Il y a longtemps que notre pays est beau mais rude.
--Newspaper editor Olivier Séguret, 25 January 2012
The USA are entirely the creation of the accursed race, the French.
--Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), writing to Nancy Mitford, 22 May 1957
The mayor of Calais is suing Marine Le Pen of the Front National for saying "repeatedly" that citizens in Calais need a pass issued by the mayor to get to their own homes (because of the number of migrants in the town). In fact, the passes are issued by the police prefecture.
"À nous de vous faire préférer le train!"
"Voyager autrement"
"Avec le SNCF, tout est possible"
--Former ad slogans of the SNCF (French national trains), each in turn quickly dropped
(literally: marmoset)
Etymology: onomatopoeia from the sound a marmoset makes. Actual meaning: this is what you say in France when you want people to smile for the camera.
Selon une étude réalisée par le fabricant d’appareils photo Nikon, le « ouistiti » utilisé en France au moment de se faire prendre en photo est le petit mot le plus efficace pour s’assurer un joli sourire.
Private sector
First strike in 43 years at an aeronautics company in Toulouse, Latécoère
Public sector
The SNCF (toujours eux), regional train employees in the Lyons area guaranteeing unpleasant travel from the 17th-21st December
Also yet another strike by Sud-Rail, a particularly truculent SNCF union in the south of France, this time five days in January: 6,7, 21, 22 and 23. "We have no choice." Right.
Marseilles trams on strike until February
« Anomalies of French Life: The Garbagemen's Calendars | Main | The friendly baggage carts »
"Could I have an express, please?" said a man in a hurry at the airport coffee bar. 
The young woman at the counter turned around crossly.
"BONJOUR, quand même," she snapped.
"Euhh, BONJOUR, could I have an express, please?...." said the man, looking very sheepish.
He was French, he should have known better.
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In Paris, the purest virtue is the object of the filthiest slander.
–Honoré Balzac (1799-1850), in Scènes de la vie privée
À Paris, la vertu la plus pure est l'objet des plus sales calomnies.
Annual Geminids meteor shower (shooting stars!) coming this weekend, if it's not too cloudy out at night.
Keith Eckstein also has a new book review site, Books About France
I was just wondering who were the keepers of the tradition...now I know! Merci!
Meilleurs voeux!
Posted by: blueVicar | 10 December 2006 at 07:34
Hello,
I am French and if I would like to hear hello before give me the cofee, I would find that so rude to ask it !!!
Posted by: Flip | 10 December 2006 at 10:49
It was the end of a long day, she told me later.
Posted by: Sedulia | 10 December 2006 at 12:54
The saying of "bonjour" during everyday transactions is a pleasantry which may become noteworthy by its omission in ways that indicate the everyday racism of the dear French. Being an American of mixed French and Mexican-American ancestry, I've found that French people working at counters will often stare at me in surprise and omit the ritualistic "bonjour". The degree of surliness they direct toward me allows me to gauge their attitude on a spectrum of mere surprise on over to racist hostility.
I once had a conversation with a good French friend who holds an American passport as well about this "bonjour" business. I related a particular incident in a bakery when I didn't get the "bonjour," "merci," "au revoir" routine after I had witnessed a procession of a string of customers who did. My French friend often believed that I saw racism in France where there really was none. But he seemed genuinely shocked that the "bonjour" routine had been denied me, which leads me to believe that "bonjour" is indeed a big deal in France.
But who am I to complain After all, it's their damned country.
Posted by: Francis | 14 December 2006 at 21:54