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A guide to the French: Handle with care - International Herald Tribune


At Christmas, he and his team of butchers put on elves' hats with blinking lights. He is a playful spirit in a rather sober neighborhood — and the exception to the customer-is-always-wrong rule. He is so deeply trusted that when avian flu struck France, his poultry sales went up, not down. He offers passers-by free charcuterie and glasses of Beaujolais nouveau every fall. I'm convinced the practice was learned in the strict French educational system, in which teachers are allowed to tell pupils they are "zeros" in front of the entire class. In five and a half years living in Paris as an American correspondent, I have tried to make the country my own, knowing that I never will completely fit in, but always will be fascinated. In my time here, France has marked the 20th anniversary of France's sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior, the 200th anniversary of the high school baccalaureate diploma, the 60th anniversary of the bikini and the 100th anniversary of the brassiere. Instead, the trick is to somehow get the offended party to feel the mistake was his or her own. It has long been common practice for journalists in France to allow their interview subjects to edit their words. Mine, Monsieur Yvon, is more than a cutter of meat. One, Monsieur Yvon, in Paris, applies a personal touch that can be rare among French proprietors. Part of this feeling is a genuine affinity for the past, part a desire to cling to lost glory, part an insecurity that comes with a tepid economy and the struggle to integrate a growing Arab and African population. So as I finish my stint as Paris bureau chief and move on to a new beat here, it seems a good moment to offer eight lessons learned. So the official Élysée Palace transcript left out the line and replaced it with this: "I do not see what type of scenario can justify Iran's recourse to an atomic bomb." The practice of doctoring the transcript has continued under President Nicolas Sarkozy. When he tried to return it, the shopkeeper gave him the address of a tailor who can repair it — for a large fee.