France is not UK, so get used to it
Nicholas Simpson wins the Connexion letter of the month for June 2018 and a copy of the Connexion Puzzle Book.
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Correspondence in your columns leads me to comment on the naivety of Britons who live in France and complain about how life is here.
France will never be the same as Britain – the French are different, have developed differently, and run to a different drumbeat.
Customer service has not developed in the same way; at the so-called Accueil counter there’s little of the namby-pamby British ‘service with a smile/the customer is always right’ approach. One learns to be pleasantly persistent and nothing happens before a handshake and bonjour.
I came to France not only for its beauty, but for the general civility and chutzpah of the people; the French learn elements of philosophy at an early age and are confident and capable of speaking out and expect us to be the same.
We sometimes struggle to escape the Nanny State that has crept into the UK through political correctness; I think there’s more freedom here.
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I have to say I raise my hat to the sheer brass-neck of French driving and parking!
It has been mentioned that the French drink too much and should have minimum alcohol prices. In case it has gone unnoticed, wine is a world-class industry here. I came to live in a wine region with modest prices and enjoy drinking it, like many of the French. That’s why they have it and they will not be chuffed at the proposal.
This is a different country; one has to adapt. I actually enjoy it…
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Nicholas Simpson by email
