Should we be a bit more like the French and revolt?

Joseann, I'm going to put my head above the parapet here. My daughter lived in France for a few years.French folk can be a little- ahem- inward looking. They drive French cars, drink French wine, eat French food and can be somewhat dismissive of other tastes.
My taste in wine and food is Italian ( but I'm a bit of a peasant and a vegetarian to boot, which some French restaurants do find perplexing/ irritating still, although things are improving)

Chocolatelovinggran

Joseann, I'm going to put my head above the parapet here. My daughter lived in France for a few years.French folk can be a little- ahem- inward looking. They drive French cars, drink French wine, eat French food and can be somewhat dismissive of other tastes.
My taste in wine and food is Italian ( but I'm a bit of a peasant and a vegetarian to boot, which some French restaurants do find perplexing/ irritating still, although things are improving)

I live in France and don't disagree with that. Lidl is a great help for Italian and Spanish ingredients and wine. I cook a lot of Middle Eastern dishes and frequently have to source stuff from Amazon.
Things have changed since we moved here almost twenty years ago. A lot of people travel abroad for holidays now which was not always the case. We have always driven French cars since we got here though!

I will never drive a French car again. The Renault Clio was one of the least reliable cars I ever owned, along with the Fiat Punto. My last two cars have been Hyundai i20s. I just bought a new one because they have been the most reliable cars I’ve ever owned. My husband drives a VW, another pretty reliable car. No more French or Italian cars for me. However I do like French and Italian food.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202401/medium-199242-581798.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202401/medium-175701-img-20230827-wa0006.jpg

Ooo I love my Citroën Aircross, but yes my Renault Mégane was a pain in the peachy arse, (remember those ads?). I learnt more car mechanics vocabulary in French during the five years I owned it abroad than I even know now in English.
My French fiancé had a sports car and I learnt to drive using his car. Here I am! I had to undo everything I'd learnt about polite road etiquette when it came to taking my test in the UK. And don't get me started on stroppy French drivers, though their roads are far superior to ours and a pleasure to drive on. The investment in French highways is huge, around 5 or 6 billion euros a year. They appear not to just upgrade their roads, but build spanking new ones.

Yes the French do stick to their own products . How many times have we seen a 'Buy British' slogan start up again .....
and fade away.

halfpint1

Yes the French do stick to their own products . How many times have we seen a 'Buy British' slogan start up again .....
and fade away.

Perhaps we do it anyway and don't need reminding. All supermarkets show grown , made etc in uk,with flag emblem. Go for those all the time. Family live in Netherlands and Germany so buy from those if needed. Never anything from France.

Joseann I agree French, well most European roads actually, are better than British roads. Our roads have been neglected for so long and the potholes are horrendous on many roads. Our government and councils seem to use the net zero target as an excuse to avoid building new roads, or even repairing existing roads.

These farming protests have been ongoing for a few weeks now. Not just the French by any Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and more. Thousands of tractors on roadways. Manure and slurry. Over buildings

MSM has been strangely quiet. Not sure why.

French cars- oo la la. They look so good. They know how to design stuff and they are so proud of their country which is as it should be. They may run down their government, many do but they are very patriotic.

WRT French cars, I'm on my 6th Peugeot in 20 years and not one has ever let me down.

I don’t think French design or reliability is anything special but they do look after their national industries far better than we do. We only see short term political advantage ignoring any strategic interest of the nation

My Citroën was very pretty but kept letting me down.

(My French boyfriend was much the same.)

Well, he wasn't pretty but he had a certain je ne sais quoi

No. Next question?

The Danes and the Danish is the same in danish i.e. danskerne

Thats interesting win. I've never heard anybody refer to The Spanish.

Anyway I better shut up before I get slapped down again.

Vegansrock,

I smiled when I read your comment. The difference between the French and us is that British tradition is based on obeying the rules. However, the French also say they obey all the EU rules but in reality they act much more in French ways and sometimes ignore laws they are not happy to implement. President Macron recently went against EU law because it did not suit his govt. I cannot bring to mind what it was but some of you will know. In that regard they are insouciant and I love their savoir faire when it comes to French attitudes. Towards the EU.

caknib

Thats interesting win. I've never heard anybody refer to The Spanish.

Anyway I better shut up before I get slapped down again.

Don't be silly caknib, no one slapped you down. A grammatical explanation was given to your question which led to an interesting discussion.

Don't address me as silly. Merci.

Anniel

Vegansrock,

I smiled when I read your comment. The difference between the French and us is that British tradition is based on obeying the rules. However, the French also say they obey all the EU rules but in reality they act much more in French ways and sometimes ignore laws they are not happy to implement. President Macron recently went against EU law because it did not suit his govt. I cannot bring to mind what it was but some of you will know. In that regard they are insouciant and I love their savoir faire when it comes to French attitudes. Towards the EU.

I agree with your observations Anniel.
I reckon Macron must be thinking to himself, (although he is 100 x more intelligent than I am), that he might as well stick to his guns and do what he wants, because he can't be elected for another term anyway.

caknib

Don't address me as silly. Merci.

Pardonnez-moi. It was meant playfully, not that you are stupid.

I think we should be more like France in having a secular society laid down in law. People should be free to worship in whatever religion or faith they choose but religious exhortation, praying, clothing and other symbols should be confined to their homes or places of worship and not be allowed in schools or public places. I

Good luck to the French farmers. Where would we be without our farmers?

Name me a war or campaign of persecution, throughout history, going back to the crusades, that hasn't been caused by fanatical, religious belief!

Hooray for the French! But then they have Revolution in their blood...
We are too easily put off by waffling promises but no action - witness those out there who still think that Boris was a great Prime Minister..... Roll on the Election when maybe we can get a LibLab coalition and a few people with an actual IQ making the decisions.

Malentendu peutetre?

I think for my generation, born 1950, it started with ,”Children should be seen but not heard”. At a young age we were conditioned to not be able to voice our opinions or ideas, and heaven forbid that you should challenge parents or anyone in authority.

We were easily silenced and if
, as a woman, you did have strong opinions you were told “an angry woman is an ugly woman!!
My mother also said ‘ Manners make the the Man’

All in all we are far too polite