French Quandaries
 

There were many things that puzzled me during our recent trip to France. Maybe you can help me with these quandaries or add some of your own.

1. Why does the French language have genders while their public toilets do not? The first couple of times I entered a washroom I thought I‘d entered the wrong door but no, they really are usually unisex, especially in smaller places.

2. Why is the service in restaurants so good even when the service charge is already built in so there is no incentive to earn tips?

3. How does M. Michelin designate his scenic routes? Most roads should have green lines on the map we thought. But occasionally the designated scenic routes were not as interesting as the undesignated ones. M. Michelin favours windy roads with views (good!) or roads through heavily wooded areas (boring!) We’re from Ontario and can drive for days through the woods, M. Michelin.

4. How does the French road number system work? Very often the roads we were on had different numbers that on M. Michelin’s latest map. Even the main N20 (on the map) to the Dordogne from Toulouse was 820 on the roadside signs. Besides, the road numbers often changed with the department even though we were obviously on the same road. We found it better to just look for the name of the place rather than try to follow the highway numbers.

5. Why do the stores and restaurants accept our North American credit cards while the unmanned gas pumps do not?

6. The French traditionally greet one another by air kissing first one cheek and then the other. So where did we get our idea of French kissing?

1. Because the doors on French (and Italian) toilet stalls go all the way to the floor, there is no privacy issue involved and why shouldn't everyone wash in the same room?
2. Because being a waiter or (less often) waitress is a profession, not a way of filling time until you get a real job.
3. Don't know.
4. Don't know.
5. Because their credit cards have chips in them; stores use a separate card reader for our cards (checkout at Monoprix, for example). Gas stations would need a separate slot for US cards.
6. Everything sexy was once thought by the English and
americans to come from France: condoms were "French letters", syphilis was "the French disease" (except, I think, in France where I believe it was known as the Italian disease.")

1. History. Languages and cultures aren't necessarily logical or consistent. Languages perform a rather more subtle function than toilets: I don't doubt a French intellectual could give you a 300-page book on the semiotics involved in both.

2. Professional pride? The thought that bad service leads to loss of business, hence a loss of job? On either account, that there are more considerations than cash in hand after each shift.

3. No idea, but I don't imagine Michelin review all routes all the time (things change) and are primarily planning for people who live in (French) cities.

4. Some stretches of road might be both N (route nationale) and D (route départmentale)?

5. The French use chip-and-PIN, which your cards won't have; in an unmanned place, there's no-one to do a manual operation instead.

6. Presumably in the same way that we say "taking French leave" and the French say "filer à l'anglaise" to mean "running away".

Hi moolyn. Some thoughts about the Michelin green roads. You're right--some offer spectacular views, while others are endless forest. M. Bibendum likes trees, which is why he built three Michelin tire plants here in Nova Scotia.

On the highway numbers, I think PatrickLondon has it right--some actually have two numbers, at least for certain stretches. As you suggest, navigating by destination (or "direction," as they say in France), works like a charm.

(By the way, I sent you an e-mail the other day in response to your offer on Murphy's thread--don't know whether you've seen it.)

Anselm

Ackislander and Patrick and Anselm,

Thank you all for your insightful responses. I really wasn't expecting any serious replies.

I should emphasize that I wasn't being critical, just intrigued. Viva la difference after all!

Anselm, I found your email in my junk bin. Good thing you alerted me before it was permanently trashed. I'll respond soon.

Hi M,

>M. Michelin favours windy roads with views (good!) or roads through heavily wooded areas (boring!) <

"Chacun à son goût", as M. Michelin might say.

((I))

Wouldn't it be terrific to be so fluent in the language of the country you're visiting that you could chat with people you meet in the country and ask your questions?

French kissing got it's name the same way Danish pastry did (which is called Vienna bread in Denmark) and Venetian blinds (which in Venice are called turkish shades).

Oh - and in New York there is no such thing as a New York Steak and a hot dog is called just that (or perhaps a frankfurter) not a Coney Island.

Ira, I agree. I think that M. Michelin could be more prolific with his green crayon as almost all of the roads we travelled were scenic.

missypie and nytraveler, thanks for responding. I'd love to really be able to converse with people in other countries. And you can't buy Canadian bacon here in Toronto. Great back bacon sandwiches though.

One more observation about unisex washrooms. Even though the doors on the stalls go all the way down to the floor making it hard to intrude or to escape if you're accidently locked in (but that's another story that I'll relate in my trip report) there are often urinals that les femmes have to pass by to get to the sinks. I thought men wouldn't use them if women were around but they do. Not complaining, just commenting.