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.

"Jim Carter" wrote in message
...

"JohnH" wrote in message
news
Also, have you ever bought a MacDonald's hamburger in Paris? What they
charge is totally unethical.
John H
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

John, you were in Paris and bought a burger at MacDonald's??????? Are
you
nuts??????
Some of the best small family owned restaurants in the whole world are in
Paris and they are VERY inexpensive. The art of cuisine was invented in
Paris!

Jim Carter
Bayfield.



My wife's best friend's husband was posted to the Paris Embassy about 23
years ago. The kids got to choose the eatery if they got very good grades.
They chose McD's. The bill for the meal was about $50. This is when you
could probably eat at the top Paris restaurants for not much more.

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!

On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 18:45:58 -0500, "Jim Carter"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
news
Also, have you ever bought a MacDonald's hamburger in Paris? What they
charge is totally unethical.
John H
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

John, you were in Paris and bought a burger at MacDonald's??????? Are you
nuts??????
Some of the best small family owned restaurants in the whole world are in
Paris and they are VERY inexpensive. The art of cuisine was invented in
Paris!

Jim Carter
Bayfield.


How many kids under ten were you dragging into the small, family owned
restaurants?

John H

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

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
How many kids under ten were you dragging into the small, family owned
restaurants?
John H
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

Hi John: Just one! At that time, when I was in Paris, my Granddaughter was
7 years old, and she ate for free at most of the restaurants.
Most of the smaller, family type restaurants in Europe, do not charge for
the kids meals. This is the same at a lot of places here at home.

Jim Carter
Bayfield

On Sat, 4 Dec 2004 08:58:03 -0500, "Jim Carter"
wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
How many kids under ten were you dragging into the small, family owned
restaurants?
John H
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

Hi John: Just one! At that time, when I was in Paris, my Granddaughter was
7 years old, and she ate for free at most of the restaurants.
Most of the smaller, family type restaurants in Europe, do not charge for
the kids meals. This is the same at a lot of places here at home.

Jim Carter
Bayfield


Perhaps we could have done that. I don't know if they'd feed four kids
for free, when only three adults are paying. These kids were between 7
and 12 (not ten as I said earlier). Plus, as a newbie to Paris I
didn't have your knowledge.

I spent four and a half years in Stuttgart, and I don't recall ever
getting a free meal for my kid. Most of the time, if we ate out, we
ate at the small, family owned places. Never got free meals though.

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.