The French demanded that all government offices be bilingual and all road
signs,, yet their province is all french and they do not observe the
bilingual practice,,, while visiting quebec, it is a well known fact that if
you only speak english, you will most noticeably be treated rude and
improperly,,,

I could go on but I don't feel like a rant at the moment,,, let someone
else pick it up from here,,,,


When my daughter was getting her masters at McGill (in Montreal), there was a
law on the books that required all salespeople to greet all customers in
French. After the greeting, the salesperson could switch to English (or some
other language) if the customer was unable to speak or uncomfortable conducting
business in French.

It was also illegal to conduct business in English if the customer preferred to
speak French.

Pretty sneaky technique to assure that the
Francophones had an advantage over Anglophones when interviewing for jobs as
department store clerks.

Based solely upon drive-by comparisons of
some "French" residential neighborhoods and some "English" neighborhoods, I
developed an impression that at least historically the Anglophonic have
dominated the economic and social framework in Montreal, while the Francophonic
have been runner's-up.

It does make for some interesting culture, despite the turf war tensions. I've
been to places I could not live under any circumstance, but I could get along
comfortably in Montreal.

"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
snip
It does make for some interesting culture, despite the turf war tensions.
I've
been to places I could not live under any circumstance, but I could get
along
comfortably in Montreal.


Montreal has always been a favourite place to visit by the locals down here.
Much more cosmopolitan than the rest of Quebec.
I drove to a smaller sized French city half way between Quebec City and
Montreal to buy my Sandpiper 565 sailboat in May. Although very French,
everyone I ran into was very polite and helpful. It made me wish I could
speak more than a dozen French words.

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
news:1102120368.OP2uc/qvfdnJTy5CShIHAQ@teranews...


Oh, to enjoy the food, sights, Notre Dame, the museums,
that sort of stuff.


Not to mention...'the Left Bank'!

"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Better yet, why the hell would you go into a McD's while in Paris?

Where better to find some really good French fries? :-)

Theirs are not very good here, why go there. Try In-and-Out burger for good
fries. They peel and slice the potato(e)s in the local stores.

On 04 Dec 2004 00:11:18 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

Better yet, why the hell would you go into a McD's while in Paris?

Where better to find some really good French fries? :-)

With four kids under 10 in tow, MacD's seemed like a good idea.

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

You outta try toilets in Mexico. You'd forget about Europe soon enough.

-W

"Calif Bill" wrote in message news:J9bsd.844
Free, clean restroom. Europe may be high on your list, but toilets in
Europe leave a lot to be desired! And I checked the price of a BigMac in
Sienna, Italy 2 months ago. 2.80 Euros. One of the more reasonable
places
to eat. Did not eat there, but the toilet room was nice.

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 07:49:49 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

You outta try toilets in Mexico. You'd forget about Europe soon enough.

-W

"Calif Bill" wrote in message news:J9bsd.844
Free, clean restroom. Europe may be high on your list, but toilets in
Europe leave a lot to be desired! And I checked the price of a BigMac in
Sienna, Italy 2 months ago. 2.80 Euros. One of the more reasonable
places
to eat. Did not eat there, but the toilet room was nice.




Try Korean toilets for a real treat!

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

JohnH wrote:
On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 07:49:49 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

You outta try toilets in Mexico. You'd forget about Europe soon
enough.

-W

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
news:J9bsd.844
Free, clean restroom. Europe may be high on your list, but
toilets in
Europe leave a lot to be desired! snip

Try Korean toilets for a real treat!

My experience in Korea was similar to Thailand and Saudi. Public
toilets were ... well ... about as bad as some here in the states.
Particularly fun in the evening as many had no lighting inside... don't
slip.

We went on a local holiday train ride over the weekend and rode in a
passenger car that was probably 50 or 60 years old. No restroom. I
was telling my b.i.l that it reminded of the train I took from Korat to
Bangkok in 1994 - only that train had restrooms. Of course if you
looked into the bowl, you saw the ties passing below.

On 7 Dec 2004 15:04:07 -0800, "Curtis CCR"
wrote:


JohnH wrote:
On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 07:49:49 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

You outta try toilets in Mexico. You'd forget about Europe soon
enough.

-W

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
news:J9bsd.844
Free, clean restroom. Europe may be high on your list, but
toilets in
Europe leave a lot to be desired! snip

Try Korean toilets for a real treat!

My experience in Korea was similar to Thailand and Saudi. Public
toilets were ... well ... about as bad as some here in the states.
Particularly fun in the evening as many had no lighting inside... don't
slip.

We went on a local holiday train ride over the weekend and rode in a
passenger car that was probably 50 or 60 years old. No restroom. I
was telling my b.i.l that it reminded of the train I took from Korat to
Bangkok in 1994 - only that train had restrooms. Of course if you
looked into the bowl, you saw the ties passing below.

Be very happy that there was no toilet. I made the mistake of entering
a toilet on a bus. The normal Korean toilet is a hole in the floor, so
the people are used to squatting - not sitting on the seat. Well, in
the bus they climbed up on the toilet and squatted. Many had very poor
aim. Enough said. (Probably way too much!)


John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

JohnH wrote:
On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 07:49:49 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

You outta try toilets in Mexico. You'd forget about Europe soon
enough.

-W

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
news:J9bsd.844
Free, clean restroom. Europe may be high on your list, but
toilets in
Europe leave a lot to be desired! snip

Try Korean toilets for a real treat!

My experience in Korea was similar to Thailand and Saudi. Public
toilets were ... well ... about as bad as some here in the states.
Particularly fun in the evening as many had no lighting inside... don't
slip.

We went on a local holiday train ride over the weekend and rode in a
passenger car that was probably 50 or 60 years old. No restroom. I
was telling my b.i.l that it reminded of the train I took from Korat to
Bangkok in 1994 - only that train had restrooms. Of course if you
looked into the bowl, you saw the ties passing below.