Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Krusher on December 17, 2001, 03:33:00 PM
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http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/12/16/wfran16.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/12/16/ixhome.html (http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/12/16/wfran16.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/12/16/ixhome.html)
sounds like they might sell it cheap
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whoops wrong link try this one
http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/03/11/wfra11.xml (http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/03/11/wfra11.xml)
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I heard the engines only run in reverse ;)
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LOL!
France... Military.... Capability... Determination... National will...
LOL!
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I try not to buy anything French!
I had a horrible time in Paris when I went for 2 months a few years ago...the people were stuck up, rude and arrogant. Everyone assumed I was an American and the hate that they feel for the US was unleashed upon me wherever I went.
I won't comment on the rest of France, because I am sure there are some great people there and that they don't deserve to be lumped in with Parisians.
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Originally posted by Curval:
I try not to buy anything French!
I had a horrible time in Paris when I went for 2 months a few years ago...the people were stuck up, rude and arrogant. Everyone assumed I was an American and the hate that they feel for the US was unleashed upon me wherever I went.
I won't comment on the rest of France, because I am sure there are some great people there and that they don't deserve to be lumped in with Parisians.
I have never met anyone from France who wasnt pretty cool. I must admit I dislke their press corp. They make the NY Times look positivly conservative. Oh what the heck I hate our press corp too :)
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Originally posted by Curval:
I had a horrible time in Paris when I went for 2 months a few years ago...the people were stuck up, rude and arrogant. Everyone assumed I was an American and the hate that they feel for the US was unleashed upon me wherever I went.
You know, I ran into exactly the same sort of trouble when I went to Paris back in '88. Lots of attitude, BS, and headache for no good reason.
But like Krusher pointed out, outside of vacationing in Paris, every French person I've met in America has been great.
-- Todd/Leviathn
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3 separate visits to France, and no problem whatsoever.
Your millage might vary :D
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i've never been to france but most of the french i've met have been rude obnoxious love muffines. of course maybe they where here 'cause france was sick of them too
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Yeah, Hell, I've been to France tons of times, even lived in Paris for a while. I've never known the French to be anything but the most polite group of people I've ever met.
Of course, if someone acts in a manner considered unbelievably rude, they don't have a problem inletting them know.
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In my limited experience how you're treated in France is directly related to whether you speak (or attempt to speak) French. If you give it a try, at worst the reaction seems to be polite amusement. Try speaking English, however, and you'll wind up fuming in your hotel room and humming "Die Wacht am Rhein".
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hey anyone have a picture of that cursed carrier of theirs?
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Well, I was in Paris to learn French...so while I tried I could only go so far...my vocabulary is still pretty good and I can generally understand the language I have trouble just blurting out French sentances...
A few (relatively quick) examples of what I faced:
1. My host was supposed to pick me up at the airport...he didn't show. I waited for 2 hours before finally getting him on the phone. He gave me BUS directions to streets I could barely recognise. I got to within 2 changes that he told me about and said "screw this" I'm taking a cab. The driver took my money when we arrived and made like he was gonna give me change..jumped in the car and took off........Welcome to Paris!
2. My host family was supposed to provide breakfast and dinner...no breakfast, but dinner was a piece of ham, a tomato and some bread....so much for the great cuisine....turns out the family would cook a huge lunch after I left for the afternoon....they left dishes as evidence one day by mistake.....very Simpsonish...if you know the episode to which I refer...I howled when I saw it!
3. My girlfriend at the time was Swiss and was home for the summer...she visited me during my two months of hell...I must admit that was a GREAT weekend due to her incredible body and gorgeous face...but, I digress....she and I went to a restaurant one night and ordered a bottle of wine. It was about 12.15am when we ordered it. The waiter poured a glass for each of us and then disappeared with the bottle. Ten minutes later we asked for a re-fill...he refused saying we would not finnish it before 1.00am and that was when they closed. I didn't catch the whole conversation because she was speaking her native language of French....so much for the "speak French and you will be okay" theory.
4. Flying firecrackers almost blinded the two of us during Bastille day celebrations while taking a ride on a Siene river-boat. Some idiots were abusing tourists by lobbing them off the bridges onto the passangers of the boat.
5. We WALKED from the Eiffel Tower back to our hotel in the Latin Quarter at 3.00am because taxis don't seem to think that work is something they should do...they would drive right past a huge throng of us who were trapped in the city after the subway shut down...EMPTY, time after time....took us 'till 5.00am to get back!
6. My girlfiend was constantly harassed by French men in the clubs....if I left her side for 10 seconds they would slip right in and start to tell her what great lovers they were....she was in tears on two different occasions.
The list goes on and on, but I want to fly....so, I appreciate that I shouldn't blame all the French for my experiences...as I said before I was just in Paris...
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My visit to Paris gave me a better appreciation of deodorant.
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Reading your post I'm ashamed Curval I promise that if even you come back in France and get in touch we me you will see another side (the good) of the French.
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"you will see another side (the good) of the French."
That'd be the Belgians, right?
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It would be better to carry out small repairs in other European ports. The minesweeper Verseau was repaired in several hours in the United Kingdom compared with the four weeks minimum it would have taken if the boat had gone to Brest," the report said.
Three guesses as to why this is so....
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The French dislike people who constantly ask for more ketchup ;)
Broes
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Straffo.....I might take you up on that offer...next time I "cross the pond" I'll message you if you are still posting in these forums....I would like to see the good side of France..
Broes...not only do they hate ketchup...try asking for a coke with a meal...I would get a roll of the eyes and a "ahhhhh American Bougelais (sp?)"
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with pleasure curval my e-mail : fdejager@free.Fr (this is my only permament email and I using it since ... 1992 ?)
Originally posted by Curval:
try asking for a coke with a meal...
Dammit !
I was not aware that you were a criminal ;)
Coke should not be used in public :D
I would get a roll of the eyes and a "ahhhhh American Bougelais (sp?)"
Not that bad : Beaujolais
[ 12-18-2001: Message edited by: straffo ]
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My visits to France (Riviera twice) showed me much the same thing many folks say about the French. That they were rude, obnoxious, unhelpful and almost down right hostile. And although seperated by thousands of miles many of the 'French" in Quebec are literally the same way.
<shurg> Reminded me of the people back home in New York city and Boston.
Westy
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Straffo - I have saved your e-mail address for the future...don't be surprised if I contact you....
Westy...I'm not talking to you after you shot me down last night!! You were in a Yak and I was a zeke....I tried to rope you, but I misjudged YOUR "E" state...apparently you has lots... ;)
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By the way Straffo...While at the "host's" house in Paris we did engage in some discussions despite my broken French. One thing got me soooo mad:
There was a military parade going on and I happened to be there as it passed. That evening my host asked me whether I had been there...when I replied "oh yes" he said that I was priviledged to witness the greatest military in the world..and the one with the most inspired history...I just about gagged on my measly piece of ham...
When I mentioned that France's military tradition was essentailly limited to Napolean..and even he was Corsican..the guy lost it on me. He went on to lambaste US foreign policy and ironically used Vietnam as his example of how badly the Americans have fought in the past....he must have forgotten that I was not a US citizen. Anyhoo...I then went on to state that France's little excursion into Vietnam was a total disaster...he had a blank look on his face...."Ever heard of Dien Bien Phu?" I asked....he said no!!!
Do French history classes ignore the bad things and merely highlight the good, or what? I even had to go get an encyclopedia to PROVE to them that France took a serious butt-kicking in SE Asia!!! He, and his family had NO IDEA...
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in short : we have our share of prettythang hole too ...
looks like you found the worst of our ass-hole :)
I can't believe he didn't know anything about Indochina ... it's one scar of our history and ignoring it is ... strange ...
btw about military tradition... we have Charles Martell, René d'Anjou (for the older) and some other not only Napoléon :)
Westy going to the "Touristic Alley" as I call this region is not the better way to know how are the average French.
Come to Normandy,Anjou and you will find other kind of people with other mentality
Btw I often has hard time with Parisian and south east people myself ... they have a behaviour ... detestable ...
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France is no different than America. It has it's share of salamanders and on the other side of the spectrum, very generous and kind people.
From my personal experience, I don't particularly remember anything "bad" about French people when I was over there. However, I do remember a few good experiences (a few because I wasn't over there very long) with French people.
-SW
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Straffo you picked up my point :) Anywhere you go if as long as you get off the beaten path, out of Touristy Ally as it were, you wil easily find people who are just as nice and friendly as at home or anywhere else.
Possibly the one exceptiong (for me) was a few stops in Spain. I visited (several times) a few places on the Costa Del Sol, Majorca and also Ibiza and literally every time I left with nothing but good memories. When my wife asks me where I'd like to go for vacation in Europe those Spanish places I visited 20 years ago come right to mind.
Curval :) The Yak will literally hang in the air with WEP and a notch of flaps (or two). IT may have been a case of more horsepower to cash in on than any actual "E" on my part <S>! I was worried about getting into a turn fight. I never wory going verticle with a Zeke. Thanks. That was a fun flight for me to be honest. After yourI bagged a tag teaming Spitfire/Mossie pair and that felt good after not being in the MA much lately. ;)
Westy
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I heard those French have a different word for everything.
<tips hat to Steve Martin> ;)
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My brother went to France as an exchange student years ago. His host family was fantastic, took him all over Normandy and basically treated him as their own son and did a lot of trips to show off their country. I'm sure some people have bad luck/bad hosts...and it sounds like your hosts were just King of the tulips and you got luck of the draw.
Best military in the world? Gawd, how'd you keep your sanity? My knee-jerk reaction would have been to say "Who said that? Hitler?"
I'm up here in Maine, and I don't get to go to Quebec as often as I'd like, but its a great place. Quebec City has some of the most incredibly gorgeous women I've ever seen...add that French accent and <schwing....>....
'Course every 10 years they talk about separating or something.
I'm kinda leery on European travel...dunno when I'll do it. I just keep going to Australia instead :)
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I have to work with them - enough said :(
OTOH people say the there are French people and there are Parisians...