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French Visitors to England

Hoddy

By Hoddy
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Hoddy Rookie

Hoddy

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My French neighbourrs with ten-year-old twins will be visiting England in August.

Does anyone have any suggestions about the little everyday things of life which they might find different or surprising ?

I've already told them they won't need to weigh their fruit in the supermarket.

Hoddy

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Frenchie Newbie

Frenchie

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As a French person I can tell you they will find many things different.. the food first...

Then the times for the meals.. We French people eat later then yu do..

Then driving on the other side of the road of course, and queing for buses, at the bank etc..

I am always puzzled in the supermarket in the UK, so ma,ny " strange " things on the shelves..   lol

Where is Camembert ?

the institution of the pubs.. etc etc .. Some other things will come back to my mind...

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Ron Avery Newbie

Ron Avery

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It was a joke Hoddy ...........  How touchy you Dordogneshire people are[:P] but then again you aren't are you?

Wide use of Oc in the Dordogne, doubt it somehow, only the old people know it, it was banned in schools for 30 years........... and how does heavily accented French differ from French.........., you must only meet old people....... anyway we are getting off the point.

The most important thing to remember is the traffic direction on  the roads and crossing them, many tourists get hurt and sometimes killed  in the UK especially in London crossing the road, they are so used to looking the wrong way. 

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Hoddy Rookie

Hoddy

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I know it was supposed to be a joke, Ron.

I have no idea how widespread Oc is, I only know that my neighbours, who are in their late 30s, speak it to each other and to some of their friends.

Their local French accent includes putting a 'g' on the end of words which end in 'n'. For example, 'ving' for vin and 'Alaing' for Alain.

Thanks for the reminder about the roads - we've talked to them a lot about driving on the left, but a reminder about being a pedestrian is a good idea.

Hoddy 

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Gluestick Collaborator

Gluestick

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Well, that's not as bad as saying "Anythink" when one means "Anything"!

Amazing how many apparently "educated" people fall into that trap!

Actually on the "Add a G at the end" thing, I wonder what the late great Victor Borge would have done with this?

[:D]

 

 

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Ron Avery Newbie

Ron Avery

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Round here the old speak Occitane, with an Rrrrr accent like Suffolk farmers, Parisians have no idea what they are saying half the time, ( TV3 has even has sub-titles when old locals are interviewed on the TV)  the rest,  even the young use eng instead of an, like we have demeng, peng, veng and seng, oh and cengquante, try working that number out when you have only just woken up.  But we digress...........
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Hoddy Rookie

Hoddy

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Oh dear. I really didn't want a language discussion. Gluestick, I wasn't criticising their accent - just saying they have one. So do I. In fact, I can't think of any English person I know who doesn't.

Please does anyone have any tips for first-time French people in England ?

Hoddy

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Jacqui Too Newbie

Jacqui Too

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[quote user="Hoddy"]Please does anyone have any tips for first-time French people in England ?

Hoddy[/quote]

Hi  Hoddy

When our French friends came over for a visit a couple of years ago I had to tell them  to turn their headlights off on their car in the daytime, as they were under the impression that all foreign cars had to have them on at all times!!

If I think of anything else I will post again

Chipie

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Gluestick Collaborator

Gluestick

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Well I suppose one could follow the advice of that doyen of ethnicity, the late Gerard Hoffnung.

Upon entering a railway carriage early in the morning, please be sure to shake hands vigorously with all the passengers.

Please oblige the chambermaid at your hotel and hang the mattress out of the window to air when you rise, each morning.

All London brothels display a blue light.

Seriously Hoddy, just tell them to be themselves.

 

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cooperlola Newbie

cooperlola

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You can shop on Sundays and Mondays.

Restaurants are open in the evenings.

The beer is better.

Don't be surprised if nobody says hello to you when they meet you/serve you in a shop.

The traffic is a nightmare.

The British do not all live on fish and chips and overcooked steak.

If you spend ages rummaging for you money, or try to write a cheque in a supermarket, the people in the queue behind you will get very irritated.

It probably won't be quite as cold or wet as you think it will be (although at the moment, I'm not so sure...)

 

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Jacqui Too Newbie

Jacqui Too

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Tell them about zebra crossings!!

Also when our friends visited England and Wales they stayed in bed and breakfast whilst touring northern England before comming on to us for a few days, when asked how their holiday had been so far they said they thought the food was awful and they seemed only to get fish and chips [:-))] so I asked them what sort of places did they try to get meals, their reply was 'cafes' so I said why didn't you try the country pubs as they more than likely do good food (better than the greasey spoon type places they had been to) and they said they thought that they only served beer!

What part of the UK are they visiting? Town or country?

 

Jackie

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Ford Anglia Newbie

Ford Anglia

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When friends of ours came ove about ten years ago, the things they were amazed at/amused by were:

Red post boxes, huge metal cylindrical ones.

Red telephone boxes, (there are still a few in villages)

Fish and chip shops and mushy peas.

Milk DELIVERED to your house.

English pubs

Little Chef[Www]

The number of birds in our garden and the many different types.........and our garden is urban.

They also got to look around a primary school, (wife is a primary head), and were AMAZED at the amount of equipment and IT stuff.

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jon Newbie

jon

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But not in London.....crazy traffic...massive cues in banks...misserable faces....sad memoreies of real fish and chips.....Pubs with character or characters inside.Milk bottles broken  and other waste collecting in unused underpaths.There are still some birds and creatures around....thank goodness.

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Gardian Community Regular

Gardian

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If in central London (or most other major cities), watch out for your wallet / handbag / etc.  When on holiday, we can all be very unwary.

This isn't a 'knock the UK' thing - the comment sadly applies to many other European cities.

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Ron Avery Newbie

Ron Avery

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[quote user="Chauffour"]they will need a mortgage to pay for the Tube...[/quote]

That is just not true at all, an off peak travel card for zones 1 - 6 which is about as far as most tourists would want to travel, this covers 90% of the tube, including places like Kew, Richmond etc is £6.70 and children between 5 and 10 travel free with a ticket holder.  A similar ticket in Paris costs 7.30€ plus the kids have to pay.

As with Paris the Travel card is available on buses, tube and overground train services in the zones.  have a look at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/TfL-Fares-April-2007.pdf

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