Thursday, June 28, 2007

French leaky pipes

We have simply had to ask the lady upstairs not to bathe too often during office hours. Hmmm... do they actually bathe? Methinks it was the bidet.
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4 comments:

My Frontier Thesis said...

Interesting article. I'll have to read it in full later this evening. The last time I remember Paris getting a major overhaul was under Napoleon III. This Wikipedia link says France industrialized in the 1870s, but I've heard better historians argue that all of France didn't undergo a full-blown industrial revolution until about the 1950s. In fact, an old history professor of mine, Edmund Clingan (I think at Queen's College now), made that very statement at a history conference in France. He said he received a round of applause from the French historians attending.

Pepe, can you opine on any of this at all? I'm interested in your take.

6/28/2007 3:38 PM
Tecumseh said...

Yes, it was Baron Haussmann who did the first major overhaul of Paris in a long time. But the French never quite caught up with the civilized world, even after the Marshall Plan (courtesy of John Q. Taxpayer) kick-started their economy after WWII (not that the French will ever be grateful for that - au contraire!) At any rate, yes, the plumbing in Paris is atrocious. Ande they still haven't discovered air conditioning. But, boy, can they act superior!

6/28/2007 3:44 PM
My Frontier Thesis said...

...yes, all noted AI. I remember reading Jon Krakauer's "Eiger Dreams" about, oh, ten years ago. Krakauer was climbing somewhere in France, or near France. A couple French were scaling the same mountain, and about a thousand or so feet above his locale. Mountaineer etiquette is to NOT let pebbles fall below. In this case, the French were sending down pebbles by the cup. Later, when Krakauer confronted them about their asshole move, they responded with, "If these mountains are too big for you Americans, then you should go back home..." Krakauer walked away.

I do know there's a bit of myth with the idea that all Frenchies are snobs, too. I've encountered some nice ones, but they seem to hail from the countryside rather than Paris.

6/28/2007 4:22 PM
Tecumseh said...

How about the ones from Nawlins? They would have stomped on Krakauer's head up that mountain!

6/28/2007 5:09 PM

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