It is us or can everyone spot British people a mile off? Every day without fail on a recent trip to France we'd spot at least one British family or couple out and about and it was invariably an embarrassing event. It would go like this. We'd see a couple approaching, man carrying plastic bag full of stuff, wearing sandals, black socks; British. Family on a beach making a lot of noise, all look a bit scruffy; British. Couple in restaurant, woman ordering in very loud voice to a waiter who clearly can't understand; English.
We British always seem to single ourselves out for all the wrong reason. We all to often are too noise, too scruffy, and too annoying. But why?
We even found we could spot Brits on appearance only. Fat woman with skinny man, woman too sunburned for comfort, man in cravat, couples aimlessly walking around looking fazed or confused, family having a poorly conceived picnic using bread roles that they clearly nicked form their hotel at breakfast time. Oh my god! It can be so embarrassing to think that we are possibly going to be associated to these people in any way.
The weirdest thing we saw was in a restaurant one night when a group of Irish (almost British) people came and started off by telling the waiter they didn't want any food that had garlic in it - not easy or likely in France. They then proceeded to ask for various menu items using an odd mixture of English, French, and for some reason, German. In fact at one point they got quite angry with the waiter when she couldn't understand what they meant when they were screaming "wasser, wasser" to her when they wanted some more water. They could have at least looked it up in a phrase book, but no, they just spent the next five minutes complaining about how stupid she must be for not understanding them.
Europeans must hate us - but probably not our money!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Being in France
There's something really great about being in France and it can be quite difficult to figure out why because in lots of ways it's not so different to being in Southern England. The countryside is certainly quite similar especially in Normandy and Brittany, although further East, on the other side of Paris, I think it's even better. The culture in not so different and in fact many parts of the North West are even closer to the UK, possibly just because of the proximity.
I think one of the key things that makes it so good is the language. I love the fact that you can overhear lots of conversations and never have a clue what they are about. I love the fact that you see signs everywhere that you don't really fully understand. And I love the way you feel detached from the general activity. But at the same time as all this you can blend in and can understand just enough that that you never feel fully detached.
The fact that the French seem to have a different attitude to cars is interesting to me. They don't seem to generally attach the same status value to them that we do in the UK and are happy to drive around in cheap little hatchbacks crammed full of stuff when clearly a bigger car would make much more sense. Prestige German cars although very common in the UK are a rarity in France, and sports cars are even rarer. When I last took my SLK to France it regularly attracted an audience whenever I lowered or raised the roof - it wouldn't get a second look here.
Towns and villages are generally much cleaner and prettier than they are here and it's rare to see any rubbish. I really don't understand why they are so much better at this than us. But I did see quite a few people around actually picking up cigarette ends and throwing them in bins - that alone makes a big difference.
French plumbing is a scream. The fact that some of it works at all is a miracle and in our experience it rarely works in the way that it aught to. We've stayed in some really nice places only to find that the plumbing is right out of the dark ages and totally out of character with the rest of the place.
A big contributing factor as to why the towns and villages look so much nicer seems to be that homes, new ones especially, are much more individual than they are over here. In some places, and even on a new development, there are so many different variations that you're never aware that there are two the same.
It's just strange to me that somewhere that is superficially so similar the UK can actually seem to be so different and exciting. Maybe it's simply just the lack of British people :-)
I think one of the key things that makes it so good is the language. I love the fact that you can overhear lots of conversations and never have a clue what they are about. I love the fact that you see signs everywhere that you don't really fully understand. And I love the way you feel detached from the general activity. But at the same time as all this you can blend in and can understand just enough that that you never feel fully detached.
The fact that the French seem to have a different attitude to cars is interesting to me. They don't seem to generally attach the same status value to them that we do in the UK and are happy to drive around in cheap little hatchbacks crammed full of stuff when clearly a bigger car would make much more sense. Prestige German cars although very common in the UK are a rarity in France, and sports cars are even rarer. When I last took my SLK to France it regularly attracted an audience whenever I lowered or raised the roof - it wouldn't get a second look here.
Towns and villages are generally much cleaner and prettier than they are here and it's rare to see any rubbish. I really don't understand why they are so much better at this than us. But I did see quite a few people around actually picking up cigarette ends and throwing them in bins - that alone makes a big difference.
French plumbing is a scream. The fact that some of it works at all is a miracle and in our experience it rarely works in the way that it aught to. We've stayed in some really nice places only to find that the plumbing is right out of the dark ages and totally out of character with the rest of the place.
A big contributing factor as to why the towns and villages look so much nicer seems to be that homes, new ones especially, are much more individual than they are over here. In some places, and even on a new development, there are so many different variations that you're never aware that there are two the same.
It's just strange to me that somewhere that is superficially so similar the UK can actually seem to be so different and exciting. Maybe it's simply just the lack of British people :-)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Honda vs Mercedes - which is best?
We used to have two sensible but boring cars until 2000 when we decided it made much more sense to have one really fun car and one super practical car. So I bought a brand new Mercedes-Benz SLK and four months later Sheila bought an ex demonstrator Honda HRV with only 1000 miles on the clock. The SLK cost £30K and the HRV cost £14K.
Almost 10 years on it seemed like it would be interesting to try and decide which one has been, and is now the best, even though they are very different cars.
The SLK is of course a 150mph two seater sports car with a fully retractable metal roof while the HRV is a part-time 4X4 that can carry four passengers and quite a lot of stuff. Both are automatics as we hate all that gear shifting lark. Both cars now have approximately 70K miles on their clocks.
Looking back through all the servicing receipts the Honda has cost more for the straight services, so a point to the Mercedes. However the SLK has been through three sets of tyres while the HRV is still on it's second set, so a point to the Honda.
Both cars have had warranty claims although the value of the Mercedes claims were massive by comparison - a new steering wheel and airbag at £650, a new set of wheels at £1200, new trim parts at £250, and some repainting at approx £350. There were also a few other very minor odds and ends. The Honda on the other hand needed a new stereo at about £150, new transmission (when it was 8 years old!) at £600 and that's about it. A point to Honda.
The Mercedes has really fallen down on parts that have worn out. It's had a new central locking control unit, new rear suspension, new front brakes and disks, new brake sensors, new gas struts, a new rear light unit, new number plates, and new a/c compressor. The Honda needed a new sensor in the fuel injection and that's it. Another point to Honda.
The Mercedes still looks great and I get a lot of complements about it's condition, but in reality it's beginning to need some attention here and there to keep it in A1 condition although it still drives like new. The Honda gets a rougher life and has quite a few dings from supermarket car parks, and heavily used interior, but it's holding up well and is still a nice car to drive. Both cars have been 100% reliable to date.
Finally there are the intangibles. The feeling you get from diving each car on a daily basis, the feeling you get when you see it in the drive, and the fun you get from each on a sunny day or a long trip. The Mercedes scores big here because it's really two cars in one, a two seater coupe one minute and a two seater convertible the next, it has amazing performance and handling, and attracts a lot of admiring looks especially on a sunny day with the roof down. The Honda is a practical car and one of the pack so definitely doesn't attract the same sort of attention. It's performance is lively and fun but not exactly exciting and it's handling is probably typical for a car of it's type.
I like both cars a lot but if I had to choose then the SLK would win hands down but not because it's the better product. I get a buzz from driving it, a buzz from looking at it, and a buzz from knowing that I own it. However if I look at this from a completely practical view then of course the Honda wins hands down on both cost of ownership and because it's probably better made and hasn't needed a lot of replacement parts like the Mercedes.
But of course, a good product and practicality isn't what owning a car is necessarily all about.
Almost 10 years on it seemed like it would be interesting to try and decide which one has been, and is now the best, even though they are very different cars.
The SLK is of course a 150mph two seater sports car with a fully retractable metal roof while the HRV is a part-time 4X4 that can carry four passengers and quite a lot of stuff. Both are automatics as we hate all that gear shifting lark. Both cars now have approximately 70K miles on their clocks.
Looking back through all the servicing receipts the Honda has cost more for the straight services, so a point to the Mercedes. However the SLK has been through three sets of tyres while the HRV is still on it's second set, so a point to the Honda.
Both cars have had warranty claims although the value of the Mercedes claims were massive by comparison - a new steering wheel and airbag at £650, a new set of wheels at £1200, new trim parts at £250, and some repainting at approx £350. There were also a few other very minor odds and ends. The Honda on the other hand needed a new stereo at about £150, new transmission (when it was 8 years old!) at £600 and that's about it. A point to Honda.
The Mercedes has really fallen down on parts that have worn out. It's had a new central locking control unit, new rear suspension, new front brakes and disks, new brake sensors, new gas struts, a new rear light unit, new number plates, and new a/c compressor. The Honda needed a new sensor in the fuel injection and that's it. Another point to Honda.
The Mercedes still looks great and I get a lot of complements about it's condition, but in reality it's beginning to need some attention here and there to keep it in A1 condition although it still drives like new. The Honda gets a rougher life and has quite a few dings from supermarket car parks, and heavily used interior, but it's holding up well and is still a nice car to drive. Both cars have been 100% reliable to date.
Finally there are the intangibles. The feeling you get from diving each car on a daily basis, the feeling you get when you see it in the drive, and the fun you get from each on a sunny day or a long trip. The Mercedes scores big here because it's really two cars in one, a two seater coupe one minute and a two seater convertible the next, it has amazing performance and handling, and attracts a lot of admiring looks especially on a sunny day with the roof down. The Honda is a practical car and one of the pack so definitely doesn't attract the same sort of attention. It's performance is lively and fun but not exactly exciting and it's handling is probably typical for a car of it's type.
I like both cars a lot but if I had to choose then the SLK would win hands down but not because it's the better product. I get a buzz from driving it, a buzz from looking at it, and a buzz from knowing that I own it. However if I look at this from a completely practical view then of course the Honda wins hands down on both cost of ownership and because it's probably better made and hasn't needed a lot of replacement parts like the Mercedes.
But of course, a good product and practicality isn't what owning a car is necessarily all about.
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