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London labelled a 'suburb of Paris' by French capital's deputy mayor

London labelled a 'suburb of Paris' by French capital's deputy mayor

Old Jan 20th, 2014, 02:27 AM
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London labelled a 'suburb of Paris' by French capital's deputy mayor

Ann Hidalgo said that Paris has four times less crime than London and more shops are open on Sundays.in Paris than in London.
http://tinyurl.com/peaugmn

What do you think?
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 02:42 AM
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She's probably responding to provocative remarks from Boris. Silly to rise to the bait
Isn't. London supposed to be France's fifth or sixth biggest city.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 03:09 AM
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Certainly there are lots of french people in the UK eg here in Cornwall there is a big french community. Not sure how that fits in with HER idea that London is a suburb of Paris - it can't be that bad if so many french people live there.

And i don't remember any threads about crime and scams in London in the same way that they appear about Paris - the notorious golden ring scam for example. I'm not saying there is no crime in London, but it doesn't figure much here.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 03:11 AM
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well we have the City of London...... they offer the occassional scam
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 03:54 AM
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lol bilbo - quite right.

but not the sort that normally finds its way onto the european board.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 06:04 AM
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I do wonder where she gets her statistics, I don't believe that London has 4 times the crimes that Paris has.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 06:30 AM
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This is a stupid argument even for politicians.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 06:41 AM
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more shops are open on Sundays.in Paris than in London. >

this is just not true IME - supermarkets for example in France must be closed on Sundays if they are a certain size and everything seems open in London on Sundays - don't think that is true where in Paris they have mandatory Sunday closing laws for most shops except tourist oriented.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 06:44 AM
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London probably has rather more French living here than British living in Paris - apparently at the UK last census (2010/2011) some 80,000 individuals born in France were registered in London. All part of the benefits of the EU - Mme Hidalgo, a would-be mayor of Paris was actually born in Spain, not France.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 06:53 AM
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Very few politicians in the UK would lose votes by insulting the French. Maybe the reverse applies in Paris
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 09:26 AM
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18234930

Well BBVC says 400,000 French are living in Britain, making it the 6th largest French city including France!

Yes British bashing and snickering at 'prim and proper' Brits has been around a long time - many of my in-laws often consider the British rather odd - constantly mocking the Queen and Brits in general.

Brits I think have a patronizing attitude towards the French - considering everything so old fashioned in places they flock to, like old French villages like those in the Dordogne than may have more Brits in residence than French - read any book about Provence or whatever and this patronizing country bumpkin view of French 'peasants' leaps out - Brits always outwitting the dumb locals, etc.

Brits and French have been trading barbs back and forth - French tabloids have a lot of fun with British royals - almost as much as British ones do!

But at least the two countries are not fighting with real weapons as they did for centuries.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 09:43 AM
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Well, that pundit, Rick Steves, has said that Paris is the capital of Europe, and, I must say, I always recommend Paris as the premier stop for first time visitors to Europe. But, there are a lot of Americans who feel more comfortable in London because of the language issue.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 10:21 AM
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Ann Hidalkgo might have a point.

It's common in failing cities for the few citizens with drive and ambition to move somewhere safer, greener and more business friendly an hour or so away. In the US, they call it "flight to the suburbs", in Paris they call it "packing up and moving to London"

We've been offering sanctuary to Parisians oppressed by tyrannical, persecuting or extorting governments since the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The only thing different today is we receive ten times more than we've ever done before

There used to be an element of reciprocity in this: as compensation we went there to eat, and our richer womenfolk bought their clothes there.

Now: who'd sit on a train for a Flunch?
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 11:57 AM
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Well last I know Brits still love to have second houses in France - zillions of them - and they go there en masse for holidays - I do wonder overall if there are more Brits in France at any given time than Frogs in Britain?
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 12:52 PM
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They may not like Flunch but they sure love the booze.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 01:45 PM
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The influence of French culture in the last 50 years is a pallid imitation of what was for the previous 100. The French constantly try to insinuate themselves into international matters with transparent fecklessness. They are one of the few democratic countries that still have military parades.

Paris is a beautiful city, where high taxes help maintain it. It has glorious food, museums, shops, neighborhoods, and boulevards. But to say it is the capital of Europe, misses the rise, beauty, and importance of our cities and countries.

But than again chauvinism is an eponymous characteristic attributed to a French soldier dead almost 200 years.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 02:22 PM
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IMD, what are "our cities and countries" ???

This survey from The Telegraph had to do with which city tourists prefer, and that has a lot to do with aesthetics, not crime, shopping hours, traffic, etc.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 08:48 PM
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>>The French constantly try to insinuate themselves into international matters with transparent fecklessness. They are one of the few democratic countries that still have military parades.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 10:10 PM
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Actually, the opinion polls have shown that voters are keeping national and municipal politics completely separate. And Bertrand Delanoë announce the moment he was reelected in 2008 that it was his last term. To the dismay of the right, Paris is considered to have become an impregnable Socialist fortress in the last 12 years or so, after being a right wing city for more than 100 years when the Commune was crushed.
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Old Jan 20th, 2014, 10:16 PM
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London is a suburb of Paris like York is a suburb of London - ie not at all
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