Is a Brit entitled to an opinion ...

But for all the persons that working for this company, have the alternative to check as to whether their payment is getting made or not. panoramacharters.one/

I do appreciate I am not a Macron fan Mamie and have commented on him in the past but it would not upset me if French residents disagreed with me. panoramacharter.ltd/
19216811.bid/

tickingbird

Lucca

Nor me normally but I just thought in this case I’d made a suggestion ? Oh well never mind

Apologies Lucca I had a very stressful day on Friday. Please don’t take my comment personally, if wasn’t intended to be.

Me too, but that’s ok

Ah, but the Italians have the culture of 'la bella figura' to live up to.

Lucca

Nor me normally but I just thought in this case I’d made a suggestion ? Oh well never mind

Apologies Lucca I had a very stressful day on Friday. Please don’t take my comment personally, if wasn’t intended to be.

Josieann

^They don't eat between meals^ and they are never usually seen walking along stuffing food on the go - that is a British thing.

Same in Italy. And the myth of fat Italian mums is just that. Yes they eat pasta but not off a dinner size plate with half a pound of mince and tomatoes piled on top !!
When I loved there as a young woman the beaches were just 90% lovely slim women! (I was the 10% or so I thought then )

I've no idea how the transition happens. Most French children aren't fat, and their school meals are very healthy. So I think good eating habits start young. It can't be that the older French women don't get enough exercise because a lot of them still work hard physically.
Does the same happen in Italy and say Spain?

But at what age do all those slim, svelte French women morph into the rotund, black clad, older French women we see as we drive through the villages in the countryside? Or were they always that shape, just unnoticed?

They don't eat between meals and they are never usually seen walking along stuffing food on the go - that is a British thing.

My observation is that French people eat and drink in much smaller quantities. My friends will have one or two small glasses of wine but not more. They don't eat between meals and portions are also much smaller. In our rural village the main meal was at lunchtime, in the evening it was always la soupe. Our new village has a younger population and more commuters, but we have not been here long enough to observe eating habits!

M0nica

Yes, but Dinard is fashionable and popular with smart Parisiens.

In deeply unfashionaabl Lower Normandy, everyone has a widely expressed contempt for 'Les Parisiens. They roll their eyes heavenwards, before relieving them of as much money as possible.

Definitely.

Yes, I've heard it breaks down the fats (all that French cheese and butter!).

It's the red wine, Josieann
It's full of antioxidants.

Ps Don't try this at home.

So if French women drink, smoke (and eat croissants) all the time, how come they have a higher life expectancy than many other countries?

Where we lived, in the rural SW, there were plenty of overweight women. Those who were slim were mostly heavy smokers.

Josieann

And yet, and yet, where my apartment is in Dinard, Brittany, (known as the Cannes of the West), all the French women are super slim and very elegant! So I guess it varies from place to place.

I'm not going there again then!
Although I did visit there was I was young and slim ?

Yes, but Dinard is fashionable and popular with smart Parisiens.

In deeply unfashionaabl Lower Normandy, everyone has a widely expressed contempt for 'Les Parisiens. They roll their eyes heavenwards, before relieving them of as much money as possible.

And yet, and yet, where my apartment is in Dinard, Brittany, (known as the Cannes of the West), all the French women are super slim and very elegant! So I guess it varies from place to place.

Mamie Completely agree about Normandy. When ever I hear comments about French chic and how slim they are, I mentally pass before my eyes, the customers in my local LeClerc in Coutances and the customers in my local Sainsburies in the UK. Sorry, the Brits win every time.

Mamie

Yes I agree about people commenting on weight loss and French doctors also being very keen to discuss weight. On the other hand in 16 years and many doctors' appointments neither of us has ever been asked how much alcohol we drink. ??

I think a lot of the fat shaming I have heard in France is regarding obesity and health implications. And also the impact on sex lives!! I saw a debate on French TV where they were discussing the latest statistics on obesity in France and they were literally laughing at obese people. They then went on to suggest fat people couldn't possibly enjoy the same sort of social life either. I know this was probably Paris, and related to an age group where appearance was very important, but I still think many French people in general can be outspoken about someone putting on a few extra kilos.
French doctors might have something rude to say about being overweight too especially if you are going to have a general anaesthetic. An English friend in France was told at her pre op assessment that she weighed as much as a small heffer, and she was around a size 16, so not huge.
Like Terribull's first father in law, food is also an emotive subject for French people and they are certainly more than capable of criticising dishes and eating habits of other cultures.
So yes, I do see that in certain areas there can be a difference in the way people actually express their opinions.

Mamie

Think the body shaming and bright colours might be Paris. Definitely not rural Normandy. ?

Not rural Bourgogne either, judging from some of the people I see around a BiL’s place, where we’ve often stayed.

grannyrebel7

Grannygravy that song is by McFly not Busted. I know because it's one of my favourites. Tom Fletcher wrote it for his wife, Giovanna.

Yes you are correct, I get Busted and McFly mixed up constantly especially since they have toured as McBusted.

(Our boys were at school with one of the Busted boys, he is a local lad)

JaneJudge

Lucca

JaneJudge

what is FG, Fatty gits?

Are you calling me fatty gits ?!

No Frank Gardner

no i was not calling you fatty gits but now I have the giggles I am a fatty git if it helps

The giggles is/are good.