Sometimes living in Paris we expats tend to wonder what the ?Frenchie?s? think about us, our country, and the millions of tourists who come here every year. So in our monthly section Les Francais, Prissy Mag tries to dig into their brain a little.
Close-Ups Les Francais Les Français: Julien
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PM: Where are you from originally?JD: Angers. It?s a medium-sized city, 300 km from Paris in the south west. But I have worked and live in Paris for a few years now, after having lived in Normandy for seven years. PM: Have you ever been to an English-speaking country?
JD: Yes, twice to New York for short trips (less than one week), and also twice to London for week-ends, and twice to Australia for long holidays trips (three weeks each time)? I hope to go back a third time and more in each of these places? PM: So what did you think about it?JD: I love New York, not only for the architecture, which is very different from Europe, but also for the ambiance. People seem to live differently from Parisian people, perhaps more relaxed. One of my New York friends told me last time: ?Do you know how to recognize a French tourist in NY in summer? They are the only one who wear jeans and big shoes, when everybody here wears shorts and thongs.? Of course I was wearing tennis shoes and jeans myself that day? I also really do like London, it?s cleaner and safer than before, but the cost of living is really high, and also higher than before... But I advise everybody to go in Australia, and in particular in Melbourne, which seems to be a fabulous city to live? I dream to go back one day there? PM: Do you have any Anglophone friends here in Paris?JD: Yes, but not enough from my point of view.
PM: If you run into Anglophones here and they don?t speak French, are you disappointed?
JD: Of course not! French people have a lot of problems to speak English well, so we can?t judge anglophone people if they don?t speak French in France? it would be totally hypocritical.
PM: Do you feel that Anglophones living here in France should try to live in the ?French way?, i.e. total immersion into the culture, or not?
JD: When you live in a country different from where you come, you have to respect the local laws and customs. That doesn?t mean that foreign people must have exactly the same way of life as French people! The life in Paris is interesting only if we can have a melting-pot of different cultures. PM: Paris is probably the most visited city in the world. How do you feel about all the tourists here ? Does it have a direct impact on your life?JD: Fortunately we have a lot of tourists in Paris, that means that the city is attractive! When you have a lot of tourists in a city, it enables us to have better infrastructures (for example Velib in Paris), and everybody can profit from them, Parisians or not!
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Who: Julien, age 28 (almost), business analyst for a luxury goods company.
PM: What would you change about Parisians in particular?
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