[cwoodward]

I suspect ChristophL has now clearly understood the error of his ways and perhaps it time lay-off both he and the French in general. It is not their fault that they were born French and after all they do have good qualities.

See list of good qualities below:

2 users thanked author for this post.

alainboy56, capetonianm

[christopheL]

It is very easy to find an individual example (wether it is your MD or someone you have worked with)to illustrate a criticism you want to generalize to an entire community. Nobody’s perfect.
My approach is the opposite. I am not talking about a particular person but about my experience as a reader of English newspapers which are probably “into the lower end of British media offering” (not my words!) but which, at least for one of them, is available free of charge when boarding BA flights from Paris.
If the British tabloids always put a value on everything, it is probably because the British, who are their first readers, like it.
People who read British tabloids may be “in the lower end” of the British community and obviously very different from BT readers, but they are as much a part of the British nation as British BT readers.
I may be wrong but I have the feeling that they are much more numerous than the BT British readers and that they are therefore much more representative when trying to make a globalizing approach to what might be the relationship British have to money.
For those who have decided that I don’t like British people please let me know that I have been commuting between Paris and London for the last 15 years and that I enjoy it a lot.
These made me understand how different French and British are in their respective relationships not only to money (which is definitely very different from ours) but also to sociability, diversity, business, remembrance, gardening, choirs, education, sport, travel (see BA and AF !) …
If I were to make a list of British qualities it would be quite long !

[alainboy56]

@ChristopheL — Point taken and I think we should move on, even if I have just written a contribution in another thread about EUROPCAR (a French company I believe).
Also we should not start to compare BA and AF, as that will start a real ‘cat and dog’ fight on this forum.
I know BA are far from perfect, but oh my goodness AF….. and CDG airport and its groundstaff………………… If I were you, don’t go there.

[christopheL]

@alainboy56
“A French company I believe » is so British 🙂
From a French perspective the last two words are useless because (I believe) you have absolutely no doubt about the nationality of this car rental company.
This is a very good exemple of the differences between the British and French cultures.
What surprises me is that on such a multinational forum where people are used to travel around the world and should be open to other cultures, they mainly seem to be stuck in their native background.
Coming back to the AF/BA 100 years war, I would say that my expectations are not the same depending on the airline I am flying with. Both are quite different.
As a French National I feel more at home on a AF flight.
However I have to confess that as a cheese amateur my top souvenir comes from BA flight from London to India where I was amazed by the quality and taste of a Shropshire blue cheese which was far above all French cheeses I had ever eaten on AF or any other airline. The cherry on the cake was that the British flight attendent who knew I was French (easy to find out) offered me to have my cheese before desert and with wine instead of port.
Strange isn’t it ?

[alainboy56]

@ChristopheL — Yes I am so typically British.
I am married to a Finn, have lived and worked in the Gulf for over 30 years, although during that time until recently resided mostly in Italy.
I speak fluent Italian, and can get by in French and Spanish and also communicate in Hindi and Arabic.
I have lived and worked temporarily, but long term in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Morocco, The Seychelles and also for 3 years in Oman, and 2 years in Galicia, Spain.
My M.D. is, as I aid previously, French, I visit UK only to see my offspring, and I drink anything, other than tea.
I mix socially (when I do have time) with Gulf Arabs (Emiratis and Omanis), Syrians, Lebanese, and Italians, then there are the odd Indian, Egyptian, Palestinian and Jordanian, and lastly also a Czech Republic national. (and sorry, but note, there are no Brits)
So do you still think I am typically British and ‘stuck in my native background’?

Anyway, as I also said previously, let’s agree to differ and move on……………..

[christopheL]

Oh yes you are. More than ever!!!
But you are right. Let’s disagree and move on 🙂

[Author]

Posts