Well shouldn't you be more grateful to the french that you're not an english colony anymore?", but I'll try a more diplomatic approach to the question.

Actually, the french people are very grateful for the US help during WWII and most of us acknowledge that the US saved our butt. However, it was a very hard time for us, and a huge blow to the nation's ego. After WWII, we tried hard to save face and rebuild a nation that could stand on its own. You see, France has a very long and violent political and military history. We are a proud nation. And we were so badly defeated during WWII that we tried very hard to stay independant and regain some of that pride. There lies, I think, most of the tension between our countries for the past 50 years. Gratefulness and pride don't mix very well.

Re: Ask a frenchman
 

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I was expecting that one [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Are American's really that predictable?

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I was expecting that one [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Are American's really that predictable?

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I'm afraid that on that specific matter, they are. But anyway, it's better to get all the cliché questions out of the way at the beginning. :-)

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except for not being the slightest bit courtiest about blowing smoke in your direction, i find the french very nice people. especially the country folk. but in the u.s. the city dewllers are not as friendly here as well.

how do the french and other europeans manage to keep their public transportation running right on time. when the u.s. cant even get it close.

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how do the french and other europeans manage to keep their public transportation running right on time. when the u.s. cant even get it close.

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A follow-up question: What do you do when those clowns go on strike all the time and none of your public services are running at all?

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Also, with all the controversy and criticism here in the US about illegal immigration (mostly from Mexico), do you care to comment on France's own immigration clusterfk? It seems the French attitude and treatment of North African immigrants is worse than the Mexican experience in the US. Can we tack this one up to pride as well? Is this basically the French being French, like "Manny being Manny"?

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except for not being the slightest bit courtiest about blowing smoke in your direction, i find the french very nice people. especially the country folk. but in the u.s. the city dewllers are not as friendly here as well.

how do the french and other europeans manage to keep their public transportation running right on time. when the u.s. cant even get it close.

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You are right about country people being nicer and more welcoming than city people. This is particularly true when you compare parisians with non-parisians.

About public transportation: I once read a theory about France's "Inefficient Efficency". It says that basically we are a lot less obsessed about performance targets than anglo-saxon cultures (mostly because we know we will miss them). It's a paradox, but it makes us more efficient in some areas like public transportation.

The author gives an example: he takes a train in the U.S. from NY to Boston planning to stop somewhere in between. However, a mechanical problem arises. The US train company will more likely decide not to stop before Boston at all so it doesn't miss its performance target ("being in Boston on time"), so if you wanted to drop off before Boston, you're screwed. In France, the train would run a little late but it would still stop at all the required stops so nobody complains too much.

I don't know if that explains it, really. To me, the real question is not "why are french trains on time?" after all that's the way it's supposed to work - but rather "why are U.S. trains always late?". To that quesiton, I have no answer.

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A follow-up question: What do you do when those clowns go on strike all the time and none of your public services are running at all?

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Several solutions: car pooling, bikes, taxis, work from home, and the best solutions of all: not going to work that day!

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Also, with all the controversy and criticism here in the US about illegal immigration (mostly from Mexico), do you care to comment on France's own immigration clusterfk? It seems the French attitude and treatment of North African immigrants is worse than the Mexican experience in the US. Can we tack this one up to pride as well? Is this basically the French being French, like "Manny being Manny"?

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I'm not very familiar with the U.S. immigration policy, but I think it's pretty similar to ours. Immigrants are not welcome here, unless they are something the country needs or are political refugees. Illegal immigrants are being deported back to their country. There have been quite a few scandals about that: young kids, or elderly people who've been in France for decades, who were being deported. Our new president and immigration minister have a very strict, zero-tolerance policy in mind and they clearly want to enforce it.

For example we have a law that we call the "rapprochement familial" ("bring families together"), which allows legal immigrants to have family members enter France and stay. Since some families were using this to allow non-relatives to enter the country, the conservative government wants to instigate DNA tests to ensure that these people are indeed related. It caused an uproar amongst liberals.

EDIT: I'm going to bed (3:30am here), please keep posting your questions and I'll answer them tommorrow. G'night all.

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Is the Dreyfus affair still a big deal over there? Do old guys get pissed off when they talk about it?

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Is the Dreyfus affair still a big deal over there? Do old guys get pissed off when they talk about it?

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Richard Dreyfus? How about Jerry Lewis? Let's hear about how awesome Jerry Lewis is.

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what are some of the biggest concerns and most polarizing issues in France today?

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What do you think of the reforms Sarkozy is trying to push through regarding the labour market? Do they have a high chance of success? What do normal civilians think of them? How are labor unions viewed? How about the civil service? Will the Cecilia divorce impact opinions of Sarkozy?

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1) Why do I like women from France more than women from anywhere else?


2) How are the women in France? Can you compare them with other cultures say, compare them against British / American women?

3) How do French people think about the French Quebec accent?

Re: Ask a frenchman
 

i have played highish (10/20,20/40) stakes nlhe with some spectacularly bad french players who clearly don't care about the money at all.

is there a game this demographic frequents?

how often do 10/20 games run in paris/elsewhere in france?


if i was to visit one french city other than paris what should it be?

Re: Ask a frenchman
 

Alizee. Discuss please.

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Your English is very good. Did you learn English as you grew up, or as a requirement for a career or what? How common is it that a Frenchman will be fluent in English?

Re: Ask a frenchman
 

What are the drug laws/policies in France?

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Is the Dreyfus affair still a big deal over there? Do old guys get pissed off when they talk about it?

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No, not really. But it's still taught at school. It happended during the 1890s and there are almsot no survivors from that era.

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what are some of the biggest concerns and most polarizing issues in France today?

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- Unemployement has been the main issue for 30 years.
- Crime in poor suburburan areas.
- Immigration from north africa and eastern europe.


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What do you think of the reforms Sarkozy is trying to push through regarding the labour market? Do they have a high chance of success? What do normal civilians think of them?

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Well I don't feel too much concerned about them personally, being a professional poker player I don't really fit into the french workforce. However, while I do not agree with Sarkozy on some issues like immigration or crime, I think his motto "work more, earn more" is not a bad thing at all. Middle-class french people are very concerned about two things: keeping their conformtable lifestyles and their social advantages, like free social secutiry, unemployement insurance, paid vacations etc. However, sometimes it becomes very contradictory, and when I look at how other countries are doing, I see that they are getting a lot more things done with a lot more enthusiasm.

The idea is very popular within the population, after all Sarkozy was elected mostly because of it (along with his crime & immigration solutions). Unions and leftists are not opposing it very vigorously. We're still waiting to see how it all unfolds.



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How are labor unions viewed?

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While very powerful until the 1970s they have been declining a lot and now have little power overall, except in some areas like transportation or schools.


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How about the civil service?

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Civil servants have a reputation of being:
- too many for too little work
- lazy and unefficient
- with a lot of social advantages

In reality, this is all a little true but mostly, the french administration and its services work quite well.


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Will the Cecilia divorce impact opinions of Sarkozy?

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No, I don't think it will. If it does anything it will help him because it will draw even more sympathy from all the divorced people. The french generally don't care too much about their politican's marital/sex lives. We are obviously curious but we really don't care if a politician cheats on his wife or has several mistresses or whatever.


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Alizee. Discuss please.

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Definitely hot but also wayyy too young. Her first two or three songs were huge successes like 6-7 years ago. She's mostly forgotten now.


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Your English is very good. Did you learn English as you grew up, or as a requirement for a career or what? How common is it that a Frenchman will be fluent in English?

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Thank you. I learnt it first in gamebooks when I was a nerd-child, then at school (though german was my first language like about 10% of the kids here). Then at 16/17 I started travelling around the world playing Magic:the gathering so I had to practice fairly regularly. Then I was fortunate enough to have an american girlfriend for a couple of years, and that brought me to the level of english that I have today.

IT's certainly not the case for most french people. We all speak and understand a little english but we are still far behind other nations like Germany, Norway etc. People in the countryside speak no english at all.


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What are the drug laws/policies in France?

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All drugs and other addictive substances are prohibited (except for cigarettes which are going to be banned from all public areas starting in 2008). There's a vague popular movement for liberalizing weed, but the authorities are far from going that path.

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France is a beautifull country.I have been at st.tropez and surrounding citys. I loved my time there and wished I could stay. Where would you suggest to get a own place which isnt that expensive but has great view nearby(sea).

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France is a beautifull country.I have been at st.tropez and surrounding citys. I loved my time there and wished I could stay. Where would you suggest to get a own place which isnt that expensive but has great view nearby(sea).

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I'm afraid the french riviera real estate market has become very expensive. I don't know much about specific spots though. I suggest searching the net for agencies that sell homes there.

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1) Why do I like women from France more than women from anywhere else?

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I have no idea! French women are cute but I think it's a typical case of "the grass is greener elsewhere". We tend to find women from foreign cultures very attractive for some reason.


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2) How are the women in France? Can you compare them with other cultures say, compare them against British / American women?

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- more elegant and sophisticated (at least the parisian girls).
- Sexier et overall more sexual
- definitely less friendly though, won't make eye contact, harder to approach


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3) How do French people think about the French Quebec accent?

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We find it extremely funny and sometimes annoying. It's also definitely a turn-off.


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i have played highish (10/20,20/40) stakes nlhe with some spectacularly bad french players who clearly don't care about the money at all.

is there a game this demographic frequents?

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You have just defined what a regular high stakes game looks like in a french casino or Poker room. There are very few pros and lots of live ones.

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how often do 10/20 games run in paris/elsewhere in france?

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Not so often, usually 5/10 or 5/5 is the biggest game around (but with pretty deep stacks), but occasionally you can find a bigger game. The biggest NLHE game in Paris is "the chinese game" with mostly chinese businessmen, it's a 10/20 donkfest. The bigger games are usually mixed games/dealer's choice and these can be as high as 40/80 PL (very agressive though so it equates to 100-200 imo).

I don't really know outside Paris but I'd guess there are private high stakes games going on.

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if i was to visit one french city other than paris what should it be?

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You can have a great time :

- In Lyon, worldwide capital of gastronomy, with some of the best restaurants in the world.
- on the riviera (Cannes, Nice, St Tropez): beautiful, casinos, nude/topless beaches, need I say more?
- Montpellier and Toulouse are also a beautiful cities with great nightlife.

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Why does your bread taste so amazing?

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Why does your bread taste so amazing?

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Ah! Because we have spent centuries perfecting it!

Bread was the main course for French peasants for a long, long time. We've been eating and making bread for so long that we have come up with the best recipe and lots of variants. But if you ask me, nothing beats the good ol' baguette.

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I think I like French women because their speech is actually nice to listen to. And I like the sophisticated look they have.


I unfortunately have the French Quebec accent and it hurts my own ears listening to hardcore quebecers speak French.


When I travel to France to try and grab me a French wife, is it better to leave behind my French Quebecer accent and just speak english?

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When I travel to France to try and grab me a French wife, is it better to leave behind my French Quebecer accent and just speak english?

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Good question. I think you do stand a better chance going with english, french women tend to find it sexy. It could be good for her to know that you can speak french too.

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I recently finished a biography of Napoleon and am interested in what modern French people think about him and the era.

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Who's side are you on regarding the French Revolution?

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I recently finished a biography of Napoleon and am interested in what modern French people think about him and the era.

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He is regarded as a hero and a military genius. The era has an aura of grandeur and french people are rather proud of that period. After all it was the last time we kicked serious ass, militarily speaking.

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Who's side are you on regarding the French Revolution?

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It's not much of a debate anymmore. One can't be a royalist in today's France and appear serious.

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It looks like I'll be taking an unexpected trip to France between Christmas and New Years. I spent about two weeks in France many moons ago. I didn't and don't speak much French. I was accompanied by someone who spoke French but at times not knowing French that well was a problem. Not sure what it's like today. I'll be flying into Paris and I'll do some sight seeing. Then to visit someone in the French countryside. Any tips, info about picking up enough French to get by greatly appreciated. Any other info greatly appreciated for a USA resident that hasn't been there in a very, very long time.

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Are you descended from any nobility?

How do you feel about French men depicted as flaming homosexuals in America?

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Are you descended from any nobility?

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No. like 99% of the population, I come from a long line of french peasants. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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How do you feel about French men depicted as flaming homosexuals in America?

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They are? Please give me examples of this. First time I've heard of such a cliché (I know the french = coward, french = dirty, french = arrogant ones and so forth.).

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It looks like I'll be taking an unexpected trip to France between Christmas and New Years. I spent about two weeks in France many moons ago. I didn't and don't speak much French. I was accompanied by someone who spoke French but at times not knowing French that well was a problem. Not sure what it's like today. I'll be flying into Paris and I'll do some sight seeing. Then to visit someone in the French countryside. Any tips, info about picking up enough French to get by greatly appreciated. Any other info greatly appreciated for a USA resident that hasn't been there in a very, very long time.

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Like in most other countries, if you show up speaking a little of the local language, it is always extremely appreciated.

Try some onlines courses like http://www.easyfrench.net/ . Ideally, find yourself a real tutor for real life discussions though. French grammar is a bitch so if you have no intentions of really learning the language you'd want to stick to the basics.

Also feel free to join in the discussions on clubpoker.net (the french poker forum), or in the 2+2 francophone forums, it could help.

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I agree with much of what you said concerning the French women, i.e. the grass is always greener. I liked the elegance alot, and found a high proportion of the women there attractive. (Like 6/10 or 7/10 at least mildly attractive) However, I couldn't help but notice how badly they age. Why no MILFs in France?

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I agree with much of what you said concerning the French women, i.e. the grass is always greener. I liked the elegance alot, and found a high proportion of the women there attractive. (Like 6/10 or 7/10 at least mildly attractive) However, I couldn't help but notice how badly they age. Why no MILFs in France?

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My guess is: less plastic surgery, especially facelifts (although it's picking up). I don't see any other excuses for a smaller proportion of MILFs. But I also think you haven't been looking hard enough. Can't blame you for looking mostly at the young ones though. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Ask a frenchman
 

I heard there's gonna be another strike next week. Is this true? If it is, [censored].

Re: Ask a frenchman
 

How do you feel about Nicolas Sarkozy?

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I heard there's gonna be another strike next week. Is this true? If it is, [censored].

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True.

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What do the French think of Italian high culture?