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Author Topic: France  (Read 3459 times)

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shmokes

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France
« on: July 14, 2007, 04:11:48 pm »
Okay.  I've posted a couple of little posts over the past couple weeks when I've had a few moments, but now I think I actually have the time to actually write a little about my trip to France. 

To start off, I flew Air India.  Not a huge fan.  Most things about the flight sucked, especially the in-flight entertainment which was about 90% Bollywood.  The food, on the other hand, was above average for airplane food.  But if you don't like Indian food you'll probably be pretty irritated as the plane smells like curry.  Anyway, they're pretty lame and I don't recommend them (though they were the cheapest option which certainly counts for something).

Got to Paris and went first thing to the school we were to be studying at, where we were then shuttled off to our respective families where we were to live for the next two weeks.  This was a little nerve-racking, as it was the first real speaking-French-with-native-French-speakers experience for most of us, but at least in my case it went well.  I ended up with this sixty-fiveish year-old lady who has a nice three-room apartment where she lets out all three rooms to students like me while she lives in the living room.  As near as I could tell she has no job to bring in any income on top of what she gets from having foreign students stay at her place, but it may just be that she's retired now, but used to have a real job.  At any rate, she's never been married, has no kids, and has been letting her rooms out to students for the last 25 years, so it's pretty much her life.  It was incredible.  I had a large bedroom with a private balcony and breakfast and dinner were part of the package.  I have never in my life eaten so well or so much.  I put on between five and ten pounds when I was in Paris.  This lady could be running her own five-star restaurant.  Every night it was course after course (always at least four courses) of culinary masterpieces.  I felt like throwing up after dinner I was so stuffed.  Some of my fellow students were not nearly so lucky.  One girl was stuck with a couple who hated Americans and were very rude to her.  They fed her just the cheapest crap you can think of and one night even had a dinner party for which they made a bunch of really great food and they made her separate ---smurfy--- food to eat.  Lame.  My set up, though, was awesome.  And I was only paying like 35 euro per night for my room and all this food I was getting.  Amazing.  I got her contact information so that I can give it to anyone who's planning to visit Paris for any significant amount of time.  You seriously could not do better.  Often my friends would cancel dinner with their host families in order to go out somewhere and I always declined and just met up with them later.  There was just no way I was going to pay money for food that would certainly be vastly inferior to what I already had waiting for me at home.

So that was where I was staying.  Classes were pretty cool for the most part.  They were useful at any rate, and I loved my professor.  The only problem was that it was just a single four-hour class listening to the same person talk the entire time which was pretty damned tedious.  The last hour always felt as long as the previous three combined.  We saw loads of cool things of course, from Versailles to the catacombs to the Louvre to Notre Damn, etc., etc., etc..  And one night I went to a concert of one of my favorite bands (Built to Spill) who just happened to be playing in Paris while I was there and about an hour before the show my friend and I went into a nearby pub for a drink and about five minutes later the band came in and sat down at the table next to us.  So we pulled up chairs and had drinks with them and then got our pictures taken with them.  Pretty badass!

Oh yeah, and I went to the French Open!  That was amazing.  So.  Much.  Fun.  And while there I just happened to get stopped by a TV crew to get interviewed by a French news station.  Good times.

After two weeks of Paris I was sad to be leaving for Nice.  Of the eleven students who went over to France from my school, though, I was the only one who was sad.  Everyone else was excited for the beaches of the French Mediterranean.  But I just love Paris so much and felt like I hadn't even put a dent in it.  Like I hadn't even scratched the surface of it.  Or smudged the surface.  More like I had just breathed on it and fogged it up slightly, and even that disappeared almost instantly.  And I knew I was in for some fun beaches, but hell, I was set to move to Miami just as soon as I got back to the states.  I was about to have unlimited access to beaches any time I wanted.  So, anyway, we got to Nice and it was actually pretty exciting once I got there, though I could tell that it was not going to be Paris.  I lucked out again on the host family.  It wasn't as good as my Paris setup, but it was a nice room in a great location and the lady cooked really well (though, once again, not as good as my Paris mom). 

I liked Paris much more than Nice, and I would have preferred to stay there the entire month, but the school in Nice was a vast improvement.  Instead of a single 4-hour class every day, the classes were broken down into a 2-hour grammar class and a 2-hour conversation class, each taught by a different professor.  Once again, I loved my professors, and the classes just breezed by in Nice, unlike the tedium that defined the Paris school experience.

One cool thing about Nice, though, is that the South of France is just one smallish town after another and  they're all just a few euro train ride away from eachother, so we visited Cannes, Monoco, Villefranche, San Paul, Ens, Antibes and more.  And one cool thing, is no two beaches had the same type of surface.  Nice was largish rocks, like silver dollar size, while Cannes was sand and Monoco was playground-style gravel, and Villefranche was this super-fine gravel like what you might put in an aquarium.  This surface was my favorite.  It wasn't as dirty and stick-to-everything as sand, but it was still fine enough that you could run around on it without pain or injury.

Anyway, that's it in a nutshell.  I could, of course, go on forever and relate loads of amazing individual experiences, but I doubt anyone is especially interested in all that.  Let's just say I drank probably 20 or more bottles of wine, averaged probably four hours of sleep per night and had one of the best times of my life.  And my French-speaking skills probably doubled in just a month which is nothing short of amazing.

Thanks again to everyone who donated to my fund.  I don't know how to put that in strong enough terms.  And to all of you: GO TO PARIS!!!  It is amazing.  I'm convinced that it's the greatest city on the planet.  New York and Rome might vie for second place, but they barely approach Paris.  You've really got to spend some time there.  And remember, I went there for a month eight years ago before I spoke a word of French and had absolutely no trouble at all.  Don't let the language thing scare you off.  Speaking French isn't remotely required to enjoy France.  In fact, if you speak English you can go just about anywhere in the world and you won't have any serious difficulty.
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Re: France
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2007, 04:27:39 pm »

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Re: France
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2007, 06:51:29 pm »
Wow, your Paris/France experience was much different than most.  I say most because adding the other 10 students that went with you and my personal experience...that makes 1 in 12 Americans that liked France.  Most of the people I went with had bad experiences too...but we won't count them.

When I went, the city was very dirty...we had a nice little 'welcome to France' moment when we got off the hovercraft from England and the first thing we saw was a French dude in a suit taking a leak on the wall, and there was carpet below (classy!)...and the people were very rude and stunk pretty bad for the most part.  For awhile, the group I was with finally had to start talking with Brittish accents so that we weren't treated so badly.

My condolences too for having to move to Miami...I live in Florida and have been to that hell hole a handful of times...I'm always happy to leave.

But glad to hear you had a good time...yeah!

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Re: France
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2007, 06:56:11 pm »
Glad the trip went well for you.

Gotta ask, What matches did you get to see at the French Open?
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Re: France
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2007, 07:02:50 pm »
one of the girls at work lived in france last year as a nanny,she loved it and is fluent in the language.
i am glad your stay went well and its a great thing to sample different cultures and languages,to learn another language i think is something special.

patrickl

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Re: France
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2007, 08:16:46 pm »
Hey cool that your trip in France went well and most importantly that you improved your French speaking skills.

I went to France a lot on vacation (and even for work). The Dutch have a saying that goes something like "France is great, only trouble is that the french live there". Never stopped me enjoying myself there either though. Guess it is what you make of it.

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Re: France
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2007, 08:57:42 pm »
Quote
that makes 1 in 12 Americans that liked France

i work in Paris for 4 years, i was a chef on the 2nd floor of the eiffel tower (restaurant Jules Vernes) and 1/2 of our clientel was American. i add the chance to talk to many american pepople during that time and i have to say they all enjoy there stay ...
and most of them where there before, and was not they first vacation ...

In fact, i never met so many pepole from the U.S in my life, while i was in Paris  :)

I live most of my life in a small town of France, and i have to say, France country side is much better compare to Paris  :P.






« Last Edit: July 14, 2007, 08:59:59 pm by arcadefever »

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Re: France
« Reply #7 on: July 14, 2007, 10:07:46 pm »
Are you french yourself? You sound french at least.

I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you can trust Americans if they say they enjoy something directly to the people who are involved in the "something". They are extremely polite and will usually say it's the greatest "something" they ever enjoyed even if they hate it.
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Re: France
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2007, 10:27:58 pm »
Are you french yourself? You sound french at least.

I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you can trust Americans if they say they enjoy something directly to the people who are involved in the "something". They are extremely polite and will usually say it's the greatest "something" they ever enjoyed even if they hate it.

 :-\ really  ???

I was born and raised in France. I live in the U.S (8 Years  :applaud:) already ...
Well American Tourism is very strong in France, (japanese) too  ;D
i have met so many people, and for most of them, it was not there first vacation. They sims to know a lot about the culture ect...

so if they dont like and if they pretend they like it, why they still go back ???

I grew up in a small town in the south of France, and i remember, was a familly that use to come every year for vacation, i use to play rugby with there kids...

 ???

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Re: France
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2007, 12:42:03 am »
Are you french yourself? You sound french at least.

I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you can trust Americans if they say they enjoy something directly to the people who are involved in the "something". They are extremely polite and will usually say it's the greatest "something" they ever enjoyed even if they hate it.

I had the greatest time in Amsterdam. Take that as you will.  ;D
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Re: France
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2007, 01:29:20 am »


cheese eating surrender monkeys  ;D


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Re: France
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2007, 12:50:28 pm »
Quote
that makes 1 in 12 Americans that liked France

i work in Paris for 4 years, i was a chef on the 2nd floor of the eiffel tower (restaurant Jules Vernes) and 1/2 of our clientel was American. i add the chance to talk to many american pepople during that time and i have to say they all enjoy there stay ...

You're not exactly talking to Joe Average tourist in the Eiffel Tower restaurant, especially if these are people who take multiple European vacations.  You pay enough money and stay in nice enough places and any place on Earth is fun and friendly.  It's all about how many dollars you can drop.

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Re: France
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2007, 02:49:01 pm »
Hi, Shmokes. Welcome back, I'm glad to see you had a good time.

With all the knee-jerk anti-French BS you get on this board, your open minded attitude towards the country is quite refreshing.

I visited Paris many many years ago when I was in my early teens and really liked it. The centre was beautiful and definitely lived up to expectations. Sure some areas are dirty, but no worse than any other major city, and it's a damn site cleaner than London.

I'd be interested in your experiences at the French Open as I intend to go myself one day. I watched a bit on TV and got the impression they had heavy rain most days. Unfortunately, the weather at Wimbledon this year was even worse.

Is it easy to obtain tickets, and can you queue on the day to get in (as with Wimbledon) or do you have to order in advance?
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Re: France
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2007, 03:46:20 pm »
Quote
that makes 1 in 12 Americans that liked France

i work in Paris for 4 years, i was a chef on the 2nd floor of the eiffel tower (restaurant Jules Vernes) and 1/2 of our clientel was American. i add the chance to talk to many american pepople during that time and i have to say they all enjoy there stay ...

You're not exactly talking to Joe Average tourist in the Eiffel Tower restaurant, especially if these are people who take multiple European vacations.  You pay enough money and stay in nice enough places and any place on Earth is fun and friendly.  It's all about how many dollars you can drop.

this is very true, but i was talking about in general...i use to talk to many US resident, that were asking for direction in the subway, i always help them, and sometimes end up having a few drink with them  :cheers:   ;D
I always kept good souvenirs, talking to Americans while i was living in France ... and most of them were students, and could not aford (eiffel tower restaurant)  ;)

what is very weird, is we always end up to the same conclusion... you  dont  really know about a country  , until you visit it...most of the things we think is based on the MEDIA  :badmood: and what we hear...

Maybe it is because i amd open minded, and very easy going, but while living in Paris, i use to have a lot of Students american friends  :cheers: and we always add a great time  :)




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Re: France
« Reply #14 on: July 15, 2007, 05:56:45 pm »
Are you french yourself? You sound french at least.

I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you can trust Americans if they say they enjoy something directly to the people who are involved in the "something". They are extremely polite and will usually say it's the greatest "something" they ever enjoyed even if they hate it.

 :-\ really  ???
Lol yeah, when you write "i add the chance to talk". That "sounds" french because they don't say the "h" in "had".
 
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Re: France
« Reply #15 on: July 15, 2007, 05:58:47 pm »
Are you french yourself? You sound french at least.

I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you can trust Americans if they say they enjoy something directly to the people who are involved in the "something". They are extremely polite and will usually say it's the greatest "something" they ever enjoyed even if they hate it.

I had the greatest time in Amsterdam. Take that as you will.  ;D
Yeah, you can even have a good time in a sewer like Amsterdam. I have managed to do that too on occasion  :P
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Re: France
« Reply #16 on: July 15, 2007, 06:23:01 pm »
You left? ;D
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Re: France
« Reply #17 on: July 15, 2007, 10:10:09 pm »
With all the knee-jerk anti-French BS you get on this board, your open minded attitude towards the country is quite refreshing.

most of the things we think is based on the MEDIA  :badmood: and what we hear...

Hey, it's not like I went to Europe hoping to have a bad time...cause that would be far from the truth.

But when you walk into a restaurant and stand there for 10 minutes while other people come in after you and get seated ahead of you (blatantly), and then when the wait staff does finally get around to you, they clear the table of the nice silver ware and the cloth tablecloth and the cloth napkins and brought out the cheap utensils and a plastic tablecloth and paper napkins...it isn't hard to tell that you are being treated like shizit!

Not all Paris was bad...I mean the tower was cool, the arc was cool, the Louvre was cool...but then just got boring (too much art for me), the Palace of Versailles was beautiful...the food was great.  But most of the people that we ran into were not very nice.  I hate to extrapolate that to the whole country...and I'll retract anything that may have sounded that way.  But the trip I had there was not great.

We also went to London and Switzerland...we had no problem with people in either place.  I would go back to either right away.

I'll be hitting Portugal and Spain early next year for a week or so...I may end up going back to France as well at some point in the future...I've got no problem giving it a second chance.

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Re: France
« Reply #18 on: July 15, 2007, 10:19:04 pm »
Quote
I'll be hitting Portugal and Spain early next year for a week or so

 :cheers: you going to have a great time, spain is very Beautiful , and the food is GREAT  :applaud:

never been to portugal, but heard a lot of good thing about it  ;)

Quote
I may end up going back to France as well at some point in the future

i workt in Paris, but to be honest, it is nothing like the country side  ;)


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Re: France
« Reply #19 on: July 16, 2007, 01:28:10 pm »
With all the knee-jerk anti-French BS you get on this board, your open minded attitude towards the country is quite refreshing.

most of the things we think is based on the MEDIA  :badmood: and what we hear...

Hey, it's not like I went to Europe hoping to have a bad time...cause that would be far from the truth.

But when you walk into a restaurant and stand there for 10 minutes while other people come in after you and get seated ahead of you (blatantly), and then when the wait staff does finally get around to you, they clear the table of the nice silver ware and the cloth tablecloth and the cloth napkins and brought out the cheap utensils and a plastic tablecloth and paper napkins...it isn't hard to tell that you are being treated like shizit!

Jouster, my comment was not really directed at you. It was more directed towards some of the nonsense that gets posted in the P&R forum from people who have almost certainly never been to France.

If you actually went there and had a bad experience then fair enough. Personally, I've never had any problems with French people but then I suppose I could have been lucky.
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Re: France
« Reply #20 on: July 16, 2007, 01:31:38 pm »

With apologies, I'm still laughing at the paper plates story 5 minutes later.   :laugh2:

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Re: France
« Reply #21 on: July 16, 2007, 01:46:53 pm »
So are you allowed to officially allowed to comment on the "special" beaches over there? Oh, and PICS PICS PICS. :laugh2: :laugh2:

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Re: France
« Reply #22 on: July 16, 2007, 01:55:26 pm »
While I don't exactly disbelieve Jouster, I think he should really, really think about going back some time.  I spent a month in Paris eight years ago (as a long-haired, hippy-looking American who could be picked out as an American from a mile away) and I was never treated poorly.  Not once.  And back then I couldn't speak any French whatsoever, except the following phrases in a horrible accent: I'm Sorry, I don't speak French, excuse me, thank you.  That's it.  I spent the entire time in Paris (except for the last few days, which were spent in Amsterdam -- good times).  It was so spectacular, that since I got back I decided to major in French and work toward a career in a field that would allow me to live and work there for a few years.  That trip led directly to my more recent trip.

And, of course, I just spent another two near-perfect weeks in Paris without any incidents.  This time I could communicate pretty well, though, which surely helps, but seriously it just ain't that bad.  I've eaten at dozens of cafes and food stands in the city and never once been treated poorly.  I mean, even if they do hate you, they don't hate your money.  For even a ---smurfy--- businessman you're a customer first, American second.

I will admit, though, the people in Nice seem friendlier than the people in Paris.  That makes sense.  It's a town of about 300,000 versus 7 million or whatever Paris is.  I'll also admit, however, that I find New Yorkers surprisingly friendlier than Parisians, but I don't chalk that up to much considering that I would probably rate Miamians beneath Parisians, at least as far as the drivers are concerned.
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Re: France
« Reply #23 on: July 16, 2007, 02:15:29 pm »

Yeah!  When you spend thousands, travel across the world, and end up having a crappy time... the smart thing to do is go back!  It's not like there are a billion other options out there or anything.

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Re: France
« Reply #24 on: July 16, 2007, 03:21:43 pm »
Yes...the driving in Miami is one of the main reasons I don't like it down there...but people will cut in front of you in line and act like they deserve to be treated better than you.  That annoys the crap out of me...it actually makes me want to pass out arm bars or elbow strikes to all involved.    :censored:

Grasshopper: I didn't necessarily think it was directed towards me...but I thought it went well against what I was saying.  I try to avoid the P&R section like the plague...I'm sure it would taint my vision of some people who may have great ideas when it comes to cabs.  I actually avoided this section for a little while because of the same reason.  But then my desire to rack up some posts drove me to read & post!

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Re: France
« Reply #25 on: July 16, 2007, 08:48:15 pm »

Yeah!  When you spend thousands, travel across the world, and end up having a crappy time... the smart thing to do is go back!  It's not like there are a billion other options out there or anything.

Let's just say that was my diplomatic way of telling him that he's totally full of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  France is the most visited country in the world.  It is the number one vacation spot in the entire world.  This simply would not be the case if it was the rule, or even relatively common that people had a terrible time when they visited.  And, more specifically, I've spent a month and a half in France, a month of which I was a completely non-French-speaking American and I have never witnessed this kind of treatment anywhere in France, let alone in a place of business.  I'm not saying that it can't have ever happened, or doesn't happen.  But it really doesn't happen, if you know what I mean.
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Re: France
« Reply #26 on: July 16, 2007, 10:34:39 pm »

France is the most visited country in the world.  It is the number one vacation spot in the entire world. 


No it's not.
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Re: France
« Reply #27 on: July 16, 2007, 10:39:29 pm »
FWIW, I love Paris and aside from having my Quebecois accent mocked a few times (which is fair and happens here as well), I have only had an issue with one vendor in a street market. As soon as he found out that I was not American, however, his attitude changed completely.

Perhaps it's just that the French are tired of hearing the same old "Surrender" and "Royale With Cheese" jokes. :dunno
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Re: France
« Reply #28 on: July 16, 2007, 10:45:16 pm »

France is the most visited country in the world.  It is the number one vacation spot in the entire world. 


No it's not.

I thought it was ... something like 25% more visitors than Spain and nearly twice as many as the US.

I could be wrong, however ... I have heard that Australia was the most popular.

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Re: France
« Reply #29 on: July 17, 2007, 03:31:16 am »
Done. SLATFATF.

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Re: France
« Reply #30 on: July 17, 2007, 04:01:38 am »

France is the most visited country in the world.  It is the number one vacation spot in the entire world. 


No it's not.
At least till 2005 apparently it was:
World Tourism Rankings
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Re: France
« Reply #31 on: July 17, 2007, 06:11:58 am »
I'm not full of anything other than the truth.  I by no means said that every single person in Paris was a dick...just the ones that served us.  That one restaurant example was the worst case that we ran into, there were other examples as well...but we also ran into some other people that we very nice and helpful.

And I might go back only because my wife or the friends I have now want to go.  And I'm not someone that likes to have one bad experience and label everything associated with it as bad.  I've gone back to eat at places where the service and/or food was horrible the first time I went.  Everyone can have a bad or off day...I'd rather be fair about it.

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Re: France
« Reply #32 on: July 17, 2007, 10:48:35 am »
I visited Paris two years ago. I loved it. I went there during Thanksgiving (late November) so the peak tourist season was over. A lot of times I tried speaking French to them (my French is about the level of "Je suis Tarzan, tu es Jane") and a lot of them would speak English back to me. The hotel people, waiters, and people on the street were very nice to us, with few execptions. Maybe it's worse during the tourist season.

They had bottles of wine for two euros!

And the U.S. has never been to war with France!

They've got Nutella spread!

And the Louvre!

And great bread!

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Re: France
« Reply #33 on: July 17, 2007, 02:44:28 pm »
The kicker is that Nutella in Europe is different than in the U.S.  It's better overseas.  And it's healthier.  Buy Nutella here and it has hydrogenated oil in it.  Buy it in France and it does not.  Same goes for anything Yoplait.  And chocolate.  It's like companies think that Americans will buy anything (foodwise) regardless of quality so they territorialize it to be as absolutely inexpensive as possible to produce/distribute, but they know they can't get away with that over there.  Pisses me off -- mainly because I really like Nutella and yogurt. 

California wine, on the other hand, can go toe to toe with any wine in the world.  And they refuse to call their champagne "sparkling wine" regardless of what the French have to say about it.  I think that's pretty cool.
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