French Education

While the French trace the development of their educational system to Charlemagne, the modern era of French education begins at the end of the nineteenth century. Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican school (l'école républicaine) by requiring all children under the age of 15 -- boys and girls -- to attend. james

Dear Donerail;

I'm looking for information on pure French waiters. I'm writing a book on waiting tables. It's geared to the American reality of college students/writers/actors/English teachers waiting tables while they "wait" for a "real job" to come along. But I want to include a chapter on European waiting traditions.

I'd like to know:
- are schools for waiters?
- what's an average salary or hourly wage?
- do waiters receive benefits like health insurance or paid vacations?
- what are some of the hallmarks of European dining service?

Michael Ashcraft

Dear crc95, you seem to have a working knoweldge of France. I'm looking for information on pure French waiters. I'm writing a book on waiting tables. It's geared to the American reality of college students/writers/actors/English teachers waiting tables while they "wait" for a "real job" to come along. But I want to include a chapter on European waiting traditions.

I'd like to know:
- are schools for waiters?
- what's an average salary or hourly wage?
- do waiters receive benefits like health insurance or paid vacations?
- what are some of the hallmarks of European dining service?

Michael Ashcraft

Dear Frenchmen & women;


I'm looking for information on pure French waiters. I'm writing a book on waiting tables. It's geared to the American reality of college students/writers/actors/English teachers waiting tables while they "wait" for a "real job" to come along. But I want to include a chapter on European waiting traditions.

I'd like to know:
- are schools for waiters?
- what's an average salary or hourly wage?
- do waiters receive benefits like health insurance or paid vacations?
- what are some of the hallmarks of European dining service?

Michael Ashcraft

Hold down the ALT key and type 0233 or ALT 0232 for the two e's.

This is a pain on a laptop but fine if you use your number pad.

marie35: What is your favorite area in La France? Donerail

crc: I didn't write it that way. I had copied/pasted from the previous writer, marie35. She had written mispelled.

You'll notice luxe, calme et volupte is spelled correctly (minus accents, I dont have a French kayboard right now). Now THAT I typed myself.

CRC: I started this topic that has ended up with three whole pages of comments that have absolutely NOTHING to do with my question!!! I find that "awesome, DUDE!"

I think QC is a disneyfied Paris wannabe, but it is charming and a great family vacation spot for north americans that don't want to cross the big water. I was left wanting, though, from the quebecois emphasis on their history and culture (not to mention the language)... I mean, they have NOTHING compared to European cities. But, I do admire them for being proud of who they are and how they became that way. I just prefer France over Quebec. In a way, I wish I had traveled in Quebec before I traveled in France, maybe then I would have appreciated their stuff more than I did. But, once you've been to Chartres, Saumur, Chenonceaux, Carcassonne, Rocamadour, Toulouse, Lyon, Nimes,Avignon, Nice, Grasse, Eze, Aix, Annecy and so many others, how can anyone even blink at QC??? VIVE LA FRANCE!!!!! oh, pardon me (blushing)... I forgot myself. Anyone up for some boules???

marie35 : what is it that you started exactly ??

And I was not referring to you about Fraternité etc., but to LVB who writes it 'fraternitie'. Not surprising coming from someone who feels in France when she's in QC. LOL

CRC

AND... I can't help it that I have an American keyboard and I am not able to type the e aigu thingy!

WOW! Look what I started!!!

What a good French education we're getting in this thread

Liberté : pouvoir choisir son pinard quand on veut !
Egalité : le même choix pour tous ouaissssss
Fraternité : partager une bonne boutanche entre potes



signé, Nemo, LVB's boyfriend

It is not Libertie, Fraternitie, et Egalitie either, it's Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.

(so sorry)

CRC

It is not Libertie, Fraternitie, et Egalitie...It is Luxe, Calme et Volupte....

If that does not work for you, then just have a kir

crc95: As we say here in the States, its a toss up or "pic em." Claire on TF1 is a babe as well but the F2 babe shows more cleavage. Donerail

lol ... the F2 lady must've been Béatrice Schonberg. Now, I'd advise you to also try www.tf1.fr and watch their evening news, they're the most popular here. So is the anchor, Claire Chazal. You watch and tell me which you prefer.

And congratulations for the raclette !

CRC

crc95: I forgot to mention something important. The Friday's 2000 news was anchored by a real nice babe. Cleavage and all. Why are you folks so good at everything you do. Over here we have Dan Rather. Donerail

Sir crc95: I can't remember the name of the Calvados at CDG. It was probably top shelf as most of the stuff on sale there is. Now back to another subject. I guess we should get off the subject of booze before someone gets offended. (Actually though, it may be germane to French education as the students seem to drink enough.) Back to the kids for a moment. I try to watch the 1300HR news or the 2000hr news on France2 a few times a week - on the internet, just goodgle france2. I do this to maintain contact with the spoken/visual French in hopes of improving my proficiency. (It is working but very, very slowly.) Anyway, you can still go to the France2 site and watch it as they archive a weeks worth of newscasts. I find these excellent by the way even though I don't understand most of it. Go to the JTvideo link on the site and call up either the 1300 or 2000 newscast for Thursday (and I think Wednesday) and you can find it. The cop didn't beat up the kid but he did exert a fair amount of pressure on the kid's midsection. And that kid could not be more than 8, 9, or ten years old. Honest. I suppose the cop could have been kfouler5 on vacation. BTW, Friday's newcast indicates the terrorist folks in Corsica are at it again. And your right, they hit what appeared to be a Government building. Donerail

crc: This means that the French are well educated in the area of fermented libations?

LVB / donerail : why is it that many threads always end up discussing fermented drinks ? This one's title is 'French Education', what is this supposed to mean !

SalB : is this a dutch name ?


CRC

How many US Presidents came from Virginia? There were 7 from Ohio. None of them were outstanding, except perhaps in a negative way, but for sheer numbers, 7 would be hard to beat. TPWINAOJAAD

Hi y'all! I've been back from Quebec City for one week now. The SAQ is on strike (www.saq.com) and thus, I wasn't able to stock up on SAQ sponsored liqueurs and eau de vies (produits du terroir) of Quebec. However, they had a small selection of tasties at the duty-free shop at Quebec Airport. The price was cheaper by $3/bottle Canadian, not including the taxes saved by buying there. I purchased some sortilege, and a type of cloudberry liqueur. I have enough Minaki in my wine cellar to last many years.

reading your post again : the cops were given instructions to do those checks in France's worst collèges and lycées, of which we had given them the list. So, it isn't likely that the kid you saw was 10yr old, since collège starts at 11 or 12, and in these places, kids are usually rather 14 then 11, if you see what I mean.

About the Calva : if it was indeed 90 euros, even if duty-free shops are a scam, it must have been a very high Calva brand or vintage. I'd be interested to know what's on the label ?

CRC

donerail : I haven't seen that scene, and it does seem a little farfetched to me too (but I hardly ever watch TV, especially the news). The only incident we had where I live was one 15yr old kid who started to hurl all kinds of bad words at the cops, and was gently arrested for that. Since my guess is that he was basically trying to impress his classmates by playing the real badass dude, I'm thinking the cops may have done him a big favor by busting him !

And no, there was no outcry over this here, school violence and the incidents we had are taken seriously, and teachers' union are powerful. I guess parents and teachers prefer to see cops searching a few kids, than to see those same kids bring weapons and/or drugs into the schools (many knives and hash bars were seized during this *operation*).

CRC

crc95: You are correct on where to buy the booze. I thought I would delay buying the Calvados until I arrived at CDG. That way I wouldn't have to carry it around Normandie and Paris. Bad mistake as I had been buying wine in the Champion stores. With all due respect to the Forum Admin and TPWIAO, I screwed up and ended up getting screwed. So back to the school kids, wasn't there a big outcry from the parents or teachers over the kid's civil rights? The film clip showed a cop pressing his baton into one of the kid's stomach. The kid was about 10 years old. Again, if that happpened over hear - especially if it was a designed "photo op" of some sort, the towns or cities would go ballistic. Donerail

Donerail : a regular Calva bottle costs 15 euros in Auchan or Carrefour, France's main grocery stores. So, with all due respect to you, TPWIAO, or Forum_admin, I think you got screwed. I never buy booze in duty-free, especially in France. They're less competitive than big super stores, because they're supposed to lure in the Japanese tourists who will NEVER go to a French grocery store anyway and thus believe they are getting a good deal.

Oops, I forgot ... 15 euros might be equal to $ 90 right now , I haven't checked today's rate ... LOL

About the school security thing : you're right, there was a nationally planned operation of police checks in some schools in France on thursday. It was a media operation, to show that police was there, doing its job, securing schools, etc. If you ask me, I think it was a flop, no big arrests were made, yet huge amounts of policemen were used for this thing. Where I live, we used to have a lot of school violence around 1998-2000, with gunshots outside, armed policemen in the yard, stabbed teachers and all, but then it cooled down a little.

CRC

Sir crc95: I think Virginia leads in the number of presidents but I really don't know. Virginia is a pretty nice state and we have been visiting there for about 25 years now. BTW, you must be psychic. How did you know that the TPWIAO drove me to drain the bottle of Calvados? A price of a bottle at CDG was 90 euros. It was cheaper in Normandie (Honfleur)but still relatively expensive. Southern Comfort is some deadly stuff. Anyway, back to French education. I was watching France2 yesterday and they had a segment on school violence over there increasing by 12%. They showed the French police showing up as the school busses were arriving. Kids were being frisked and sniffing dogs being lead thru them. If that happened over here there would be a riot. Whats the skinny on that? Donerail

So which state had the most presidents ? Is it VA ? Or PA perhaps ?

Donerail : I don't think Calva is that expensive. Maybe it is when you're a tourist and you buy in touristy places I remember once in NYC, I had to buy 3 bottles of Southern Comfort (you couldn't get it here in those days) so I rode the subway way uptown and got the booze from one of these Harlem liquor stores. Did you finish your bottle of Calva because of the hard time Forum_admin and TPWIAO are giving you ? lol ... cheer up !

CRC

crc95: Excuse me, Sir crc95: The Calvados was totally legal to bring in but it is very expensive. The bottle that I brought in is now empty. A shot during a meal was so amazing. By the way did you know that TSA means "Thousands Standing Around" ?
I also forgot to answer your previous question. Please forgive me for the oversight. I certainly didn't mean to offend you by the delay in this response. To the best of my knowledge Massachusetts has had four presidents: The two Adames, Coolidge, and Kennedy. We've had a number of near misses as well, Liveshot Kerry being the latest. Now, about the hair on French women's underarms/legs. I don?t know what the answer is but I will relay a theory that one of my Harley associates proffered. (Gawd, I have to be very careful now or I might get banished.) Richard Head (my Harley buddy) claims the stereotype may have all been started by someone viewing a couple of women who--well--er--er --women who seemed to like women. By the way, I wonder why men don't shave their legs? I am sure the Administrator is now glued to his screen. But we are models of decorum. Have a great day and I'll let you and Marie get better acquainted. Oops, almost forgot, can you sing the lyrics to koom-bye-ya for me? Faithfully yours, Donerail

Calvados is one great booze. Not sure you could bring it to the US though. Did you, donerail ? If the customs or the Deadly Canine Brigade doesn't catch you, then the TSA might !!

CRC

crc: I was simply demonstrating the uselessness of stereotypes such as the one you described in your previous post. I really have NO idea about the shaving, I just know that my students always ask me that and I have to assure them that the french are very hygenic (mostly! ;0

Donerail: I do love calvados! I am sure crc is a fine french man doing his part for Libertie, Fraternitie, et Egalitie!

I had my daily shower thankyouverymuch, and I am not married, thank god.

Since you mention it, I wanna know where does that american legend about non-shaving french women come from. I once read somewhere that French women were actually the first ones to start shaving their legs, and thus showed the world. I also know that women that don't shave their legs belong rather to the anglo-saxon bunch, like in Germany, where many women don't shave because of the feminist issues. So, any clue ?

CRC

CRC: the generalities and stereotypes comment was meant for you, forgive my indiscretion at omitting your name. After all, I am very new to the forum environment. Thank you for your patience!

Marie35: I just became a Calvados fan courtesy of our friends from La France. If you like JB or JD, you would die for Calvados from Pays d'Auge. crc95 is actually one of the best folks on here. He's up late tonight. He's probably trying to help out the French police to recover their explosives that they lost on Air France. Donerail

If you want to speak in generalities and stereotypes, I could ask you when was the last time you bathed..... and, does your wife shave her underarms and legs... BUT, I don't often speak in generalities and stereotypes. I try to have a semblance of tolerance and a willingness to learn about and accept people of varied ways of life and cultures.

Ok, there used to be a guy in the 1890s named Clement Ader. It's very old, I can't remember if this was even before or after the Mayflower ? Anyway, you may google his name and see his great achievements.

CRC

Donerail: I'll pass on Gore, thanks anyway )I really think he's from MS, but won't admit it; however, I will take you up on the bbq and the JD (Tenneessee's finest bourbon whisky)....its the Jim Beam that belongs to my neighbor!

So, Mr Donerail, Sir, how many US prez from MA ? Just curious.

CRC

crc95/Marie35: I can't believe my posts are getting thru. By the way, the French did not have any jet planes in the early 1900's. Unless you are referring to the hot air balloon. I suppose you could be referring to our Wright Brothers who moved to France to show you how things work. Now I am really pushing the envelope. Donerail

Marie35: Don't forget Al Gore and pork bar-b-que. I was going to add Jack Daniels but, of course, he belongs to your neighbor. Donerail

being a US president is not really a treat to civilization nowadays ... As for Nashville country and its elaborate and refined lyrics, I'm not sure either.

By the way, do you guys still do these really cool parties where you all dress with white hoods and wave stars & bars ? Now THAT's hospitable

CRC

crc95: You have a live one. Donerail

I can't think of anything any more relevant than Nashville's country music, Memphis' jazz and blues (especially SUN STUDIOS and Elvis!) Guess you'd have to have travelled here to fully understand and appreciate how tremendously valuable the contributions that Tennessee makes to the USA are. Two former US Presidents and a Vice-President, I could go on for days... maybe you just need some good ol' southern culture and hospitality!

I think we still make great contribution to civilization, not only historically. At least, I guess we're more relevant to today's civilization than Tennessee.

CRC

How novel! The French seem to have made some very positive advances for civilization... at least HISTORICALLY! Thanks for the info!

Yes. Actually we flew the first ones in the early 1900s, and then taught you how to make them bigger.

CRC

They have jet planes in France??? WOW! This is NEWS!!!

To Mr Donerail : Sir, do I know you ?


well I'm a-leaving
on a jet plane
don't know when I'll be back again ...
lalalala ...



lol

CRC