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Post by Nutty on Oct 18, 2023 16:38:20 GMT 1
Is this so far different to the education system in UK where money buys a way into the high end where the networking and route to the top are to be found? If the French civil servants are so bright why is it we plebs find them so intransigent and lost when presented with a problem that's not "in the book". To answer your first point, here's a snip from the link I posted above: - Grandes écoles primarily admit students based on their national ranking in written and oral exams called concours, which are organised annually by the French Ministry of Education. While anyone can register for concours, successful candidates have almost always completed two or three years* of dedicated preparatory classes (classes préparatoires) prior to admission.
* my italics To answer the second part of your post, France's laws, systems and procedures have long been codified - for example, think of the 1804 Napoleonic Code. Contrast this with English Law - "in the absence of any statutory law, the common law with its principle of stare decisis forms the residual source of law, based on judicial decisions, custom, and usage." ( Stare decisis in effect means precedent). The codifying of France's procedures to address every situation that may arise, was an attempt to unify the country - by ensuring that everyone was treated alike by officials/functionaries who were all (in theory) singing from the same hymn sheet. The Napoleonic Code attempted to combine in one manageable document an overarching legal system to replace the patchwork of local customs, traditions, local arrangements etc etc and all the many and various exemptions, privileges, and special charters granted by kings or other feudal lords. It was a mammoth achievement. For those people whose situation was not addressed by these procedures, Système D evolved to take up the slack. Nutty
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Post by cernunnos on Oct 18, 2023 18:52:53 GMT 1
Cernunnos, Are you close to us in St. Mathieu? Are you saying that Saint Mathieu ( where you live ) is a back-water ? We don't live far from there dylan.
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dylan
Non-gamer
Posts: 45
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Post by dylan on Oct 19, 2023 8:32:16 GMT 1
I thought so. It was when you posted that a new pizza shop had opened in your vicinity 2 days after one opened in St. Mathieu.
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Post by cernunnos on Oct 19, 2023 8:40:28 GMT 1
We don't rate pizza as food. We tried to get a pizza from the new shop just after it had opened and were told there was a 3 hour wait , not been back since. Prefer standard " french " food. Another reason to be grateful we live in France.
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Post by houpla on Oct 19, 2023 8:48:35 GMT 1
That is a viewpoint we can share I'm so disappointed that each and every time a nice little French resto goes to the wall, it reopens as a pizzeria. Even our village resto has stuck a pizza oven on the terrasse and Friday nights that's the only option No doubt it's cheap and easy to produce, but I'll be happy when this particular fad is over.....
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Post by norfolk on Oct 19, 2023 9:00:42 GMT 1
That is a viewpoint we can share I'm so disappointed that each and every time a nice little French resto goes to the wall, it reopens as a pizzeria. Even our village resto has stuck a pizza oven on the terrasse and Friday nights that's the only option No doubt it's cheap and easy to produce, but I'll be happy when this particular fad is over..... I think you will have a long wait hoopla, pizzas = high profit margin and so will be around long after I’m gone…
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dylan
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Post by dylan on Oct 19, 2023 9:29:57 GMT 1
We only eat pizza if we make it at home, it's really tasty using home made Naan bread instead of pizza dough. the rest of the time it's French recipes.
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Post by annabellespapa on Oct 19, 2023 10:28:35 GMT 1
That is a viewpoint we can share I'm so disappointed that each and every time a nice little French resto goes to the wall, it reopens as a pizzeria. Even our village resto has stuck a pizza oven on the terrasse and Friday nights that's the only option No doubt it's cheap and easy to produce, but I'll be happy when this particular fad is over..... We were only discussing this with our French neighbours a few weeks ago, 25 years ago, pizzas were virtually unheard of in French supermarkets and restaurants outside the big cities but pizzas and pasta were so cheap to put together compared with a French meal made from scratch that it quickly took off, our little French village (1400 inhabitants) has two Italian bistro/pizzeria type restaurants along with two traditional French and would you believe it a Vegan restaurant that is run by British, it has been there for a least two years so either they have big pockets or it is doing OK. p.s In summer there is also a wood fired mobile pizza van that comes once a week.
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Oct 19, 2023 10:54:17 GMT 1
My life has been divided roughly into three countries of residence. US, UK, and France. I have been exposed to the cuisine of all three and can't say none of them really ring my bell. I lust after Mexican, Indian, Italian, and Chinese dishes as a preference. I haven't yet ventured into the realm of Pizza from a machine and probably never will. A passable one can be made at home if you have the ingredients. The popularity of machines might just be because some French people dare to live in a world where you can eat outside of the traditional hours.
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Post by norfolk on Oct 19, 2023 11:22:37 GMT 1
My life has been divided roughly into three countries of residence. US, UK, and France. I have been exposed to the cuisine of all three and can't say none of them really ring my bell. I lust after Mexican, Indian, Italian, and Chinese dishes as a preference. I haven't yet ventured into the realm of Pizza from a machine and probably never will. A passable one can be made at home if you have the ingredients. The popularity of machines might just be because some French people dare to live in a world where you can eat outside of the traditional hours. I was very skeptical about pizzas from a machine but, I have tried different pizzas on three occasions from a newly (about 9 months) installed machine just down the road. All three were really tasty. The owner of the machine (he has four in the area now) used to run a very good pizzeria (good reputation) in the centre of Albi but found it more cost effective to feed the machines rather than pay the ever increasing charges and overheads of a shop etc.
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Post by annabellespapa on Oct 19, 2023 11:45:09 GMT 1
When I arrive in our village in France from the ferry it is usually around midnight, no businesses open and very few houses with lights on, however there is always a small crowd of youngsters with mopeds around the pizza machine p.s- the machine is on the car park of the mattress seller, why does France need so many mattresses plus there is a guy who sells them on the Friday morning market, probably need them now with the bed bug problem !
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Post by omegal on Oct 19, 2023 13:32:45 GMT 1
That is a viewpoint we can share I'm so disappointed that each and every time a nice little French resto goes to the wall, it reopens as a pizzeria. Even our village resto has stuck a pizza oven on the terrasse and Friday nights that's the only option No doubt it's cheap and easy to produce, but I'll be happy when this particular fad is over..... We were only discussing this with our French neighbours a few weeks ago, 25 years ago, pizzas were virtually unheard of in French supermarkets and restaurants outside the big cities but pizzas and pasta were so cheap to put together compared with a French meal made from scratch that it quickly took off, our little French village (1400 inhabitants) has two Italian bistro/pizzeria type restaurants along with two traditional French and would you believe it a Vegan restaurant that is run by British, it has been there for a least two years so either they have big pockets or it is doing OK. p.s In summer there is also a wood fired mobile pizza van that comes once a week. True to a point but in 1994 we opened our campsite and the two most asked for snacks were Burgers and Pizzas, the latter were bought from Metro and with the use of a pizza oven we did a roaring trade. Simple and easy we bought the basic pizza's and added to them. Now I can only speak for ourselves and our wholesaler and can't speak for all of France of course. I think I know the vegan restaurant, we've been there for vegetarian curries?
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Oct 19, 2023 20:37:18 GMT 1
Might I be so bold as to suggest that perhaps even French people are getting peckish outside of the proscribed national nosh time between 1200 and 1400? This might explain at least some of the popularity of pizza machines, fish & chip vans as well as Chinese and Indian food doing so well at markets, etc. There may have been a very good reason that everyone downs tools at the same time to go for a far too long lunch break in the past but it seems a little weird today. Thank dog I'm not a vegetarian.
Just an opinion.
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Post by cernunnos on Oct 20, 2023 7:20:50 GMT 1
I think the change is due to the French youth moving into the fast food lane and getting hooked on the rubbish that is served under the name of food( which it is not) Just watch the change that will come in health and welfare due to this acceptance of the Americn dream. We love the two hour lunch break when out, but we are old and not trendy and sit down at a table to eat. The other side, of course, is the difficulty in keeping a good restaurant open, with all the rules and laws that are imposed , it is a lot easier to serve from a van.
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Post by jeliecrack on Oct 20, 2023 8:04:10 GMT 1
I've never worked for any company in France that does two hour dinner breaks
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