Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
continue to be close, the goal here is not to be 'friends'
with each other but to excel in their roles as parents and
children. (Friendships are a special category of relationships,
as we will soon see.)
The parent/child role reversal can come quite early in life in
France. When they reach 35, many young parents i nd their
own parents already calling on them for advice and obeying
their suggestions. As the French now prefer smaller families,
they are also experiencing the nuclear family syndrome.
Older members of the family retire and move away from
children and grandchildren. Still, in France, the traditional
Sunday lunch, with the whole family crowded together at
the table, is still a 'command performance' wherever and
whenever it is still possible.
Evidence of this is still clear in the parks of Paris, which will
be nearly empty on a Sunday morning, as families prepare
the noonday meal. After lunch, these parks will l ood with
family groups; all generations, strolling together, all dressed
up and usually deeply involved in several conversations,
bodies gesturing enthusiastically.
If a Sunday gathering is not possible, a long telephone call
between parents and children is expected. (This 20th century
invention has been adapted very differently, according to
the French sense of private vs public, as we will soon see.)
Pets
A visit to any French market will convince you that the French
love to eat all parts of all animals. Not true. Some animals,
especially small dogs and cats, get better treatment than
humans. English writer Fay Sharman, author of Coping with
France , is horrii ed by this contrast:
'The French attitude to animals is a bizarre mix of
brutality, indifference and adoration. They think nothing
of shooting larks and thrushes or keeping live rabbits
horribly cooped up at the market... they are altogether
unsqueamish... Yet the French have suddenly become a nation
of pet lovers.'
Dogs and cats bask in undeserved affection in France,
especially in Paris. Owners cuddle them shamelessly. (They
 
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