Why do you love France?
Jun 8th, 2004, 07:08 PM
#1
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Why do you love France?
There're lots of countries on my "must see" list, but (oddly) France isn't one of them. How can this be?! Educate me!
I'd love to hear from people who love the Republic. Tell me why it's special!
Bel
I'd love to hear from people who love the Republic. Tell me why it's special!
Bel
Jun 8th, 2004, 07:18 PM
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Because it was the only modern language offered by my rural high school. I continued the language as required in a college that my parents paid a pretty penny for.
I refuse to "waste" all the years of effort I've put into it.
Of course I could go to Belgium or Quebec instead...
I refuse to "waste" all the years of effort I've put into it.
Of course I could go to Belgium or Quebec instead...
Jun 8th, 2004, 07:30 PM
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Indytravel, I know whereof you speak! Four years of French in high school (and one French club award) and two years in college--I think I have delevoped a certain fondness for the French after all that!
Seriously, though, Bellbird, I think for one reason or another, many of us develop an affinity for certain countries and their people. My parents adore Italy. They can't go anywhere in Europe but Italy. Something about the Italian personality "speaks" to them, and that's where they want to be.
My husband and I love the French. We've watched French movies and listened to French music and read the best of the French authors--in short, we feel comfortable with the French psyche. When I'm in France, I start thinking half in English and half in French in a matter of days. I feel comfortable there. Other people feel that way about their favorite destinations, and that's probably why they're drawn to that place. To each his own, I guess?
Seriously, though, Bellbird, I think for one reason or another, many of us develop an affinity for certain countries and their people. My parents adore Italy. They can't go anywhere in Europe but Italy. Something about the Italian personality "speaks" to them, and that's where they want to be.
My husband and I love the French. We've watched French movies and listened to French music and read the best of the French authors--in short, we feel comfortable with the French psyche. When I'm in France, I start thinking half in English and half in French in a matter of days. I feel comfortable there. Other people feel that way about their favorite destinations, and that's probably why they're drawn to that place. To each his own, I guess?
Jun 8th, 2004, 11:27 PM
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I agree, it's funny how countries soak into your being. I'm going to be in France and Italy and September, have researched Italy to death for years and feel I know it intimately. Yet I've done absolutely no research on France. I can't work me out! I must get started. Or maybe I'll just hop in the car and let it happen when I'm there! The France part is to make my other half happy (Normandy - WW2 buff).
Glad you all talk my question in the spirit it was asked, I read it afterwards and was worried someone might think it was a whiney "What's the big deal?" type question. Not at all. I want to love my trip there!
Glad you all talk my question in the spirit it was asked, I read it afterwards and was worried someone might think it was a whiney "What's the big deal?" type question. Not at all. I want to love my trip there!
Jun 9th, 2004, 03:14 AM
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dln has it nailed -- it's a "psyche" thing. I always feel "at home" in France, even during the period my command of the French language was weaker. It's everything people have mentioned, culture, food, wine people -- but the way they intersect to create a way of life that resonates for me. Even the famous French "aloofness" is part of the whole fabric of French life.
Jun 9th, 2004, 04:32 AM
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As NYCFoodSnob says, it is the wine and the beauty. To that I would add the food. And there is something about the whole French experience that speaks to my heart and soul. Each province is beautiful in a different way - so diverse for so small a country. As for Italy, I could say the same.
Jun 9th, 2004, 04:49 AM
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France always called to me. IF I were "that way", I'd think it was a past-life memory (oh I can almost feel the snickers on that one...) anyway, its the spirit of the people, their joie de vivre, as well as their individualism. THeir delight in the things that make life quite fine. I have not as yet mastered the language and I disagree with Joelle; in my experience a great many of the French, Parisiens and outside the "town" speak English, to some extent.
BUT, their culture demands good manners and they need to hear one at least, try to speak. I imagine, they "Try" to speak English when they visit any of the English speaking world, as well
BUT, their culture demands good manners and they need to hear one at least, try to speak. I imagine, they "Try" to speak English when they visit any of the English speaking world, as well
Jun 9th, 2004, 05:12 AM
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As one of my German coworkers grudgingly admitted, "The French have certainly cornered the market on good food and good taste."
I agree that it all goes back to a certain affinity, either you get it or you don't, and I try to get it as often as I can!
I agree that it all goes back to a certain affinity, either you get it or you don't, and I try to get it as often as I can!
Jun 9th, 2004, 05:21 AM
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Joelle "most French people can't speak a word of english" What nonsense.Many of the older rural people can't, As for the rest many certainly can and do speak english. That is my experience in 3 trips to France.
Jun 9th, 2004, 05:55 AM
#14
I used to attribute it to a speech defect. When I was a child, I had trouble pronouncing the letter "r". People told me I said it the French way. So when French was offered in school, I took it, figuring I came with a built-in French accent.
Since then, I have just felt my appreciation increase. The language, the culture, the food, the art, the literature, the music all call to me. I love to play Debussy and Chopin on the piano (and yes, I know Chopin was born in Poland, but he composed in France and it was a recent revelation when a piano teacher talked to me about how Chopin was more a French composer than a Polish one).
When I spent three weeks traveling around the French countryside as part of a longer summer trip to Europe as a college student, I remember riding the train through the fields and thinking that's where the Impressionists got their inspiration. Even now, traveling through the countryside of France makes me feel like I'm on a sort of cultural holy ground.
Since then, I have just felt my appreciation increase. The language, the culture, the food, the art, the literature, the music all call to me. I love to play Debussy and Chopin on the piano (and yes, I know Chopin was born in Poland, but he composed in France and it was a recent revelation when a piano teacher talked to me about how Chopin was more a French composer than a Polish one).
When I spent three weeks traveling around the French countryside as part of a longer summer trip to Europe as a college student, I remember riding the train through the fields and thinking that's where the Impressionists got their inspiration. Even now, traveling through the countryside of France makes me feel like I'm on a sort of cultural holy ground.
Jun 9th, 2004, 06:10 AM
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Nikki -- lucky you -- the French rrrr eluded me until I studied Macedonian -- THEN for some reason I could do BOTH rrrrrrrrs -- and they are different.
On the "aloof" thing -- please note I used quotes -- the French are more formal and more reticent than many of us from the US. It's cultural -- and it's actually nice not to have people in your face all the time
On the "aloof" thing -- please note I used quotes -- the French are more formal and more reticent than many of us from the US. It's cultural -- and it's actually nice not to have people in your face all the time
Jun 9th, 2004, 07:06 AM
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dln-
My parents are exactly the same way about Italy and Ireland, but will never go back to France. It just didn't resonate with them.
Bellbird-
I love everything about Italy, the food, the architecture, the style, the warmth of the people...but for some reason, it is Paris that I keep returning to. I just need my fix every year or so.
Beyond the obvious (food, wine, art, beauty, style), for me, I just love the "Frenchness" of the place, even though I can't tell you precisely what that means. I just feel it when I'm there, and long for it when I'm not.
For relaxation I love Italy, Bonaire and Dominica (both in the Caribbean) but for exhiliration and challenge, for being somehow changed by travel, I'll take France. It's magical.
It's
the way they wear their scarves in winter,
the cafe culture,
the "Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivee" posters in all the cafe windows in late fall,
the carefully cropped trees in all the public spaces,
the importance of greeting everyone with "Bonjour, Madame" or "Bonjour, Monsieur" when you enter a place of business
the way the women pooch their lips out when the talk (so sexy, I always try to imitate it!)
the amazing pharmacies full of wonderous beauty aides, and the charming girls who help you find things
the care, attention and knowledge EVERYONE seems to bring to food (where else can a rich banker-type, a waitress, and a teen-age hipster engage in a spirited conversation about cheese, all to aide the selection process of two Americans? Yep, this happened to me.)
Oh merde, I told myself I was taking a year off from France and now I've made myself want to go back next winter.
Enjoy Normandy, Bellbird, and be sure to drink your Calvados through a sugar cube in the old fashioned peasant way!
My parents are exactly the same way about Italy and Ireland, but will never go back to France. It just didn't resonate with them.
Bellbird-
I love everything about Italy, the food, the architecture, the style, the warmth of the people...but for some reason, it is Paris that I keep returning to. I just need my fix every year or so.
Beyond the obvious (food, wine, art, beauty, style), for me, I just love the "Frenchness" of the place, even though I can't tell you precisely what that means. I just feel it when I'm there, and long for it when I'm not.
For relaxation I love Italy, Bonaire and Dominica (both in the Caribbean) but for exhiliration and challenge, for being somehow changed by travel, I'll take France. It's magical.
It's
the way they wear their scarves in winter,
the cafe culture,
the "Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivee" posters in all the cafe windows in late fall,
the carefully cropped trees in all the public spaces,
the importance of greeting everyone with "Bonjour, Madame" or "Bonjour, Monsieur" when you enter a place of business
the way the women pooch their lips out when the talk (so sexy, I always try to imitate it!)
the amazing pharmacies full of wonderous beauty aides, and the charming girls who help you find things
the care, attention and knowledge EVERYONE seems to bring to food (where else can a rich banker-type, a waitress, and a teen-age hipster engage in a spirited conversation about cheese, all to aide the selection process of two Americans? Yep, this happened to me.)
Oh merde, I told myself I was taking a year off from France and now I've made myself want to go back next winter.
Enjoy Normandy, Bellbird, and be sure to drink your Calvados through a sugar cube in the old fashioned peasant way!
Jun 9th, 2004, 07:22 AM
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It's all of the above and more. On our first trip, it was just a quick flight into Paris - two days - driving on through France to get to our "real" trip - a week in Germany and a week in England. We loved both - but the next trip was two weeks in France! Those few days on the first trip just made us want more of France! The next trip was to be Italy - but in the end it was a week in Italy and --- a week in France. We enjoyed Italy a lot - but now we're going again - this time two more weeks in France!!! Just can't tell you why - we really love France - and there's so much more to see! Just go and enjoy - each person has there own preferences - you will just have to find yours!
Jun 9th, 2004, 08:46 AM
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Matisse, Chagall, the Mona Lisa, and the view of the Bay of Angels from the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Paul Cezanne, the Eiffel Tower, and the Seine. The Papal palace in Avignon. The fact they eat a cold salad after the hot entree has been consumed. Cider from Normandy. Codeine over the counter. Cheap prices on L'Oreal and Pantene products. An orange pressee on a hot summer's day.
And...a whole bunch of other stuff. This is like Woody Allen asking himself why life is great and worth living in "Manhattan", and he goes off on a tangent about those great apples and oranges by Cezanne and "Tracy's face". It's all too enormous to be confined to words!
I know most folks think of me here as an Italophile, but I can't deny I like France.
BC
And...a whole bunch of other stuff. This is like Woody Allen asking himself why life is great and worth living in "Manhattan", and he goes off on a tangent about those great apples and oranges by Cezanne and "Tracy's face". It's all too enormous to be confined to words!
I know most folks think of me here as an Italophile, but I can't deny I like France.
BC
