Kulchur

In a recent blog post I mentioned the cultural differences which can affect life in France, compared to most English speaking nations.

Although we have been living and working in France for nearly 20 years, I can still see strong differences in the way people act or respond to a problem or a question. This was brought home to me yesterday when we went to out to lunch.

Canto the first:-

The mental “script” we carry when going to a restaurant of cafe seems universal - I have eaten out in over fifty different countries and the interaction and performance between myself, friends with me and the people serving food is much the same in New York, Jeddah, Stockholm or Khartoum. Perhaps this is to do with films, or perhaps there is a basic ritual of service. There are extremes, compare a Japanese tea ceremony to a breakfast in a New York diner, but overall there is a “dance” with well taught and practised steps.

For lunch yesterday we went to a place we had been told about in a village called Florensac very near us in Languedoc. This resto is in a new complex built behind the Cave Cooperative, the factory where the local wine is produced. The whole project is called “Vinopolis” and it is a fascinating concept of wine tasting, oak wine casks stored underground which you see through a solid glass floor, a superb restaurant and a reception area for over 200 people - plenty of parking and in the center of a fascinating region close to the Mediterranean.

The only problem is that, apart from a few local people, nobody knows it is there. It is hidden behind a vast lumpish 1920s wine factory and we could see no indication or signs of what was on offer. If we had not been told by a friend who lives in the village, we would never ever have thought of going.

Our little party of five was, Carole and I, Jack and Miranda our grown up kids and my Mum. I know where the factory is so getting there was OK - the complex looked good, the front part is for tasting wine and, after asking, we found the restaurant in the back - a really nice place, excellent decoration, good service and great food, some of the best I have had. Superb wine and the lunch was a great success - oysters, foi gras, fresh tuna steaks, perfectly cooked veal, excellent matured wine - in a charming restaurant with excellent service - all for under 20 euro per person.

The culture was the conventional “restaurant” experience and a good one, we will be going back often.

Leaving the restaurant in a happy and contented frame of mind we walked back through the wine tasting area - you can interact with computers to learn about the wines on offer and the area is well designed and very interesting. A charming person came to offer help and advice and we chose a few bottles of wine (all under 4 euro a bottle and all very good) to take home.

Carole and I were interested why there was no publicity or promotion about the place and we asked a few questions and made suggestions about advertising and perhaps a few signs to tell people the place existed - our children, who have lived all their lives in France and are as French as the President is, were horrified we were so “rude” and so “critical” of the service. In fact the young man was positive and agreed with us, but, with a gallic shrug he said, “nothing can be done, it is not allowed”

In France you do not make any suggestions as to how to improve something without this being taken as an insult or a negative criticism of the person or business - I guess this comes from the elaborate court rituals in place in the 18th century - but it is the death knell of enterprise or development.

This explains a lot to me about the way Internet services, transport, education and many other things are “almost right” but seem fixed in a rigid, unchangeable way that is opposed to great success.

I will adjust my thoughts and perfect the gallic shrug to be able to cope with this.