French Friends: Travel Etc: Go to Ronda - they'll love you for it
`Pouf. All these tourists," muttered my French friends. We were exploring Ronda, the hilltop town above Marbella, famous for its vertiginous viaduct, its bullring and its Moorish history. I had never seen so many coachloads of tourists, even in London. "But surely we're tourists, too," I ventured. "Not at all," replied my friends. "We live here!" Well, that's true, up to a point. They...
French Friends: The Independent: JOHN LICHFIELD OUR MAN IN PARIS
After five years in France, we have started to make French friends. That may sound slow, but the status of "friend" is something that is never awarded lightly in France. One of my wife's new friends is a doctor. Margaret consulted her about a minor problem and found herself being screamed at when she announced that she had paid the receptionist in advance. "You are a friend. You don't pay," she was told, as if she had...
French Friends: French connection
TOWNSFOLK will be saying 'Bonjour' once more to our French friends when a popular market returns to the streets next week.Redditch shoppers will be able to sample French delicacies on a number of stalls along Alcester Street in the town centre from Thursday.To add to the atmosphere, stall holders will be dressed in French costume and a French accordion player will serenade the crowds.The French street market will run for three days, from Thursday to...
French Friends: COLUMN: France -- anti-Americanism in 'Old Europe'
(*#_Company_Name_#*) WALTHAM, Mass. -- Want to know the quickest way to make French friends? Insult George W. Bush before they do. If that's not your style, be prepared to devote at least 15 minutes per potential friend to fending off verbal attacks directed at the American government and people explaining that you, as an American citizen, do not necessarily represent or agree with the actions of your government. Unfortunately, unless convinced otherwise, French people tend not to...