Aibu to not understand why France is considered more upmarket than Spain or Portugal?

[Janesygal]

Just that.. It's right across the channel, our nearest neighbours so why is it considered more upmarket than Spain, the Spanish islands or Portugal?

France is more expensive to holiday in than Spain and Portugal

@Janesygal 👍 I’ll give it a go.

I’d not heard of the Verdejo variety of grape before I tried it in Spain. I love it!

There are plenty of all inclusive resorts in France. People do talk rubbish sometimes.

I imagine the Benidorm/Magaluf type areas must have really suffered during the heyday of the Ryanair £10 return flight. The logic of buying a package to go to what’s basically a version of the Thamesmead estate with better weather and cocktails can’t have held up well.

Maybe they are doing better now that Barcelona locals are saying no to tourist are air travel is less cheap…

“Most” of the Brits who go to France absolutely don’t camp. I think you must mix with a very closed circle - myself and friends holiday in France pretty regularly and it will be a mix of places in the Côte d’azur/Provence, city breaks in Paris/Nice, skiing or climbing in the Alps etc (mostly in hotels but sometimes villas and no camping). It’s a huge country so obviously varied but IMO the quality of restaurants tends to be good all over.

They are very different though than the ones you find in many parts of Spain. They are much smaller, like Club Med etc. It's not comparable at all to a Spanish seaside town or in the Canaries.

It is the type of people. 80% of UK residents in Spain voted Brexit, 80% of UK residents (not including Nigel Lawson) voted remain. The 80% in France did so out of self interest the 80% in Spain because they were racists.

I don't drink but partner had a few glasses in Spain recently and was very impressed. He managed to pronounce it properly also Verdecko - or near enough!

@MadeleineMummy

It is the type of people. 80% of UK residents in Spain voted Brexit, 80% of UK residents (not including Nigel Lawson) voted remain. The 80% in France did so out of self interest the 80% in Spain because they were racists

Youre going to get your arse handed to you… but you are correct.

One of the things that continues to give me a bitter laugh about Brexit is the irony of all these gammons not anticipating the fact it was going to hurt their ability to have cheap booze fest holidays/homes in the Costas.

Have you been to the Canaries?

I used to ski in France a lot. Some of the ski resorts were very downmarket - that's why I could afford them!

Exactly. So much ignorance and small mindedness about Spain and the people who go on holiday there on this thread. How depressing.

OP I think it’s a particularly British perspective, probably because of the types of holidays that Brits will typically have in the respective countries. I’ve lived in France for 16 years and I don’t have any sense at all that the French think that Spain or Portugal are downmarket compared to France as a holiday destination. The Spanish package holiday really doesn’t exist in the same way for French people, and the majority of French people actually stay in France for their holidays.

so for a British person

Spain = resorts, beaches, cheap booze, British bars / menus, sunburn, sand, Club 18-30, cheap package tours, drunk teens staggering out of night clubs etc

France = good food, good wine, history, French spoken, camping, family holidays, etc.

there is no equivalent in France to the big tourist areas in Spain, which were developed in the 70s with British (and Dutch, German, Belgian) tourists in mind. Cap d’Agde is tiny by comparison, and only fairly recently developing as a British fun-in-the-sun destination (thanks to Ryanair).

But in reality actual Spanish and French people both tend to holiday in exactly the same way - camping, by a beach / lake / river, with family, focusing on food and sports and outdoor / water based Activities.

….hmm, kinda! It’s sort of like ‘ber-de-ho’, but a soft ‘b’. Like halfway between a ‘b’ and a ‘v’.

But pay me no mind, I live there and butcher the language on a daily basis!

I guess maybe there are less package holiday all inclusive type resorts that some people can be snobby about?

Also I guess they don't really have anywhere like Benidorm for example. Where it's very very geared towards British tourists kind of in their own bubble to an extent. I could be wrong though

Other than that I can't really see why.
I do think of Parisians as being stuck up though. And not fond of the British. All my french family agree! And some of them are from there.

Your post is the typical British stereotyping bullshit read in the Daily Mail.

Considering Spain is breaking all records in tourism this year, it's beyond foolish to think the English are less welcome than understanding what the protests are really about. A call to the government against mass tourism and a sustainable industry.

Just as it's beyond foolish, and very stereotypical, to say the French don't tolerate people not making an effort to speak French. If you are an English tourist, you won't speak French and most people in France will try to do their best in helping you in English.

Talk about stereotypes.

This is just my opinion as a non-British born person, but it seems to me Brits see France as an equal (an annoying equal, but equal nonetheless). Spain and Portugal are seen as inferior economically, culturally etc. to Britain, it's just that they have nice weather for going to the beach. I've noticed this feeling, often expressed, that Spanish and Portuguese economies need British tourists to survive and therefore you don't need to make an effort to speak the language, show interest in the culture etc when you go there, you just party in a British enclave with British food and they should feel grateful to have you. Whereas with the French, there's a begrudging acceptance that they care about French stuff first and foremost and you have to make more of an effort.

In a nutshell I think it's snobbery and classism (and France is indeed wealthier overall).

Often to the Balearic islands which have very upmarket areas, villas and so on, as well as the popular coastal towns.
Ibiza is much more upmarket away from the party towns.

Plenty of British speak French! It’s true nonetheless that the French are in general much more welcoming to foreigners who’ve taken the trouble to learn French.

I've been to France many times and I don't speak a word of French. I've always been accepted speaking Spanish and English and felt very welcome.

Not been near the Bombardier (opposite the Pantheon), then?

No idea if it's still there, but it was very much exactly that 15 years ago.

Until you get down to Antibes / Provence etc most of the French towns are far from upmarket. The countryside coast is mostly given over to camping sites rather than big commercial hotels.

I would consider most of Balearics more upmarket than mainland Spain. Ive only been to Salou on the mainland though.

Portugal I've been to the algarve and Villa Moura. No more upmarket than parts of Ibiza for example plus it stinks of sardines most of the day.

So I think it depends where you go as to what your opinion would be. It's not an opinion I've ever come across before.

Because the French are haughty

@SonicTheHodgeheg you have preconceived ideas about Ibiza, there a couple of party towns but the rest isn't and parts are incredibly upmarket. Full of celebs on their yachts and on Formentera.stunning. The other Balearics are the same just avoid places like shagaluf.

It's because the French are all floofy apparently and so la-di-da folk go there.