We've spent some time over the last week thinking about what makes the French so French, and why.
One of the things we have decided is that the power in relationships here is on the other foot. In Australasia, the ethic is that "the customer is always right" - a business feels it is being done a favour by the customer, and goes out of its way to help, for example with 7 day 12-hour trading hours, or the ability to do all business by telephone or internet.
Here in France it is quite clearly the opposite. A business is doing you a favour by being open from time to time, or by providing a service to you. It shows in so many ways. The short trading hours, many shops closed on Saturdays (let alone Sundays), generous numbers of closed-for-business public holidays. The way that many shops simply put a sign in the window during the holidays saying "closed for holiday", when those who in NZ would be deliberately extending hours to make the most of the increased trade. And how about the 2-hour closures at lunchtime - even many of the monster Mitre-10-style stores close up. Nothing can get in the way of a Frenchman's lunch.
As we have said, we are hoping to buy a car soon. You can't buy anything over €3000 with cash, so there is a record and to prevent money laundering perhaps. No problem, that makes sense. But ... the remaining way to pay is to get a bank cheque. Can I walk into CA Bank in Montpellier and get them to do a cheque once I have chosen a car and therefore now know who to have it made out to? No. Only my home bank in Céret can issue it. What about ignoring the cash limit rule and getting a good lump of cash. No, you can't get cash in large amounts at once, unless you are back at your home branch. It sounds like you can't arrange for them to get money sent to another branch to pick it up there. Huh? Isn't your account all online?
The local websites are tricky. Many are remarkably clumsy, and make doing business on the internet a chore (even ignoring our pathetic connection, which incidentally appears no closer to being fixed than it was 3 weeks ago). They generally have the information you want, but finding it is often very cumbersome. One thing that really bugs me, as we have suffered the consequences of it with our missing-in-action internet connection, is that apart from buying things, it is rare to be able to transact business via the internet. With our internet provider here, you can't even email them, or fill in something on their website. You have to ring them on an automated line, and it costs you money to do so. What? Really? Yes!
Deliveries are a particular frustration. As many people don't have cars, deliveries are really common. Yet the recipient is given only a vague window, often 48 hours long, when the goods might turn up at their door. It can't be hard to say, for example, "it will be there Tuesday between 10 and 12". Today our cooktop finally turned up, two weeks after ordering. I can understand the first time it got delivered and was taken away, as the phone number I gave them was jumbled. However they had also had the address, apartment number and level, and it wouldn't have been too tricky to ring the buzzer if the phonecall didn't connect. We didn't know this had happened (no email to say so), and the tracking website eventually had a strange abbreviation (no key to explain it) that didn't indicate what had gone wrong, so we spent 3 days waiting at home in case they turned up. I sent them 2 emails via their website - no response. I rang them - nobody ever answered. Several days later I got through on the phone, and yes, it did get rescheduled and arrived the following day.
I have to say though that our workmen last year were very good. If they said they'd be there at 8am, prompt on 8 we'd get a buzz from below.
The question that comes to mind is "why are the French like this?" I've just finished "Paris" by Edward Rutherfurd, and another book on English history, which of course has a huge crossover with France. My theory is that it is a hangover from the French Revolution, where the populace roundly rejected being told what to do by the aristocracy. I suspect they still are not all that keen on being told what to do. You only have to look at the parking to see that!
I hope this doesn't read like a complaint. It's not. We accept that it's just the way it is, but to a New Zealand mindset it can be very frustrating if you allow it to be. There are other aspects to the French we could really do with back down under. The politeness everywhere is so pleasant. Greetings and goodbyes are always expected and appreciated. Most of the waiters at Pablo, not just our waiter of the day, will greet us when we are there and shake our hands. Perhaps there is a bit of an ulterior motive, but I don't think so. An ex-waiter we saw in Perpignan was just the same when we met him in the street there. Being able to rest up at a café table for as long as you like, no pressure to move on, is an absolute pleasure. Most days we will nurse a coffee or a carafe of rosé at Bar le Pablo for up to an hour and watch the goings-on, often reading a book.
The generosity and tolerance of drivers never ceases to amaze us. So often we will see a delivery vehicle pull up, completely blocking a road, the driver rushing off somewhere. The drivers banking up behind will quietly wait, no sign of annoyance, with very very rarely a toot, until they can get on their way again.
And of course the emphasis on good-quality food and drink is one of the reasons we love it here. How can you not love a country where this is nothing special? ...
