The French are not big church-goers but they do believe in keeping Sundays for family. This love of the local goes beyond fruit and veg – the French primarily vacation in their own country (which certainly has a lot to offer) and every terroir has its own claim to fame on the culinary map.Ħ. For someone who grew up in Canada, where winter is unthinkable without imports from all over the world, I admire the refusal of the French to eat tomatoes from Spain. They would rather wait until it’s in season to enjoy their favourite fruit. The French are appalled by the availability of strawberries in the winter. Along with that love of the authentic comes the conviction that you should buy local produce, in season. If the French hate one thing about the English, it is their perceived lack of sincerity and authenticity, the fake smile, the untrustworthy politesse. And when friendship is offered and you are accepted, it’s the real deal. But when they do, you know it is sincere. It often seems that the French are unfriendly because they don’t smile. The simplicity of sitting down together for meals, sharing a coffee, going for a walk on a sunny day.Ĥ. As much as they pull out all the stops for les grandes occasions, the French enjoy the little pleasures of day-to-day life. And because they seem so worldly and sophisticated, it is also endearing when my French friends have a pipi-caca (toilet bowl) sense of humour. Coq gaulois full#Because that man will be very proud and full of himself and the contrast of his fall will be all the funnier. I love that the French will laugh at nothing so much as a man who slips on a banana peel. Stiff, suited, against a backdrop of the French flag– there will be pomp and there will be circumstance.Ģ. Bastille Day will be fêted with military parades and big, noisy fireworks, the popping of champagne corks and the traditional televised interview with le Président de la République. When the French celebrate, they do it right. Although I often use this blog to air my pet peeves, here’s my top-ten list of things I love about the French:ġ. It’s one of many surprising things I have come to appreciate about living here. Although it will not likely be your first impression of the French, this ability to laugh at their own foibles is alive and well in the land of the Gauls. Or, as they say here ‘le sens de l’auto-dérision’. It was my first experience of self-deprecating humour à la française. Until it dawned on me: the French are often dans la merde but that doesn’t stop them from crowing. Translation: Because he’s the only one who sings while standing in shit.Įverybody laughed but I confess I didn’t really get it. “Parce que c’est le seul capable de chanter les deux pieds dans la merde.” “Because he’s cocky?” He chuckled and delivered the punchline. He had a telltale twinkle in his eye, so I hazarded a guess. “Do you know why the rooster is the true symbol of the French people?” asked my father-in-law not long after I arrived in this country. If you spend any time in France you will hear the story of le coq Gaulois – the Gallic rooster – and why it is the unofficial symbol and mascot of France.
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