Paranoid, schizophrenic, hypo France?

[Logan]

Read an overview of France according to France's 'national psychiatrist'. It may or may not confirm your own view of what's ailing this great nation.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2054656.ece

[Georgina]

[quote user="Logan"]

Read an overview of France according to France's 'national psychiatrist'. It may or may not confirm your own view of what's ailing this great nation.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2054656.ece

[/quote]

I agree with the bit that the French should "get out" more, met lots of people who just never go to another country. It would explain why, when [some] hear a foreign accent, their eyes screw up and their face contorts.  Almost like they are eating a lemon.  It drives me nuts. You can tell that they're the ones that never go anywhere.[blink]

Georgina

[Richard-R]

[quote user="Georgina"][quote user="Logan"]

Read an overview of France according to France's 'national psychiatrist'. It may or may not confirm your own view of what's ailing this great nation.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2054656.ece

[/quote]

I agree with the bit that the French should "get out" more, met lots of people who just never go to another country. It would explain why, when [some] hear a foreign accent, their eyes screw up and their face contorts.  Almost like they are eating a lemon.  It drives me nuts. You can tell that they're the ones that never go anywhere.[blink]

Georgina

[/quote]

LOL Most of the people I know in Aude have never been to Paris. Last year a couple near planned to go and they grilled us in the local café on what to expect in Paris. Funny thing living here is that so few people take an annual holiday. Maybe to odd weekend in winter into the Pyrenees for skiing, or to Andorra of Spain to a booze/Cig run, but as a day trip.

[Georgina]

Georgina wrote: I agree with the bit that the French should "get out" more, met lots of people who just never go to another country. It would explain why, when [some] hear a foreign accent, their eyes screw up and their face contorts.  Almost like they are eating a lemon.  It drives me nuts. You can tell that they're the ones that never go anywhere.<img 
Georgina

Richard R wrote: LOL Most of the people I know in Aude have never been to Paris. Last year a couple near planned to go and they grilled us in the local café on what to expect in Paris. Funny thing living here is that so few people take an annual holiday. Maybe to odd weekend in winter into the Pyrenees for skiing, or to Andorra of Spain to a booze/Cig run, but as a day trip.

Quite, that is what I am finding.  It's hard to believe.  There was a family with two young girls near us and they never took them anywhere.  I asked what they did in their holidays and even though we are 15 mins from the beach, they never took them there either!

Georgina

 

[saddie]

There are certain similarities between the French and the Americans. Many Americans have not been out of the state let alone America. They think their social model is the best and they have little faith in Their politicians. (no criticism implied)

[powerdesal]

One of my French Contractors told me that French companies have a lot of difficulty recruiting engineers willing to be employed overseas as expats, hence they have to pay over the top rates and give extremely good terms and conditions.

[Logan]

I asked my elderly neighbour once if he ever had taken a holiday. He said he once went to Perigueux which is 40km away. When I asked him when he said it was about 35 years ago![:D]

[PeterG]

Here's a guy that gets out a lot.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/165937/where_the_heck_is_matt/

Bear with the first ten seconds of the video. What an interesting time he must have had.

[Teamedup]

Is this really new? or has it just taken this psych this long to work this out? And has he worked it out correctly anyway?

 

When I got to France,  french people were raleing about most things that affected their lives and nothing in that regard seems to have changed, only I am assured that some things are far worse now than they ever were. Way back then the  SMIC was, well  in comparison to average british wages at the time, it wasn't bad at all. And it and wages in general went up with inflation. Shouldn't there have been a bit of feel good then? I don't know.

I can't help wondering why say an unemployed young adult would particularly think that things were good at the moment and France is doing well. I do know that the ANPE is advertising just over 200K jobs and there must be at least 10 times that that are after jobs, I daren't look the unemployment figures up. And surely it can't feel  'good' to the SMIC'ards either, like that goes up much these days  in comparison to inflation.

As far as I can tell, policitians are generally not trusted and until there are a few who are really respected and appear to be honest ............maybe if they changed the big envelope system, it would help,  otherwise, why should your average Pierre or Mireille think any differently to the way they do now.

 

I think it's true that many french people don't travel that much. I have taken friends to Geneva, not 'that' far from here, they had never been. I know people who have never seen the Med either. There are montagnards I have met who don't leave their patelin, maybe once or twice in a lifetime to visit a local small town. I realise that there must be folks like this in other european countries, but there does seem to be a lot in France.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Teamedup"] 

I think it's true that many french people don't

travel that much. I have taken friends to Geneva, not 'that' far from

here, they had never been. I know people who have never seen the

Med either. There are montagnards I have met who don't leave their

patelin, maybe once or twice in a lifetime to visit a local small

town. I realise that there must be folks like this in other

european countries, but there does seem to be a lot in France.

[/quote]

Frequent travelling by large proportions of the population is a quite a

new phenomonen. I recall reading in an in flight magazine that the

British were just about the most travelled people in the world with the

rest of Europe (with the exception of the Dutch, I think) and the US

lagging far, far behind. I don't think we can lay the genaral malaise of

the French and France solely at the door of their disinclination to travel.

[Teamedup]

I didn't think I was laying 'not travelling' at the door of the way the french 'think' about anything. Just observing that many still don't travel.

My cousin's daughter came to France last year with her 91 year old grandmother. They went to see her great grandfather's grave. I doubt that this 'cousin' will leave England again. She didn't like 'being abroad' I doubt that she is alone in feeling like that.

I actually know quite a lot of french people who do travel. Especially in the last few years since their kids have grown up and I suppose that they became a bit better off. Quite a lot of them are rather partial to going on organised holidays all over the world, that way they are with other french people and the guide will speak french and french tastes will be catered for, especially food. Others tend to stick to french speaking countries and the odd person who will give anywhere a go.

 

[PossumGirl]

There are lots of reasons people don't travel; it's not always a case of being "provincial."  Some people don't have the financial means, some people have health issues or family problems that preclude it.  In our case, we've traveled a great deal in our lives and find the current state of airport security, uncomfortable airplanes, long delays, etc., not overly appealing, we'd rather stay home and be comfortable.

PG

[Logan]

Another decent reason the French don't cross their borders is because they have it all here. I have travelled extensively all my life but I cannot think of anywhere that beats France. Perhaps the French are wise enough to understand that. Saves an awful lot of trouble.