Bonjour -
Since French people typically answer their telephones with a hearty “hello”, I guess it’s okay to greet you with a “bonjour”. This is not going to be a travel log with photos. This is about culture. And, for some French folks, culture is a problem. It seems that the American culture, at least in the eyes of some, is invading the French culture.
French students typically must take “English” as a foreign language, which isn’t a direct connection to American culture (it could be British or Australian), but there’s a connection. I don’t see American students having to take “French” in school.
Stores and restaurants in France play American music throughout the store or restaurant. Yes, that’s true. It seems strange. I don’t recall Applebee’s playing French music, nor do I recall walking through Nordstroms and hearing French music? If I go into a clothing shop with Marlene I’m very apt to be greeted by the Four Tops.
The official word is that France, as a country, is concerned about preserving their French culture. Well, they’re not doing a great job. McDonalds is a smash hit in France (over 1,000 restaurants). I’d call McDonalds a bit of American culture invading France. On our upcoming Paris trip we’ll be walking down Ave. Des Champs-Elysees, which has a McDonalds. It’s not only a McDonalds, but the highest grossing McDonalds in the world, which is hard to believe having seen the crowds at McDonalds in downtown Nice and Marseille.
Granted there are many French words in the English language, so maybe we should be concerned about the French culture invading our culture? But, amazingly, there are English words used “as is” by the French. For some reason there is no French word for “week-end”. There are a few words like that, just seeming to pop-up in a French conversation. Again, why do the French answer their phones with “hello”? Listening to French speak, I can’t help but notice that every few minutes they drop in an “okay”. Hey, they have a word for okay!
Being a radio buff (they still have radio don’t they?), I’ve checked the French radio dial. Stations’ jingles (I hope you know what I mean) are in English. We listen to an oldies station, which goes by “Nostalgie”. That’s pronounced no-stAL-gee. The jingles all include the word “nostalgie”. A jingle might be “My baby loves nostalgie” or “It’s a week-end with nostalgie”. There seems to be more American songs played than French. I’m told French radio stations are required to play no more than 40% American songs. Nostalgie is caught up with discotheque music. Wow, it’s Donna Summers, the Bee Gees and anything else with a disco sound from the 1970s over and over. Maybe they love the French word “discotheque”? It seems that every third weekend is a Disco Week-End on nostalgie. I don’t believe many stations in the U.S. still play Barry White songs. Well, nostalgie plays Barry White all the time. Apparently, Barry was popular here in France. After that, look for the Beach Boys and Diana Ross. Also, they feature a good bit of ABBA music, but I can understand that since they are a European group. And, they’ll play the odd American oldie that you may have never heard. I don’t get it? The French oldies sound mostly like pre-rock n roll. Can you say Maurice Chevalier? Look him up if you have to, but he died in 1972. You get it, the French oldies sound a bit like a French version of Andy Williams or Bing Crosby. Oh, once in a while they’ll have an American oldie sung in French. There’s a Four Tops song they play covered by a French group. Kind of different. The most popular American talent tours Europe. Bruno Mars just played Marseille. I don’t think too many French singers go on U.S. concert tours? Oh, the French play some pretty raunchy American songs (bad lyrics) in situations that can only prove they don’t know what the words mean! As the kids on American Bandstand use to say, “I like the beat and it’s easy to dance to”.
We ask about why there’s so much American music, especially when most French people can’t possibly understand the words. The word seems to be that the French feel that American music is just so much better than French music. They actually say that French music is not very good.
If it’s American the French flock to it. They don’t differentiate North America, Central America and South America --- the United States is America. There are more clothes in stores with English (American) wording than French wording. I was shopping with Marlene and couldn’t believe how many clothes had American (English language) written on them. I started taking photos. You can check it out with the attached photos! The usage is somewhat awkward at times, but IT’S AMERICAN.
French folks we have met have either been to the United States or want to go. Almost each person says they’ve been to New York City. Often they say they’ve also been to Florida. That’s about it. When Keaka spent a few hours in the hospital recently, we met a 29-year-old nurse who could speak some English. She had lived and worked in Sun Valley, Idaho and her best friend’s mother was a French teacher in Portland, so she had visited the Rose City. She also worked at Disney World as a waitress in a French restaurant. Hey, that works! Some of the older more professional folks we have met with families have lived in the U.S., with many of them having lived in Boston. We have one French family we know that lived in Seattle and is doing everything possible to get transferred back to Seattle.
Yes, there are American products in French grocery stores (though some are stuck in small International sections in the bigger grocery stores). How many French products do you see in U.S. grocery stores? Okay, Dijon mustard, Evian water and maybe Orangina. Here you’ll see Lay’s products, lots of Coca-Cola, Haagen Daz ice cream, Tropicana juice, Pringles (don’t taste the same), Old El Paso Mexican food products, Paul Newman salad dressings, and Skippy peanut butter.
Of course, there are American TV shows with French voice over, as well as American movies, either voiced over or with sub-titles.
I met a Brit and an Irishman who live in the south of France. They summarized the attraction the French have to the United States. They said that after World War II the U.S. did a great job of selling the United States as “the land of the free and the brave” and the country that could do anything. A bit of bigger and better. It does seem that the typical American has more material goods than the typical French citizen.
Long live the French culture!
The Wilsons
