Johnno
The Living Force
This delightful article can be found here:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/143067-Why-can-t-the-English-be-more-like-the-French-
Having been to both and being a somewhat impartial third party observer I feel a I am free to make some comparisons between the "Froggies" and the "Rosbifs" (Roast beefs).
Travelling several glum, silent, tube rides on the London Underground, there was a feeling of, "These people are so bloody repressed!" and reading my freebie newspaper; I found several ads for those who had made brief fleeting contact with the opposite sex and had done nothing about it. They were now desperate to make contact again. As Roger Waters put it "Living in quiet desperation is the English way."
CCTV's seem to be everywhere and Canary Wharf is probably the most soul-less, god-forsaken canyon of concrete and glass I've ever been. The class (dare I say caste) divide is woefully apparent.
And the funniest quote I've come across about the French from an English perspective is from Top Gear's James May.
There again, from my perspective there are things which the English seem to do much better than the French.
The "quiet desperation" seems to lead to an groundswell from time to time which leads to an explosion in cultural, artistic and musical output. The Beatles emerged from the Merseyside, Joy Division and New Order from Manchester, Pink Floyd from the Psychedelic 60's, Led Zeppelin in the hard rocking 70's, The Sex Pistols and The Clash in the punk age. And then there's others Bowie, Eno, Radiohead, The Chemical Brothers.
The English oddity of the "eccentric" seem to be alive and well and the well known English tolerance seems to treat these with a sort of nonchalance. The little guy on London Bridge who sets up his makeshift souvenir stand is politely shooed away by English Bobbies every day at seven o'clock. He still comes back again and again.
The only two countries that seem to have a reverence for tea seem to be island countries..... Japan and England. You could probably add Ireland to that list too. The French can't do tea, adding boiling water just doesn't compute for some strange reason. And both England and France don't seem to be able to do really good coffee, only the Italians can do that. As one Italian friend said to me as we were sharing a coffee in France which was semi drinkable, "You would be taken outside and shot if you made coffe like this in Italy."
There's something to be said for a British breakfast too. It is really something that has to be experienced before one dies. Order a British breakfast in France and it pales by comparison. Much like English crepes are nothing compared to the delightful fluffiness of a well made French variety which the article refers to.
The French tend to put up a new building and then let it deteriorate from there. Charles de Gaul no 2 airport being the best example of this (which is terrible). The rows of gleaming Victorian houses in a row that have been maintained and look like new seems to be rare. Pieces of flaking off stucco and crumbling bricks seem to regarded as "charming".Oak beamed Tudor shops in Salisbury look as if they were put up yesterday.
The French bureaucracy is horrific. A friend who was trying to transfer money between accounts had to go into the bank, get a paniced look from the next manager up and finally go into an office and sign the documents with the bank manager's approval. A process that would be well covered by a few clicks from the comfort of ones office in England.
So what do both countries do well?
I found the abilty to move large amounts of people around were excellent. The Metro and the Underground are superb. The autoroutes and motorways are also wonderful and both cultures seem to drive extremely well.
Both countries also seem to have a knack of mixing the new with the old. The Gherkin and the Geogres Pompidou seem right in place in their one-time Roman fortress cities. Both seem to have a reverence for the past. The English may be a little stronger in this regard with their "people run" National Trust which seems to have little reminders everywhere.
And a healthy respect for the outdoors seems to be strong in both cultures too. Stands of oak trees and forest seem to have escaped the bulldozer in both countries. Canals are now utilised by holiday barges which is wonderful.
Engineering and innovation seems to be strong as well although the English seem to have "sold the farm" to a certain degree. Jaguar, Mini, Rolls Royce and Bentley all now in overseas hands. Renault Peugeot and Airbus still remaing quintessentially French.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/143067-Why-can-t-the-English-be-more-like-the-French-
Having been to both and being a somewhat impartial third party observer I feel a I am free to make some comparisons between the "Froggies" and the "Rosbifs" (Roast beefs).
Travelling several glum, silent, tube rides on the London Underground, there was a feeling of, "These people are so bloody repressed!" and reading my freebie newspaper; I found several ads for those who had made brief fleeting contact with the opposite sex and had done nothing about it. They were now desperate to make contact again. As Roger Waters put it "Living in quiet desperation is the English way."
CCTV's seem to be everywhere and Canary Wharf is probably the most soul-less, god-forsaken canyon of concrete and glass I've ever been. The class (dare I say caste) divide is woefully apparent.
And the funniest quote I've come across about the French from an English perspective is from Top Gear's James May.
The class system again and the live to work rule....see?
There again, from my perspective there are things which the English seem to do much better than the French.
The "quiet desperation" seems to lead to an groundswell from time to time which leads to an explosion in cultural, artistic and musical output. The Beatles emerged from the Merseyside, Joy Division and New Order from Manchester, Pink Floyd from the Psychedelic 60's, Led Zeppelin in the hard rocking 70's, The Sex Pistols and The Clash in the punk age. And then there's others Bowie, Eno, Radiohead, The Chemical Brothers.
The English oddity of the "eccentric" seem to be alive and well and the well known English tolerance seems to treat these with a sort of nonchalance. The little guy on London Bridge who sets up his makeshift souvenir stand is politely shooed away by English Bobbies every day at seven o'clock. He still comes back again and again.
The only two countries that seem to have a reverence for tea seem to be island countries..... Japan and England. You could probably add Ireland to that list too. The French can't do tea, adding boiling water just doesn't compute for some strange reason. And both England and France don't seem to be able to do really good coffee, only the Italians can do that. As one Italian friend said to me as we were sharing a coffee in France which was semi drinkable, "You would be taken outside and shot if you made coffe like this in Italy."
There's something to be said for a British breakfast too. It is really something that has to be experienced before one dies. Order a British breakfast in France and it pales by comparison. Much like English crepes are nothing compared to the delightful fluffiness of a well made French variety which the article refers to.
The French tend to put up a new building and then let it deteriorate from there. Charles de Gaul no 2 airport being the best example of this (which is terrible). The rows of gleaming Victorian houses in a row that have been maintained and look like new seems to be rare. Pieces of flaking off stucco and crumbling bricks seem to regarded as "charming".Oak beamed Tudor shops in Salisbury look as if they were put up yesterday.
The French bureaucracy is horrific. A friend who was trying to transfer money between accounts had to go into the bank, get a paniced look from the next manager up and finally go into an office and sign the documents with the bank manager's approval. A process that would be well covered by a few clicks from the comfort of ones office in England.
So what do both countries do well?
I found the abilty to move large amounts of people around were excellent. The Metro and the Underground are superb. The autoroutes and motorways are also wonderful and both cultures seem to drive extremely well.
Both countries also seem to have a knack of mixing the new with the old. The Gherkin and the Geogres Pompidou seem right in place in their one-time Roman fortress cities. Both seem to have a reverence for the past. The English may be a little stronger in this regard with their "people run" National Trust which seems to have little reminders everywhere.
And a healthy respect for the outdoors seems to be strong in both cultures too. Stands of oak trees and forest seem to have escaped the bulldozer in both countries. Canals are now utilised by holiday barges which is wonderful.
Engineering and innovation seems to be strong as well although the English seem to have "sold the farm" to a certain degree. Jaguar, Mini, Rolls Royce and Bentley all now in overseas hands. Renault Peugeot and Airbus still remaing quintessentially French.
Realizing I was wrong isn't going to change how I handle "tea time" 
