So what do the French enjoy ?

[GRT17]

LAST EDITED ON 18-Aug-04 AT 09:27 AM (BST)

LAST EDITED ON 18-Aug-04 AT 09:18AM (BST)

So, what do the French enjoy when they visit the U.K.?

We had French friends to stay with us last week. They live in the village where we have our house. This was their first visit to the U.K. and their first time outside France as well, apart from a day trip to Spain.

What did they enjoy, well............

English pubs, the beer but were surprised that it was not served chilled.
London, for the Changing of the Guard, all the well know sights i.e. Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Royal Parks, the Thames and so on.
The Surrey landscape which is totally different from that of the Charente-Maritime,
English gardens, especially local National Trust properties.
The food, they were curious to know how and what the Brits. eat. I have to say they were pleasantly surprised and seemed to enjoy everything they were given, with the exception of Chutney!
Puddings such as apple crumble were a big favourite.
Fitted carpets were a surprise plus windows that open outwards and no shutters.

What did they buy to take home? some English wine from our local Vineyard and shortbread biscuits.

Very interesting to view our country through foreign eyes. An exhausting week but we were thrilled that they came to stay. For us it was a chance to repay some of the kindness that they have shown us over the years.

Gill

[Lavenderlady]

Tea!

Our French friends drink gallons of it when staying with us in the UK, buy boxes and boxes to take back (Yorkshire Tea bien sr) which then sits and gathers dust in their kitchen cupboards in France (we've seen it!) They reckon it doesn't taste the same over there... same syndrome as olives, bread and red wine over here I guess!

[pagnol]

>We had French friends to stay
>with us last week. They
>live in the village where
>we have our house. This
>was their first visit
>to the U.K. and their
>first time outside France as
>well, apart from a day
>trip to Spain.


We are in a similar situation where our neighbours have expressed an interest in coming to visit us in the UK.
Monsieur has spent a weekend in London many years ago.He remembers Soho!?
His wife has never been to UK. I believe that they are in their late 50's.I wonder what they would be interested in especially Monsieur as he has asked us many times about going hunting, something I would find difficult to organise!

[Mpprh]

Hi

When I lived in UK I had loads of French visitors (French wife to blame !).

I found fish & chips, english breakfast, best back bacon, tea with milk, stilton, traditional sunday lunch, soho chinese food, to be pretty popular. General surprise was that British food was actually edible. Xmas pudding, spicy Indian food, rum butter, English sausages, marmite, sage & onion stuffing and mint sauce received mixed reviews.

We took people to the usual London sites, but they loved the cotswolds, devon, cornwall, kent villages, old village pubs, etc
Most thought the 30's semi detached housing estates of London suburbs were awful.

Best attraction was Waddesdon Manor. A replica chateau built by the Rothschilds and furnished with many objects picked up for a song from newly impoverished aristos during the French revolution (some with original invoices). Many of the French chateaux have little original furniture because it was lost during the revolution.

Peter
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