Part one: My French Debut #france #french

Posted on Jun 10, 2019 by TanGental

I’m in France for most of this week so I thought a series of posts on my experiences of all things French.

As our nearest neighbours – I am speaking as a Brit not as an Englishman, just to clear to my Welsh and Scottish correspondents – France couldn’t really be more foreign for somewhere so familiar. That first visit – 1977 – was in a car, not mine, via the ferry from Dover to Calais. Three of us with a fourth joining in Tours. We were all 20 and full of misconceptions about France.

Fr’instance we thought they’d have flushing toilets, not those awful straddle-a-hole things we came across in nearly all the cafes and campsites we visited. I vividly recall one particularly aromatic example in Bois de Boulogne. I was, little did I realise at that moment, attempting a Gold Standard yoga pose as I squatted and reached out to hold the door shut. In amongst the various French graffiti on that door, one lone English speaking scratcher had made his feelings plain and, in so doing, echoed my exact feelings:

Sliding down life’s bannisters, this ******* bog is the splinter in my arse

Ah how true.

Of course I had no reason to know about toilets though I was looking out for one type that had been front and centre of my imagination since a TV series called Clochemerle in the early seventies. The pissoire and eventually we found one…

 The other disappointment was the wine. I was 20 and the only wine I’d drunk was the sort of sub paintstripper a student could afford, or the sickly sweet Riesling offerings that were v popular at student parties back then. I wasn’t a wine snob but I’d believed the propaganda that the French sold us the crap and kept the good stuff for themselves, even if it was cheap. Nope, cheap was cheap whichever side of the Channel you were on. The beer, or biere, too, was gaseous crud. I did, as I recall develop a small affection for Ricard – the Pernod brand beloved of morning starters amongst the agricultural cognoscenti we encountered.

We toured in a circle, eating plenty of cheese, learning that the baguette has a shorter shelf life than a reality TV star, that for the smokers amongst us Camel cigarettes are so named because of the camel faeces component in amongst the tobacco and French bureaucracy is stupendously inefficient. But sit in a bar with a coffee and cognac, use your schoolboy French to start a conversation and they were almost a universal delight, whether sophisticated urbanite or dyed in the wool yokel.

They believed France to be the greatest country on Earth, with the best of everything, except politicians who were all the worst in the world (also a proud French boast).

We were in a bar in Vouvray, sharing a bottle of actually very good wine when a middle aged man joined us. When he realised we were all English, all at University, two doing law and two doing engineering he listed the fantastic French accomplishments and then said the greatest was the art of diplomacy.

We didn’t know better so we just nodded.

‘You know why?’ He asked.

‘No,’ we said.

‘Because we invented hypocrisy.’

Pretty much defines a people. You have to love ‘em.

About TanGental

My name is Geoff Le Pard. Once I was a lawyer; now I am a writer. I've published several books: a four book series following Harry Spittle as he grows from hapless student to hapless partner in a London law firm; four others in different genres; a book of poetry; four anthologies of short fiction; and a memoir of my mother. I have several more in the pipeline. I have been blogging regularly since 2014, on topic as diverse as: poetry based on famous poems; memories from my life; my garden; my dog; a whole variety of short fiction; my attempts at baking and food; travel and the consequent disasters; theatre, film and book reviews; and the occasional thought piece. Mostly it is whatever takes my fancy. I avoid politics, mostly, and religion, always. I don't mean to upset anyone but if I do, well, sorry and I suggest you go elsewhere. These are my thoughts and no one else is to blame. If you want to nab anything I post, please acknowledge where it came from.
This entry was posted in France, holidays, memories, miscellany and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

32 Responses to Part one: My French Debut #france #french

  1. John W. Howell says:
    Jun 10, 2019 at 3:04 pm

    Delightful, Geoff. I always wonder why the French dislike Americans so much. My nephew always says he is Canadian. (he avoids conflict like the plague) There is no dodging the fact when I speak French. The American accent comes through. Once exposed there is a whole episode of “I do not understand what you are saying,” that goes on until I mention le mauvais temps français. That usually is well understood.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Erika Kind says:
    Jun 10, 2019 at 4:07 pm

    We had to learn French in school (it was a must back then in Liechtenstein and Switzerland). But I never learned to love it.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Elizabeth says:
    Jun 10, 2019 at 8:26 pm

    Your choice of wine in those days reminded me of the stuff my first husband and I drank called “Old Monk.” I should have taken his choice of wine as a warning!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Suzanne [Life At No.22] says:
    Jun 10, 2019 at 9:46 pm

    I enjoy these creative stories from your “good old days” and so very impressed with the quality of the photography as I wished I had been able to keep most of mine. Which seemed to disappear each time I shifted flatting positions and countries! The French, well they love us kiwis until we mention The Rainbow Warrior!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. derrickjknight says:
    Jun 11, 2019 at 10:43 am

    Did you meet Dick Head at Tours? Great graffito – you could have made it up

    Liked by 1 person

  7. JT Twissel says:
    Jun 11, 2019 at 6:10 pm

    Two things surprised me on my first visit to France – first, of course, my three years of HS french were useless. And second, between 2 pm and 7 pm all the restaurants were closed. Course, that was a long time ago. And I was from Reno Nevada where everything is open all the time.

    Liked by 1 person

    • TanGental says:
      Jun 13, 2019 at 1:53 pm

      Just been in Angouleme and Cognac… still the same ‘ferme’ signs in the dozy afternoon… they just don’t have a customer focus…

      Like

  8. Maddy Williams says:
    Jun 20, 2019 at 7:16 pm

    Love the photos and very funny! Vive la france

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Jennie says:
    Jul 20, 2019 at 10:55 pm

    Oh, the toilets! Or should I say the green metal (actually etched and pretty) circling a tree along the street. Quite a shock for a 17-year-old rather sheltered girl. That was 1967. Great trip!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Angie says:
    Aug 3, 2019 at 11:16 am

    Love your photos and writing Geoff.

    Like

Comments are closed.