Who's Better?, Round Deux

After stubbornly refusing to upload any photos last night, Blogger is once more working perfectly today, now that I've forgotten what I was going to write. C'est la vie! We encountered this fellow in the picture while driving out to visit a local dolmen - Someone had discarded a broken flip-flop (Yes, people are just as trashy in France as in the states), and the local fauna had decided it would make a great tanning bed. Now that it's summer, we have hundreds of these little guys all over the walls of our house. They pop out from between the stones and sit on the outer edges of each stone, soaking up the sun.

For a quick continuation of the "France vs. USA" posts that I started a while back, I thought I'd run through some interesting news links and add my comments. If I recall correctly, the current score is France:2, USA:1.

Getting Things Done
USA, No question
I recently read this fascinating and funny article which attempted to explain how anything ever gets done in this country of 35 hour work weeks and constant vacations. I still don't get it, though I have come to accept the reality of a country that moves on "Island Time". The biggest problem is explaining this to outsiders, such as my customers in the states, who don't understand why a package tracking number won't be any more specific than "In our system" for four solid weeks....

Innovating
USA
This, admittedly, is drawn from limited experience of observing tech developments in France, but I am perpetually frustrated that the current French government seems to A) regard every new US technological advance as a personal affront, and at the same time, B) be unable to do better than simply produce second-rate copies of the leading US innovations. This rather pointed article addresses this issue nicely. WHY they would waste billions developing a "French" alternative to Google (when there is already a Google.France en français) is stunning - I would much rather see that money going into new projects that would lead and expand the field, rather than simply following. The writer mentions online translation, and if ever there was a need for a genre-defining app, that is it. A conquest there would put France back on the internet map as a leader, not a follower. French Google copy, French CNN copy... Why?

Bread
France!
We just had a new bakery open up within walking distance. Freshly-baked bread and croissants, yum!

Varied Cultures
Tie
French people say, "You americans! You are all...". Americans say, "The French, they are all...". I say, "Well, which part of each country are we talking about?" North Carolinians aren't Californians (We burn books, they burn smokers), and Bretons aren't Parisiens. Yet, both countries insist on looking on each other as one unified lump, despite the sometimes-vast divisions in culture and attitudes that exist in each. Americans tend to assume all French must be the same because it's a small country; how can the people vary much from one side to the other? (They should hear the bickering from the UK sometime, where accents and mentalities change from one town to another..) I don't really know why French people assume all Americans are alike, especially after the bloodletting of the last presidential election, but they often seem to. For a funny take on our shared regional differences AND consistencies, read this.

Note - I did not have sweet tea in my bottle as a baby. At least, not that I know of...