Reality Versus Fantasy, French Attitudes

OK

There's a French expression often used during games of boules that got me thinking. The expression is “elle est là”, said of a shot that is neither very good nor very bad. I got to thinking about the expression because I wondered how I would translate it into English. The literal translation “the boule is there” clearly wouldn't do. So I decided on OK; the shot is OK. But the expression was ringing bells in my mind and I suddenly realised that the Ouolof in Senegal have a directly analogous construction. Greetings among the Ouolof tend to be a lengthy ritual. After the opening “assalam malakum” and response you enquire after the well-being of members in the extended family in turn, husband/wife, grandfather, grandmother, children, in-laws, etc, by asking “ana sa”(family member). The standard response to all these enquiries is “munga fa”, which literally means he/she is there. Again the translation into English would be OK; he she is OK. Ah well, I thought it was interesting.

Another Very French Attitude

Friends Claudine and Jacques from St Malo arrived in the village last week for their summer sojourn and we duly got together to chat at the pizza evening. Claudine said Jacques didn't agree with what I had written about the ELSE clause in my other blog (www.theelseclauseonline.blogspot.com). I have the utmost respect for Jacques' intelligence and his IT knowledge so wondered what his objection was. He said that the IF THEN construction worked perfectly well without the ELSE clause; you simply listed the conditions that were of interest (IF) and what should happen (THEN) if each occurred. But, I objected, what if a condition occurred that you hadn't listed? Ah well then, he replied, you have a problem. Indeed, it is exactly that problem that I was addressing. But what Jacques couldn't see was that it was a problem that needed to be addressed. His point was that you should list all the conditions that could occur and, if you did, the ELSE clause wouldn't be necessary. True but……..in reality people make mistakes; that was my point; his point was that they shouldn't make mistakes. And so we went round in circles.

This theory versus practice/reality argument seems to crop up time and again in discussions with French friends. If friend Steve or I criticise something the EU has done the attitude of our French friends seems always to be that the English don't want to be in the EU unless changes are made to better suit Britain; whereas the French are fully committed. As it happens, both Steve and I think the EU has achieved a lot that is good and are in favour of Britain remaining in the EU; but not come what may nor at any price so, yes, we do want changes; we want a dose of reality to leaven the fantasy in Brussels. So, as it happens, do our French friends; they want changes that would favour France. So where's the difference? I think the difference is essentially that the French cannot conceive of a situation where the EU would make decisions that were so against French interests that France would contemplate leaving the EU. And I think that is realistic. If the EU went strongly against French interests the French would not opt out, they would simply ignore or break the offending EU regulations, almost certainly with impunity, as they are currently doing at their Spanish and German borders. Britain, on the other hand, sees opting out as an alternative and can't seem to contemplate simply ignoring unfavourable EU decisions. But maybe we should take the same stance as the French; why see EU directives as binding if other countries don't?  Why not regard them as fantasy rather than reality?

There's a football analogy, for what it's worth, that suggests these differences may resolve themselves over time. The English have traditionally always placed more emphasis on the physical side of the game and the French on the technical side. Nowadays that difference in emphasis is far less pronounced. I remember from playing for Garches in France that although the French eschewed the aggressive and sometimes dangerous tackling that was very much part of the English game they would happily body-check players, obstruct them one way or another, without any intention of playing the ball. A dangerous tackle was a foul in France, obstruction was not, and vice-versa in England. That was fifty years ago; now both dangerous tackles and obstruction are deemed fouls on both sides of the Channel.

House Prices

I read that house prices in London are reaching ridiculous levels and there is a degree of ridiculousness about house prices here. Here it's not the high scale of the prices but the degree of variability that is ridiculous. When I was in England I seem to remember that estate agents would give you valuations of a house that were within 5-10% of one another and generally would not accept taking on the sale much outside that margin. A couple of years ago a house opposite me went on the market, with an agent, at a very optimistic 640, 000 euros. Within 18 months that price had come down to below 400,000 euros and it eventually sold for 280,000 euros. There have been numerous examples of sales around here with similar, if not quite as dramatic, variations in the initial asking price and eventual sale price. I don't understand how that degree of variation can happen if estate agents know their job but initial asking prices here undoubtedly have a touch of fantasy about them. Friends Steve and Jo are currently looking for a house nearer the centre of the village so I hope for their sakes that realism strikes sooner rather than later.