France.......but where are the French?????

I must say we have had the same experience with the French people. We have been going to France in the motorhome three times a year for the last ten years and never been met with anything other than polite and helpful French people.
 
Beautiful country, lovely people ( in my experience). Had far more disagreements with people in U.K. when away with motorhome (usually CC wardens), than in France. If we have a choice of going away in U.K. or France, France wins hands down. Will be back there next week!
 
I find the interaction with our European friends one of the major pleasures of this lifestyle. I am on my way home from a 9 week tour to Greece and on this trip we have met some particularly interesting people, mostly Germans and Dutch. I did meet a really nice French couple in Lefkada but ironically they lived in Denia because they said France was too cold. We have also been invited to Stuttgart on this trip by a German couple who have room for our van.

I have met some nice French people but they are in the minority. They have a nice country but I too find many of them grumpy and unfriendly, when I smile at them they often look down, don’t know why. The other nationalities don’t do that.

It makes us laugh when in the past we have been generally ignored by our French neighbours at a French campsite (despite my genuine attempts to be friendly) but when you leave they all stand and wave goodbye!

It’s their loss, we prefer touring in other Country’s anyway.

We are all different and entitled to express our own experience, I also trust my view will be treated with respect, very disappointed to see a very rude post on this thread. I hope Jim saw that.
 
Surprised you don’t get a bonjour when you smile at the French.
But, I suppose it depends where you were. We find some places in the South aren’t as friendly but you can’t get away without speaking in villages.

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Love France, peaceful, quiet, lovely people, even if you haven’t any French if you try they will help you!
Only if you can find them tho!!!
 
JJ said:
Oh dear, dear, dear me...

JJ :cool:
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Indeed. I would respectfully suggest you don’t say that where I live !
9A4E8E3A-2733-4647-B959-17686E2CC44E.jpeg
 
Chris said:
I like a good discussion about the French.

I will say I found them friendly in Brittany and in the South.

As you get down towards Toulouse they lose their miserableness in my experience.

Perhaps those up North are miserable because of the dodgy weather?
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For years I've theorised that the further South one goes between Scandinavia and the Equator the more relaxed, less serious and more cheerful the people become. I think it's due to the climate.
After standing for ages waiting to be served in a small town post office in France I ribbed the sole lady clerk that everything people wanted seemed very complicated. She replied: "All the while I have a queue I have a job". I couldn't fault the logic.
Driving through deserted villages I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one who isn't aware of a 5 minute nuclear attack warning. Mind you, France has the same population but is twice the size of the U.K. so people will be more thinly spread.

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Chris said:
Apologies if I have upset you Frankie:(

I still don’t like the beer though.
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Not to worry Chris . I've always liked the way you speak your mind. Thing is you're doing it in a funny way, and I don't take it personnal. Just your point of view which you are perfectly allowed.
Anyone is allowed to have an opinion, there's just a way to say things...and not everyone sounds funny.
As for the beer.... I don't drink this at all.... I dislike beer taste. I enjoy a shandy or in France a Monaco but a beer.... No!
I like omelettes too, and mine are quite nice :giggle:
Amicalement
Frankie:)
 
yodeli said:
Not to worry Chris . I've always liked the way you speak your mind. Thing is you're doing it in a funny way, and I don't take it personnal. Just your point of view which you are perfectly allowed.
Anyone is allowed to have an opinion, there's just a way to say things...and not everyone sounds funny.
As for the beer.... I don't drink this at all.... I dislike beer taste. I enjoy a shandy or in France a Monaco but a beer.... No!
I like omelettes too, and mine are quite nice :giggle:
Amicalement
Frankie:)
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Frankie

What is a 'Monaco' for my education?

I will challenge you to an omelette competition.

Basia cooks very well but concedes on my omelettes and cote d'agneau - well they never had lamb for sale in Poland until recently.

[Ignore Chris - at least on his views about France, because he lives in the land of 'where the Heathens were pushed'. They only dare come out for a scurmish on a small piece of land where they are confined by high walls with seats to rest on when their voices get tired. Even then they are reluctant to fight in those fields in France.]

I will save the other ammunition for later.

Geoff
 
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Just arrived at the free Aire at Samur en Auxois,plenty of frenchies about. Lovely place,I think someone on here recommended it.
Not many people about........you have to remember that,roughly speaking,France has the same population as U.K. but is twice the size....roughly speaking.
We’ve been visiting France for twenty years and always found them very friendly.
 
Of course,I meant Semur en Auxois,not Samur as many of you will realise.
That’s the problem with the French,they can’t spell,and they use all those silly foreign words. Oh,and they keep using different road numbers for the same soxxxng road! C’est bizarre!
:roflmto: :roflmto: :roflmto: ;););)
 
Had to smile, i say it in every village i go through, "where is everyone", does managements head in! Love the country and most of the people, a bit like i love Britain and most of the people. In France i have never had a bad reaction or been ignored when i say hi in my dodgy french... 99% love the fact you actually try to speak their language

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Love France, like the french, sitting in La Fleche as I write. If you want rude try some places in Scotland where I live. As for still writing cheques in the supermarket remember that chip and pin was in use in France many years before the UK!
 
Talking of beer prices in France being expensive, that only really refers to bars and restaurants. I find that the same beers in supermarkets can be incredibly cheap, especially the higher alcohol beers in 750cl bottles. Yes in bars the prices can be silly for piddly little glasses but if you want to drink in and around your van supermarket beer is a no brainer. Same applies in Germany as well I found last month. Brittany and Normany cidre doux is our drink of choice mostly costing less than £1.50 for a large bottle and usually only 2% alcohol. Its lovely!
 
Stealaway said:
It's hard to believe anyone lives there. You don't even see any kids out playing. The towns simply shut around 12 o'clock and open for bread again around 4 and that's it. They mostly seem to have a very laid back (boring?) frugal lives. The times they really wind me up is at supermarket checkouts. It always seem to be a social occasion that take hours and most still write cheques for their groceries.

We must learn to slow down I think.
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Lots of not so well off people write cheques because banks either don’t charge or there’s a minimal charge. Debit cards are charged per month, even if you’ve €1000s in your account.
Children don’t finish school until 5, many then have activities with educators ( sort of after school club) until parents finish work, often at 6.
I found all my rural French neighbours to be very unshowy, unmaterialistic. Very family orientated, large extended family meals at weekends, one neighbour had about 20 for Sunday lunch each week. There’s a saying in France, you never know if your neighbour is a Prince or a pauper, as they don’t display wealth.
 
pandas said:
Neither, we speak school girl/boy French although not quite sure why as the language has no value outside France.........
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All these countries speak French as their main language...

Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo and Vanuatu.

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What we find, people interested in talking to you, best behaved and intelligent kids anywhere, shops closed at regular times be a good thing if they were here, clean free Aires everywhere , again pity it's not the same here, good food if you look for it not diving in to the nearest fancy bistro again much the same as here, no need to mention the roads apart from all the roundabouts , excellent and if you are getting speeding tickets you are going to fast to appreciate the countryside.
 
Tincataylor said:
We have been touring in France now for nearly 6 weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. For some strange reason, although we have spent time in Germany, Portugal and Spain we have never got around to France, so this has been an opportunity to explore our near neighbour. We our way northwards between the centre line and the west coast. We had no fixed plan and we let serendipity guide us and that has resulted in the discovery (for us) of some stunning villages and scenery. decided not to write a blog but to just give our random impressions of the country and its people and it would be interesting to hear your thoughts and comments. For information we took the ferry to Bilbao and have slowly worked
The stereotype of the French is that they are not particularly keen on the British and have a reputation for being a bit rude towards us. What utter nonsense that has turned out to be and although we only have “schoolboy French” at best we have found the people to be very friendly and polite and only too willing to engage. We also find France delightfully litter free and people seem to take a pride in their gardens with many of the houses having the most beautiful displays of roses climbing the front facades. The camp sites have all been of an excellent standard and although the aires vary a bit its always good to know that no matter what town or village you find yourself in there is always an area to stay for the night. We have paid virtually no tolls and have spent the majority of our time on the “D” roads, which have taken us through some splendid countryside and we were particularly taken with the Lot / Garonne area, where the countryside looked like it had been created by an artist rather than local farmers. Beautiful lakes and rivers seemed to crop up all the time and the Tarn, Lot, Dordogne, Vezere, Garonne and of course the mighty Loire with its associated Chateaux have all entertained us. We have 3 more nights to go before we (hopefully) find a ferry waiting for us at Roscoff to return us to Sunny Deb’n. The standing joke at the moment is that if you ring the Brittany Ferries help line and ask what time the ferry sails the answer is “what time can you get here”, such is the disruption to services.
We do have one observation to make that we find hard to understand, and that is “where are all the people”. We have driven through countless towns and villages and the feeling is bordering on post-apocalyptic. It doesn’t make any difference what day it is or what time of day. In fact the most people we ever see is early morning as they scuttle to the boulangerie before disappearing again until the following day. Bars and restaurants are virtually empty with a bored waitress clock watching her way through the day and the supermarkets have nowhere near the footfall to justify their size…………….where is everyone……..????
The Tincas.
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They don't know the Germans have lost ww2 and gone home.BUSBY.
 
pandas said:
Neither, we speak school girl/boy French although not quite sure why as the language has no value outside France, they are rude and arrogant. We have also spent a lot of time in France so not just an isolated view but based on personal experience. It would be interesting to hear other opinions.
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Totally disagree.BUSBY.
 
If you Brits had suffered at the hands of the Nazis or other German invaders in the same way as the French you may not be quite so quick with the tasteless comments.

No one forces you to visit France,if you don't like it then stay aboard your pathetic little sinking ship.

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Lot lover said:
If you Brits had suffered at the hands of the Nazis or other German invaders in the same way as the French you may not be quite so quick with the tasteless comments.

No one forces you to visit France,if you don't like it then stay aboard your pathetic little sinking ship.
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A bit over the top aren’t you for goodness sake?

I am forced to visit France if I want to drive to Spain and not take the ferry and also to go to Belgium.

And why is the Uk a “ pathetic little sinking ship”?
 
Where does one start?
UK govt has lost control of Parliament
NHS seems to need billions of pounds, thousands of doctors and nurses
Roads are hopelessly overcrowded, just potholes joined together
Population more divided than ever,rich vs poor, Scotland refuses to accept democratic vote of U.K.over Brexit
Too many parasites taking from too few taxpayers
Brexit "negotiations" have made UK a laughing stock everywhere except U.K.
Appearing to believe that a trade deal with Trump will be good for U.K.
Concreting the countryside to build more and more shoeboxes and wondering why flooding prevalent
But there may be more

I can understand that not everyone likes France and the French, after all they have been England's enemies longer than friends (supporting Scotland and US at times) but cannot understand why those people visit for a second time.
 
Lot lover said:
Where does one start?
UK govt has lost control of Parliament
NHS seems to need billions of pounds, thousands of doctors and nurses
Roads are hopelessly overcrowded, just potholes joined together
Population more divided than ever,rich vs poor, Scotland refuses to accept democratic vote of U.K.over Brexit
Too many parasites taking from too few taxpayers
Brexit "negotiations" have made UK a laughing stock everywhere except U.K.
Appearing to believe that a trade deal with Trump will be good for U.K.
Concreting the countryside to build more and more shoeboxes and wondering why flooding prevalent
But there may be more

I can understand that not everyone likes France and the French, after all they have been England's enemies longer than friends (supporting Scotland and US at times) but cannot understand why those people visit for a second time.
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I suspect the ship you are sailing on is sinking quicker and stinks more.

France has all the problems the UK has x 2 ( well apart from Diane Abbot).

The other problem it has are ex pat Brits who slag off their native country from afar
 
If you don't want an answer, don't ask the question.

Bit you have not disagreed with any of my views.
 
Lot lover said:
If you don't want an answer, don't ask the question.

Bit you have not disagreed with any of my views.
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what you said is quite right and but there are still people in the uk who love this country and trying to put it right , not running off to another country then criticising from afar.
that said i have nothing against france as i have said in numerous posts on this thread.

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