He's right. As a French, Brit, Cypriot, I feel I have more in common with the UK than I do when I go to the States or Australia.
We share immense history (back from Roman occupation, the crusades, trying to invade one another, to more recent collaborations and partnerships), and especially societal values. Believe it or not behaviours and cultural breadth are also similar. Our past is steeped in one another and the fact our countries are physically connected also is incredibly important to remember.
Our cultural heritage in the UK and France has been shaped by one another (of course other parts of Europe too) far more significantly than the US/Oz has.
It's hard to see as most of us take language as the measuring element but if you look beyond we have a huge stronger connection with Europe than the other English speaking nations.
The U.K. has a lot of common history with France as you say, but as a Brit living in France, I’m of the opinion that France is rather different to the U.K. or any English speaking Commonwealth country.
Politics is very different with a number of near centre parties contesting elections. Don’t forget that La France is still both a socialist republic and a deeply catholic country. Despite the main state services being online, both your local Mairie (town/village) and the Department Prefecture (County Council/Local Governmen) play a big part in how you live your life and interact with the State.
The legal system is very different with French solicitors and lawyers being employed by the State. Many French laws (particularly inheritance) date back to Napoleon and take some getting used to. As I still have a U.K. driving licence (because the then U.K. Minister of Transport screwed up the arrangement that the were French were offering), I have to carry my Resident’s Card with me as my driving license is still valid for driving, but no longer recognised for ID purposes. Every French citizen gets issued an ID card free of charge, but possessing one or carrying them isn’t enforced by the State as long as you have some form of State issued ID on you. Oddly enough, the State issued Carte Vitale (health care card) isn’t recognised as ID.
Banks are rather different as well. Your bank branch is actually a separate franchise of Bank X to the one in the next town and they only join up at a regional level. I once used the auto deposit drawer at my nearest bank branch to deposit both cheques and some cash. The cheques cleared into my account as the bank has a central cheque handling office. The cash didn’t and was waiting for me two weeks later when I went into the local branch again to find out why. As the local branch wasn’t my designated branch and actually is across a Regional and Departmental border, they could handle cash from me at all. My card still works in all their ATMs for all other services though.
Cheques are still a thing here and heaven help you if La France thinks you’ve knowingly written a bad check as the Bank of France can block you from holding a French bank account for X years which would make living here almost impossible now as just about all transactions are electronic. Oh, and you pay a monthly charge for having a bank account here. How much depends on what services you use. You can get a normal Debit card and you can get a Credit card which automatically takes payment from the current account it’s linked to at the end of the month. Having an actual credit card that you’re used to requires you to be employed and/or reasonably minted.
The health care system here is very different to the U.K. with every single provider of care from your local GP up to the big hospitals being utterly private businesses with State oversight. You pay for treatment at the point of treatment and, depending on your age, income and a number of different factors, the health care system pays a percentage back to you. Most people take out health insurance against serious medical issues which is called a “mutuelle“ which basically covers your costs for any stay in hospital and ongoing care. For someone in their 50s with no existing health issues, that’s €60 a month.
The entire system is geared towards preventative care and rapid treatment. Even during Covid lockdown, you could see your GP who would refer you to a specialist if necessary and would see you within a week or two. If you need treatment, you’ll be booked into a clinic ASAP. Blood tests, X-rays and MRIs etc are carried out by specialis laboratories near to the clinics and used give you, yes give you the results the next working day with your doctor and consultant getting a copy. You get the full data and the summary report. Had an MRI? You’ll be given a CD-ROM which will play your entire scan back to you as a movie if you have a PC.
Did I mention religion? France is still a catholic country with a considerable Amount of the population being regular church goers. Tradition is very important, especially out in rural France which has an older population than the cities and big towns. People (like entitled middle class Brits) rocking up from elsewhere and wanting things changed to suit them is a great way to **** off the locals and guarantee any reasonable request you might make via the Mairie is dealt with at old school French bureaucratic pace. That’s also a thing here. Anything involving the apparatus of the State (such as Residence Card applications) takes as long as it takes. It’ll get there in the end, but it’ll take its own sweet time and you can’t change it. In fact, you’ll just annoy the department working on your application if you attempt to hurry them along.
Patriotism isn’t frowned on here and the French take great pride in La France’s success in all things. There was almost a national day of mourning after Les Bleus lost to Argentina. The supermarkets make a big deal out of promoting French and especially local products and you might well see a sign above the eggs in your local Intermarché telling you that the farmer who supplied lives just around the corner. Fruit and veg is seasonal and if you want something out of season, it’ll be tinned. If it’s not French, they’re be a very obvious sign telling you, even in Lidl and Aldi.
I would consider contributing to the fares...
