Bonjour a la Paris!

[Kristie]

[ QUOTE ]
So did you bring us back anything?

[/ QUOTE ]
well, we were gonna ship back some wine and champagne (and use it for the 1st Jetcareers Las Vegas Meet)... but the shipping costs seemed really high out there since it took 0,90 euros (about a dollar) to just mail a postcard!! but i did take a ton of photos (even sky/airport/airplane shots)... I should have the trip report/photos up this weekend if all goes well...

so - we figured we'd just try some wines when we got back here... but i got so used to having an aperitif before dinner, that now i have to figure out how to make myself a Kir when i get home from work! hahaha

any idea on how to do that Fr8dog???

We really did enjoy your country! we're hoping next time we go back, we'd make some parisian friends who would actually want to hang out with us while we continue to butcher the language!! I have to admit though, that I did pretty darn well considering I did not know anything except bonjour and merci when i got on the plane! We decided to leave the Louve, Luxembourg Jardin, Notre Dame and a day trip out to burgundy country & brussels/bruges for our next trip....

a couple of interesting aspects - there is no "take out" coffee... you drink it then and there and don't expect it to be quick (even in the mornings!)... other thing is that the fountain show at versailles was incredible because they play the baroque/classical music while hte fountains are in motion and you can kind of "see" how it was back in the day... only thing is that it would be much more elaborate and interesting if the staff were in mock dress-up for the effect of the event and instead of there being 1300 fountains, there are only 400 now of which, i dont recall seeing 400 of them... the only bad thing is that when we got there at 3-4pm on sunday, the fountains weren't even on and at 4pm, they turned on and only stayed on for about an hour and a half.... with that short amount of time, you couldn't even see all of the fountains running...that was kind a sad!! oh - and cobbelstone is kinda difficult to ride on with a bike! with the long walks between everything, we decided to ride from the grand canal to the king's summer house etc... our feet were JUST killing, that place is just soooo enormous!!

oh - and the girls over there do not have shorts... they wear either skirts, pants or jeans and it doesn't matter what you wear with the skirt whether tennis shoes, flip flops or spagetti strap shirts... i dunno why they don't sell shorts over there -they should!!... being from arizona, you'd think 70/80 degree weather would be nice and cool to us, but dang... it was HOT... a bit of humidty, some high heat, no air conditioning anywhere (incl. the trains) and boy, your putting deoterant on twice a day!! lucky for us, i think more and more french folk ARE wearing deoterant now a days!!

 

[Ophir]

Ahhh, j'aime la France en étés. En dépit de lui étant chaud, elle
stupéfie toujours ainsi ! Je conviens également que les Français
sont extrêmement gentils et véritablement sont dérangés avec notre
govenment, non nos citoyens.

Needless to say, I love France.

 

[TomCatter]

and that means what in English??

 

[Joe]

[ QUOTE ]
and that means what in English??

[/ QUOTE ]

According to FreeTranslation.com:

Ahhh, I like France some been. In spite of him being hot, she always stuns thus! I suit equally that the
French are extremely kind and truly are disturbed with our govenment, no our citizens.

Proof that you should NOT use FreeTranslation.com for important things.

 

[SkyGirl]

My best attempt -

I like France in the summer. In spite of the heat, it is always astounding (??) I also think that the French are extremely nice and are truly disturbed with our govenment, not our citizens.

 

[Ophir]

That is pretty much it skygirl!!

Freetranslation.com has a lot to be desired.

The French were very concerned with the absence of American's this summer. They really are nice people who are open and friendly if you make the slightest attempt in their country. Unfortunately, the "ugly" American is still quite ubiquitous and therefore makes Americans easily classified as travelers who are rude and consumed with finding the differences in foreign societies and criticizing them, rather than embracing them. Everyone gets different things from traveling, but it is common courtesy for travelers to make a small effort while traveling. Just like Doug said, if he told people in French, “I speak a little French (Je parle Français en peu) people we nice.

 

[Hootie]

Awesome! I leave this Sunday for 5 weeks in Spain, Italy, and because my Father is going to be meeting me out there for 3 weeks of his vacation, insisted since he is fluent in French on me spending those 3 weeks in France with him. But I wasn't sure what was going to happen, and figured since all I know is Bonjour, I though was going to get robbed, beaten, and flogged with a bottle wine based on what cnn tells me. Kristie, Fr8dog, Doug, and any others that have spent some time over there, what is the level of dress just for spending a day looking around and experiencing? I heard it is dressier? Do guys not wear shorts? What about baseball caps? Kristie, did you study on the plane or did you just listen and learn when you got over there? Thanks! I am now really looking foward to this.

 

[derg]

Some of the things we noticed was that we'd be at a brasserie or bistro in the day and usually we'd hear people complaining loudly in English about everything from waiting for a check, to the food to whatever.

We were at a fantastic lunch in Rue Cler and these people sit down next to us and start immediately complaining about the crowd very loudly. Then about five minutes goes by and now they're mad because they don't have a menu, whereas the "menu" is posted on the chalkboard about four feet away and includes the daily specials.

Then they get up and loudly exclaim, "Dammit, I'm not waiting any MORE!" and scamper off down the street.

Now those people are going to go back to the US and complain to all of their friends about how evil the waitress was whereas she was working probably 20 tables and all it took was a friendly "Mademoiselle! S'il vous plait!" to get her attention.

I think largely, the average traveler thinks that they're going to an upscale Epcot-version of France when they travel overseas, full of eager exchange students with a great working knowledge of the English language and dining/social customs. Whereas most of the people you run into have an entirely different set of customs and could probably care less about how they do things in "France" at Epcot Center.

In fact, in a weird way, we were grateful when the waiters and waitresses didn't understand English and gave us an opportunity to practice our French. We went to one restaraunt, the lady greeted us in English, found us a table and gave us English menus. Sheesh, that's not why I flew 5,000+ miles and endured jet lag!

 

[aloft]

[ QUOTE ]
Glad you made it back safe and sound! I don't know about that mayo concoction for fries! We have fry sauce here in Utah! LOL

[/ QUOTE ]Hahahaha....fry sauce! I always order a side of mayo whenever I have fries in restaurants, to mix with a little ketchup to make........fry sauce! It's definitely a Utah thing; my friends think it's pretty silly, I think it's pretty tasty. Those Arctic Circle hamburger joints used to have little dipping tubs of fry sauce, like everybody has for chicken nuggets now. BK even has onion ring dipping sauce now.

 

[WillNotFly4Food]

mmmmm fry sauce... *drool*

I miss it when I travel. It's too tasty for just us to enjoy.

 

[SkyGirl]

[ QUOTE ]
I always order a side of mayo whenever I have fries in restaurants, to mix with a little ketchup to make........fry sauce!

[/ QUOTE ]

I do too, but now I omit the ketchup! My new thing is McDonald's french fries with sweet and sour sauce (its not the same at other places).

 

[derg]

Ok, I gotta fess up. Before I read the book "Fast Food Nation" and would occasionally go to McDonalds, I'd get a tub of hot mustard and BBQ sauce and double dunk my french fries.

It sounds disgusting but for a weirdo like me, pretty tasty.

But then I'm the type of guy that experiments with all sorts of weird food combinations anyway. Just ask the Mrs. I could probably eat everything on fear factor without batting an eye just to freak people out.

 

[TheWife]

Hmm. Hot mustard huh? Do you guys have Training Table resturants? They have a hickory BBQ sauce with a blob of mayo in the middle, also very good, but not the same with other BBQ sauces. Especially good with onion rings!

 

[Ophir]

[ QUOTE ]
Some of the things we noticed was that we'd be at a brasserie or bistro in the day and usually we'd hear people complaining loudly in English about everything from waiting for a check, to the food to whatever.

[/ QUOTE ]
Classic misconception: In France, once you sit down at the table it is almost as if you own that piece of real estate. You can sit and drink and dine for hours. They will only bring you the check when you ask. L'Addition Si Vous Plait (when in doubt, never pronouce the last letter in any French word)

[ QUOTE ]
We were at a fantastic lunch in Rue Cler and these people sit down next to us and start immediately complaining about the crowd very loudly. Then about five minutes goes by and now they're mad because they don't have a menu, whereas the "menu" is posted on the chalkboard about four feet away and includes the daily specials.

[/ QUOTE ]
Another one that is different: the Menu is a compliation of set meals that typicall are four courses. The carte is the menu

 

[derg]

Precisamundo!

I didn't figure out the carte/menu difference until a couple of days in, but we generally ordered from the "Plats du jour" menu anyway so we never needed them.

Kristie never took a lesson in French, but by the end of the week, she was kicking butt and even correcting some of my language errors!

 

[Kristie]

[ QUOTE ]
Another one that is different: the Menu is a compliation of set meals that typicall are four courses. The carte is the menu

[/ QUOTE ]

That is true.. you get the best value by going with the "formulae" or fixed price (prix) menu. usually you'll get an entree du jour (appetizer of the day), plat du jour (entree of the day), desert du jour... or another way around...but yes, you do own that piece of real estate and don't expect to get up from that chair for a good 2 hrs or so...

Big H - I learned french by reading the book - French at a glance - on the way over... the only words i knew were bonjour and merci. I learned most everything by talking to the people, looking at the book and memorizing what i needed to say to get my point across... and just going with the flow!

As far as dress goes - Girls wear skirts (with tennis shoes, flip flops, pumps, heels - you name it) or pants or jeans (on the weekends)... most of the guys wore jeans or pants.. not too many wear shorts and if i'm correct, i don't think they even sell shorts over there cuz it surprised me a lot that no girls wore shorts when it was hot out.. so the guys that i saw in shorts might have been tourists - haha!!

next time, i'm gonna remmeber to pack a skirt and get some better walking shoes cuz my feet were killing even though i had hiking socks and shoes on most of the time (go fig!)...

the restaurats have only 1 bathroom and usually only 1 toilet (unfortunately, they're not very cleanly people when it comes to restrooms).. they don't normally appreciate someone coming in off the street to use their restrooms either.. so get used to holding it or buying a lot of food/coffee/drinks...

oh - another thing about paris that will probably freak you out - or elate you - will be that sexuality is no big thing over there... there's posters of perfumes (advertising) that have bare breasts on them and they have skinemax on late night (around midnight) on public television (yes, for real!)... and it's pretty neat to watch spongebob in french! hahaha

you'll have a blast!! just make sure you try to talk to the people in french.. even if you butcher what your trying to say, they will most likely understand what your saying and help you correct your pronunciations...

hope this helps!! anything else?

 

[PhilosopherPilot]

By the way, it is NOT hot here anymore. This past Monday a front came through, and it is definitely fall now. The nights are downright cold dipping to the 40s (F). I wish I had brought a coat now!

G

 

[Kristie]

awww - now that just sucks cuz we were all prepared for cold weather and all we got was heat and humidity.. now after we've left, it gets cold... geeeezzzz...

I think we'll end up going again when winter is upon the city because we've heard it's beautiful with the snow and we'll know exactly what to pack and not to pack! haha

 

[fr8dog]

[ QUOTE ]
well, we were gonna ship back some wine and champagne .....
.....any idea on how to do that Fr8dog???

[/ QUOTE ]
Nop sorry... Been here too long and can't claim to be a french connection anymore

(arf arf)
A little tip though...as Doug said...wine taste (much) better...it has to do with age and transportation (or lack of i should say).
Wine doesn't like to be moved around unless it is very young.
I would try to look into buying straight from the castle (house/manor...whatever u want to call it!) before it gets bottled : it is much cheaper, and they will have overseas shipping (will cost ya sure but worth it overtime) then let it sit in your cellar (wine fridge...whatever) for 10-20 years depending of wine...Then when ready, carrrrefully handle bottle and enjoy...Of course this means you are a wine freak (or french) and have all the equipment (cellar, decanter, big glasses and cheese).....Oh ! and you got to do this every year and wait at least 10 years for your first bottle !!!

Joke appart...a little insider trade here...2003 red bordeaux....although in shortage will be a excellent year...........
[ QUOTE ]
a couple of interesting aspects - there is no "take out" coffee... you drink it then and there and don't expect it to be quick (even in the mornings!)...

[/ QUOTE ]
This is french lifestyle for you !!! My wife was impressed by the amount of time we would spend on the table, at home or in a bistro....
After almost 6 years here in the states, i came to realize (took me a while) that Americans (and i noticed me, more and more every day) value their goods (ones HDTV, or big cars, fancy cars, big house or boat...or ones own little server

) whereas French (Europeens in general) value their time !! I will spend 1 hour sipping my 50c expresso
(i'll probably order 2 or three !

)
[ QUOTE ]
oh - and the girls over there do not have shorts... they wear either skirts, pants or jeans and it doesn't matter what you wear with the skirt whether tennis shoes, flip flops or spagetti strap shirts... i dunno why they don't sell shorts over there -they should!!... being from arizona, you'd think 70/80 degree weather would be nice and cool to us, but dang... it was HOT... a bit of humidty, some high heat, no air conditioning anywhere (incl. the trains) and boy, your putting deoterant on twice a day!! lucky for us, i think more and more french folk ARE wearing deoterant now a days!!

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
oh - another thing about paris that will probably freak you out - or elate you - will be that sexuality is no big thing over there... there's posters of perfumes (advertising) that have bare breasts on them and they have skinemax on late night (around midnight) on public television (yes, for real!)... and it's pretty neat to watch spongebob in french! hahaha

[/ QUOTE ]
Yep...french lifestyle for you (again) !!!
This is such a ridiculous problem here...a pb that is not a pb !!
French people are just not so uptight about sex and frankly, boobs are boobs, seen them before, don't care about people showin'em at the beach! I have to admit though (after beeing brainwashed here for a couple years) even I is uncompfortable when my sis drops her top at the beach in front of my wife and I....I recall saying something about it and my all family (grandma too) laughting at me for hours after that....I was officially American on that day !!!

Joke appart.. You do notice a lot less pb with kid/teen sex ! It's about the same than here in the states but there are a lot less teen pregnancies (unwanted or not) due to i think a much more open society (when it comes to sex).

 

[Kristie]

[ QUOTE ]
This is such a ridiculous problem here...a pb that is not a pb !!
French people are just not so uptight about sex and frankly, boobs are boobs, seen them before, don't care about people showin'em at the beach! I have to admit though (after beeing brainwashed here for a couple years) even I is uncompfortable when my sis drops her top at the beach in front of my wife and I....I recall saying something about it and my all family (grandma too) laughting at me for hours after that....I was officially American on that day !!!
Joke appart.. You do notice a lot less pb with kid/teen sex ! It's about the same than here in the states but there are a lot less teen pregnancies (unwanted or not) due to i think a much more open society (when it comes to sex).

[/ QUOTE ]

i have to agree that americans seem to have a problem with sexuality and if only parents would talk to their kids and be open about it - we probably wouldn't have as many teen problems as we do...

but i (for one), wouldn't want things in the "woman" catagory to change too much - like american's doing the nudist beach thing or topless beach thing like the riviera does... most likely because we are a much overweight society than the french people are - how they do it with all the pastries and cheeses is BEYOND me - but it's just a fact that you see very few overweight folks and the only ones we did see were inside of the mcdonalds over there (yes, we went into one just to see what they had on the menu that was different from over here in the US).

only other thing i noticed that was a big time difference - no pill popping commercials... they dont even have tylenol commercials, my bet - if we slowed down some and didn't take things so forgranted, we probably wouldnt have "society drugs" or "depression drugs" because maybe people wouldn't be quite so disatisfied with their lives!

maybe if we could clean up our society more - then we wouldn't have so many problems...I notice more and more than other countries have the right amount of "everything" whereas we have way too many people meddling in too many places! IMO of course! haha