How times have changed: Britons want to be French

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As I feel a bit alone here, with all that bashing, allow me to comfort myself a little bit...

By Cahal Milmo
Published: 09 October 2006
The Independent.

A famous wit once observed there were two reasons for the British to dislike the French. Firstly, they are too logical and secondly they own France - "a country which we have always judged to be much too good for them".

How times have changed. Now it seems that Britain's middle-class love affair with all things Gallic has reached the point where a fifth of Britons now actually want to be French.

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J'aime tellement des choses francaises, mais il me faut rire quant j'entends une blague ancienne:

"God made France as the perfect country...
Then the Devil put the French in it!"

Laughing

Only a joke, of course!

A+

KP

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The French are our natural enemies. We should have finished them off while we had the chance.

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McTag wrote:

The French are our natural enemies. We should have finished them off while we had the chance.

What about the "Auld Alliance"? Confused

(Scotland-France)

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I've been in the Bretagne twice during English holiday periods, this year during the last week of summer holidays, same last year: speaking French makes you a stranger there - at least 'Little Britain' is back under Briton's control!

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kitchenpete wrote:

McTag wrote:
The French are our natural enemies. We should have finished them off while we had the chance.

What about the "Auld Alliance"? (Scotland-France)

O yes I forgot.

Okay then, as I was saying, France is lovely and the French people are terrific! We love them!

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the french "gave" quebec to canada - !
forever grateful - especially for giving us "sweet" butter (unsalted - which is still our preference after 50 years in canada ) and fine quebec cheeses , such as OKA , port salut and st. paulin !
hbg
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History: French Trappist monks, who settled in Brittany in 1815, created monastery cheese Port Salut. By 1875, their cheese had become popular in Paris. When in the late 1800's, monks from this same order established a monastery at La Trappe, Québec, near the village of Oka, they brought the Port Salut recipe with them, creating their version, Oka Trappist Cheese. Today, they still oversee its production.

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Hi Frances --- I've got a lot of time for France & the French. I enjoy that bloody minded attitude & a shrug of the shoulders they some times really use.

That old adage, "when in rome......" certainly applies in provincial areas.
Make the effort too try out your skills & rewards are there.
I some times watch TV5Monde on my cable connection. It's a mix of news & movies mainly.
My knowledge of the French language is pretty rudimentary but I make the effort too use it. I get a few smiles with the replies in English when I ask for 2 packets de Gauloise sans filtre. And at least I can go into a cafe, grocery shop, boulangerie & buy things.

Except for a couple of recent day trips, I haven't had a proper holiday in France for a few years now, so next year I'm gonna arange things better.

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Guys with French accents are sexy (good looking guys obviously).

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France certainly has produced some great writers and I quite like their politicians. Real cool.

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kitchenpete wrote:

"God made France as the perfect country...
Then the Devil put the French in it!"

Oh, yeah! that Devil was a great buddy!

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McTag wrote:

The French are our natural enemies. We should have finished them off while we had the chance.

Well, McT is my natural ami.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

I've been in the Bretagne twice during English holiday periods, this year during the last week of summer holidays, same last year: speaking French makes you a stranger there - at least 'Little Britain' is back under Briton's control!

Could be worse, Walter.

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Hamburger: I like the Port Salut but I do prefer salted butter, my friend in cheese!

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Francis wrote:

Could be worse, Walter.

I know, but we were only about eight Germans alltogether in Morbihan during those days :wink:

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oldandknew wrote:

...so next year I'm gonna arrange things better.

So, stop in Paris for a while, I'll be waiting.

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Dorothy Parker wrote:

Guys with French accents are sexy (good looking guys obviously).

So you pardon them for stinking?

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Absolutely.

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frances ;
when i grew up in hamburg , 'salted butter' was considered inferior (i think it was often sold by market wives - should i call them market ladies :wink: ) from wooden barrrels and was usually used for cooking and baking only .
i recall that housewifes when shopping for butter were often given a bit of butter for tasting ; my mother would insist that it should taste like it had been freshly churned - no "frozen" butter from the warehouse was considered acceptable .
hbg

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spendius wrote:

France certainly has produced some great writers and I quite like their politicians. Real cool.

Some are unbearable, like everywhere else, Spendi (The lightness of the being).

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How times have changed: Britons want to be French

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