r/europe • u/MarktpLatz Lower Saxony (Germany) • May 08 '17

Series What do you know about... France?

This is the sixteenth part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Todays country:

France

France is the second most populous country in the EU. They were the most important voice in creating the EU (and its predecessors), to elevate their own power and to prevent further war with Germany. Hence, French is a very important language for the EU and especially for some institutions like the ECJ whose working language is French. They have just elected a new president last sunday and they will have parliamentary elections in june.

So, what do you know about France?

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u/[deleted] May 09 '17 edited Apr 17 '21

[deleted]

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u/Searocksandtrees Canada May 09 '17

Marseille... depending on what you say

Kindly expand on this minefield. I'll be there in a few months, so advice is welcome

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u/[deleted] May 09 '17

Marseille 101, solve every conflict by saying "Allez l'OM", achieve own death by saying "Ici c'est Paris"

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u/Searocksandtrees Canada May 09 '17

ok I think I can remember that :)

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u/Quas4r EUSSR May 09 '17 edited May 09 '17

You know how we always tell foreigners to remember "bonjour, merci, au revoir" when dealing with french shopkeepers ? In Marseille you don't even need to bother with that, just say "Allez l'OM" every time.

If you speak some level of french and you still can't figure out anything they say, it's the accent. Just don't try to imitate it.

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u/Searocksandtrees Canada May 09 '17

even easier!