to be bored fo reading " well in France on every thread

[DanDruff]

not just style, food, alcohol, anything
why the permanent comparisons?
we would be better off comparing outselves to asimilar type of country say,... denmark or Norway

there is nothing on the tv....

...you can make soldiers out of toast.

france is not a good country for comparison because the demographic is more rural, less urban (compare relative population density) so comparisons about how french vs british people behave are also caught along the rural vs urban axis.

a better country for comparison is probably The Netherlands, which has a decently dense population

in fact a higher average heads per km2 than the Uk (but not, probably, than SE Uk)

Scandinavian countries also have lower population density, which is why comparisons fail to be fair also.

my dutch friend tells me english kids more respectful of parents than their dutch counterparts

a proper birthday cake is sponge and icing, natch

oh look! fennel agrees re the birthday cake problem.

It is no joke sticking 21 candles into a mille feuilles, I can tell you.

So tired of reading of these perfect European children all sitting around the dinner table for loooong family dinners. Having lived in Italy with 3DC the reality was somewhat different.

Kids running around the restaurant and onto the street, smoking everywhere, crazy drivers and often no pavements.
It took me some time to realize I do not want my DC out with me and DH at night.
They are best tucked up in bed with a babysitter.

Dinner time is for adults.

Oh I like the Dutch. Though I've never seen their birthday cakes.

dutch apple cake is good!

lol at Malung

ooh at dress - v nice
and lol at dundee

DUTCH MEN

ooh er yes please

and [bisciut] about cakes

Sadly no more smoking everywhere in Italy since about 2002 or 2003.

i can only think of one dutch bloke offhand .....

He was good. He played for AC Milan, you know. Lots of children were dragged to the matches, even those after 6 pm, smoking cigarettes and getting drunk on Barbera.

aha
top of the morning to you
we have a nice Frenc htread going today

Well my nearest place for comparison is Devon. And we are way better than them. Oh yes!

It's because we are better than the French at everything. Where they disagree this is because they are French and do not know any better. They seem to believe that the competition is to be as French as possible, when everyone knows the competition is to be as British as possible. This applies to everything. IWBNFA.

i love france- the auld alliance still strong.so plenty more talk of france please esp harrys new york bar

we go a lot and paris is a stunning and vibrant city

It's closer I suppose, and I tend to make comparisons as DP is French so we spend time there. I'm South African, so you'll hear me banging on about that as well.
For food, I have to say that actually, South Africa is winning in my mind at the moment. 2/3 times cheaper, really fresh, VERY tasty - it's incredible. French restaurants are a bit samey. They are very good at doing French stuff, and that's about it. In London, you get much much more variety (I've eaten everything from Afghani to Ethiopian here, and tons in between) but the really good stuff is SUPER expensive. Also, if anything is any good in the UK, it turns into a chain and is bought out by a private equity house and then goes downhill. It's a bit tiresome.
The British have the best sense of humour; the French one is rubbish and apparently you're not allowed to make too much fun of politicians. What's the point of having them then?

really, you're not allowed to take the mick out of politicians?

why's that then?

Looking back on the OP, tbh I don't think we have much in common with Norway... but by gaw they have some stunning looking men there

probably women too but I wasn't paying much attention to them

however if france irks i could go on and on about scotland...

how we are so stylish
the charm of the gamine
the slurp of irn bru and munch of tattie scone (keeps us all svelte you know)
dont know about gauloises do know about gallus

The Brits all just have a sneaking paranoid suspicion that the UK is Dannii and France is Kylie.

More fun, more famous, looks better in hotpants.

Well, according to DP. I think they're wavering it a bit for Sarkozy, as he's a nut.

so is his madstick speak your weight miussus