La Belle France
This evening:
La belle France
Comment se fait-il que le début fassent justice en belle France ? An English person either detests France, sees it as a source of cheap alcohol or has a love affair with it. I am of the latter group.
Let’s get the patriotic stuff out of the way first:
This is the land where la Femme, known as Marianne ou Jeanette Pucelle, is elevated to a pedestal and is revered by the men of the land – it’s a femmephilic land, not unlike Elizabethan England, where the men were Drakes and Raleighs.
France dazzles in the field of sport and sporting records. In sailing, for example, it not only has the fastest yacht on earth:
… but also the fastest lone round the world voyager, Francis Jolyon [who has taken the record twice against the odds]:
They’re always kicking against the boundaries of thought in everything from technology to morals and sometimes it comes unstuck, such as with the French variable geometry trimaran which fell apart and in Murmur of the Heart.
Their rugby team is brittle and exciting, always fighting internally and high on passion but on its day is impossible to counter. The only way to beat the French is to get them angry:
I love the French and a bit of biffo lets off a bit of steam. Topographically, the land doesn’t grab me much, apart from Haute-Savoie but the architecture, stone walls, road signs, market places and so on are so distinctive and appealing:
and I have to say that this pic above is very, very much like Russian markets used to me – a source of endless wonder and good prices. Anyone who’s been in a French supermarket knows that they have the same basics as us but arrange them a little differently:
All of which brings us to wine:
women:
… who are often a bit different:
and:
Where does one stop?
France – can you remain indifferent?
Tomorrow evening – a tribute to Russia.
Filed under: History & Culture
Love the place, love the wine, love the women, can take or leave the men.
Ah, la belle France. Qu’elle me manque!
You’re Preaching to the converted here James!
You should come to my part – the Pyrenees-Orientales. Half an hour to the med in the summer and half an hour the other way in the winter for the skiing. Lived here for 18 years and love the lack of ‘rush, rush’ – if it doesn’t get done today there is always tomorrow.
You have obviously experienced it a little differently than me, but I love it too.
I love France. They seem to do things a lot better than us. When I come back to England, the place looks shabby, I wonder where all the hard work has gone over the last fifty years? Into the pockets of the few.
Hmmm…. well I live in France, and it’s rather depressing to think that this is the best place in which to live.
France is OK as long as you don’t want to get anything done.
Mo
Sorry, I was referring to this:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/australia-second-best-place-to-live-britain-falls-to-25th-behind-lithuania/story-e6frf7jo-1225817061624
Mo
[...] of the commenters on the French post, Mo, who lives in France, was puzzled by its position at the top. She said France is OK unless you want [...]
France… Well they make some good wine, but they also make some really indifferent or bad wine also. More variable quality-wize than most other producers. That I have a sneaking suspicion they offload to the uk.
French food is ok but over-rated.
You have got to admire how they sometimes just say “stuff-ez that!” and do what suits them, despite the rules of the EC or any other rules or agreements. If it comes to Birkas, Greenpeace of Brit beef. I figure they don’t think twice about getting in a dig or doing the dirty. Why can’t Brits be more like that?
They can be officially totally precious about the French language, but still blithely say “le weekend ok” anyway
I think Parisians in general are just about the arsiest people you ever met, especially waiters.
I think you are right that French women generally have a better grip on the calories and a dress sense to easily rival the Italians.