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French president Chirac mocks the Brits.

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posted on Jul, 5 2005 @ 11:54 AM
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www.msnbc.msn.com...


PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac cracked jokes to Russian and German leaders about bad British food and mad cow disease, a Paris daily said on Monday, in comments that could further strain Anglo-French relations.

Chirac’s office said the comments in Liberation “did not correspond at all with the tone or the content of the meeting” he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday in Kaliningrad.

Liberation said Chirac was overheard making the jokes on the sidelines of the meeting in the Russian city. Its Moscow correspondent, who covered the meeting, reported journalists overheard an unsuspecting Chirac making the remarks.

Chirac took the opportunity of a receptive audience to snipe at British food. “You can’t trust people who cook as badly as that,” he joked, the paper said.

“After Finland, it’s the country with the worst food.”

He then told Putin and Schroeder how former NATO Secretary General George Robertson, a Scot, had made him try an unappetizing Scottish dish.

“That’s where our problems with NATO come from,” he said.



havent the French learned anithing from the past about mocking the Brits.



posted on Jul, 5 2005 @ 02:06 PM
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Even funnier than that they let a journalist sneak into the cafe and listen to their PRIVATE conversation is the outrage this has created on some other boards I have visited.

Get a brit and a frenchie together and they will joke about the yanks. Get a Russian and a yank together and they will make fun of Germany. Get a german and a brit together and they will mock France... well, I guess you get the point.

He then told Putin and Schroeder how former NATO Secretary General George Robertson, a Scot, had made him try an unappetizing Scottish dish.
“That’s where our problems with NATO come from,” he said.


Clearly an indicator that this conversation was oooooh so serious....



posted on Jul, 5 2005 @ 05:21 PM
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Yes, cause America never makes fun of France. Never do the Brits make fun of the French. No, who would think that?



posted on Jul, 5 2005 @ 08:35 PM
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I like how Tony Blair responded while at the Olympics talks:

"I won't say the G8 summit would be an anticlimax to it (the Singapore Olympics decision) because that would be undiplomatic, and I know when I go there I will be in the presence of very diplomatic people," Mr Blair said.



posted on Jul, 5 2005 @ 09:44 PM
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hehe I like Blair's response, that was amusing.

It kind of raises an interesting question, do Blair and Bush exchange French jokes outside of earshot of people? I mean, in concession to Chirac, I can see how unappetizing the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep boiled in its own stomach may sound unappealing, but it's really quite tasty!

All in all, probably not the right diplomatic conditions for this sort of thing, but not really any foul. Chirac got an unintentional jab in at the UK, and Blair got an intentional jab in on Chirac. Chuckle and move on.



posted on Jul, 6 2005 @ 04:29 AM
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HEY, i live in Finland... He said that our food SUCK... Damn you french men... And did you know that the frenchmen are using 5 times less sope than the Finnish... But that doesn't mean that we are saying to the French men that "you stink"...

[edit on 6-7-2005 by Figher Master FIN]



posted on Jul, 6 2005 @ 04:36 AM
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Yeah FIN, what's lost here is he said Finnish food was even worse than British food...


What a diplomat!



posted on Jul, 6 2005 @ 09:21 AM
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Yeah, I thought that comment was a little odd, too, but I don't have any clue what constitutes Finnish food, so didn't comment. After all, before I had it, haggis was the most disgusting thing I had never tasted.
A diplomat is merely someone who can hide their true thoughts in public and pretend to be worried about another nation's goals for the purpose of furthering their own. Diplomats are actors, so comments made in suspected private situations mocking their opposition to their goals doesn't suprise me in the least. I'm actually a bit suprised it was so light hearted.



posted on Jul, 6 2005 @ 12:11 PM
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I think you'll find the Brits barely noticed Chiracs little jokes.

In any event we Brits tend not to go ridiculously overboard when other nations poke a bit of fun at us or disagree with us, unlike some.


[edit on 6-7-2005 by sminkeypinkey]



posted on Jul, 29 2005 @ 04:54 AM
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I like Chirac, because he gave us the 2012 Olympics.



posted on Jul, 29 2005 @ 04:59 AM
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Chirac mustn't realise that London is now the food capital of the world. It had more restaurants in the world's Top 50 than France, Italy and the US, and a British restaurant was voted the best in the world in tha list.

Not just the UK economy, but British wine is also outperforming French wine.. Worldwide, the sales of French wine are declining, because people prefer to drink Anglo-Saxon wines from California, Australia and Southern England. And a British wine was recently voted the best in the world.

Britain is doing well at the moment. You can't say that about France.



posted on Jul, 29 2005 @ 05:04 AM
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Originally posted by Figher Master FIN
HEY, i live in Finland... He said that our food SUCK... Damn you french men... And did you know that the frenchmen are using 5 times less sope than the Finnish... But that doesn't mean that we are saying to the French men that "you stink"...

[edit on 6-7-2005 by Figher Master FIN]


Unbelievably, Chirac said those comments just 2-3 days before the IOC voted as to who will host the 2012 Olympics. There were FOUR Finnish members in the IOC who had to vote which city will host the Olympics.

In the final round of voting which was between London and Paris, London won by FOUR points. 54.50.

I wonder where London's 4 extra points came from.



posted on Jul, 29 2005 @ 05:07 AM
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From The Times -

July 18, 2005

Chirac to be served the best of British

From Nicci Smith in Brussels



BRITAIN is to wreak revenge on President Chirac for disparaging British cuisine by serving the French leader national dishes and English and Welsh wine each time he comes to Brussels.

M Chirac will be offered toasts not of French champagne but of Camel Valley Brut from Cornwall. He will have to wash his meals down not with bordeaux but with Chapeldown pinot noir as Britain uses its six-month EU presidency to showcase its best regional food and drink at all ministerial meetings and summits.

A total of 2,148 bottles of English and Welsh wine have been ordered at a cost of £11,800 to the EU budget. Ten vineyards will have the chance to show off some 15 of their finest wines as ambassadors, ministers and heads of state visit Brussels.

M Chirac caused a rumpus this month by telling Gerhard Schröder and President Putin that Britain had the worst food after Finland. He added that Britain’s only contribution to European agriculture was “mad cow” disease.

The French President is due to sample British fare twice during the British presidency, at summits in October and December. But French ministers will be subject to it almost daily basis at routine meetings. Tonight, for example, EU agriculture ministers will consume Scottish smoked salmon and Welsh lamb, with Sharpham Barrel-Fermented Dry 2003.

The British wines, from Cornwall, the South East, the Midlands and Wales, have been chosen through a tendering process that included tastings by embassy and EU officials. The winners included Sharpham Beenleigh red 2003, Denbies Coopers Brook 2003 and Glyndwr medium white 2002.

thetimesonline.co.uk

--------------------------------------------------


He added that Britain’s only contribution to European agriculture was “mad cow” disease.


Not to mention that Britain virtually invented all of the modern day's agricultural practises, which French farmers use everyday.

[edit on 29-7-2005 by AdamB]



posted on Jul, 29 2005 @ 07:28 AM
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Originally posted by AdamB

He added that Britain’s only contribution to European agriculture was “mad cow” disease.


Not to mention that Britain virtually invented all of the modern day's agricultural practises, which French farmers use everyday.


Source for your claim?

Arguably the most important discoveries for Agriculture are the "Law of Minimum" and artificial fertilizers by Justus von Liebig (German), and the discovery of the laws of genetics, creditet to Georg Mendel (Austrian-Czech). Just to name a few...



posted on Jul, 31 2005 @ 12:27 AM
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and snails too.

and baby chicks.

Pretty much the pinnacle of civilization in my book, too.


But then, the Brits eat eels and oxtail soup and stuff.

Nothing worse than the Americans though. They eat McDonalds!

[edit on 31-7-2005 by dr_strangecraft]



posted on Jul, 31 2005 @ 12:36 AM
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Originally posted by deltaboy
He then told Putin and Schroeder how former NATO Secretary General George Robertson, a Scot, had made him try an unappetizing Scottish dish.

“That’s where our problems with NATO come from,” he said.



Well.. I remember one evening sitting on my Indian friend's deck at the beach at sunset with him and his journalist friend. Mohan was bursting to feed us with his Inidan qweezeen. The journalist dude demurred as did I. I wasn't into Indian food and he wasn't, either. Mohan insisted we eat his food. Believe me, dude and I tried.. it just wasn't good. And that's not to say all Inidan food is bad... but I can understand aversions.......

Is it right, as a head of state, to bust on certain a country's food? I dunno.. Probly not, but I can understand the humour.


[edit on 7/31/05 by EastCoastKid]



posted on Jul, 31 2005 @ 02:56 AM
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Originally posted by deltaboy
havent the French learned anithing from the past about mocking the Brits.

They about mocking the British? It's the British who should fear the French.

French-British war in 1214
France won.

The Hundred Years won
France won.

War of French Revolution
France won, against a coalition of Prussia, Austria, GB and Russia.

Napoleonic Wars
France lost, against a coalition of the British, the Germans and the Dutch.

[edit on 31-7-2005 by AtheiX]



posted on Jul, 31 2005 @ 05:18 AM
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AtheiX, I've always wondered if you have something against Great Britain, in every thread I've seen you seem to be bashing us in one way or another.

So, deep down what do you really think of us Brits?



[edit on 31-7-2005 by UK Wizard]



posted on Jul, 31 2005 @ 10:09 AM
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Brits take the piss (out of themselves mostly) better than any Frenchie could.



posted on Jul, 31 2005 @ 10:31 AM
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Originally posted by AdamB
I like Chirac, because he gave us the 2012 Olympics.


Nope. The proposal of the city of PARIS lost against that of LONDON. This has nothing to do with a France vs. UK decision. And about the least passionate and most bureaucratic people can be found in international organisations like the IOC.

This decision is purely based on the proposals, since there is no political background this time as opposed to the last decision to give the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing.

And I said this before, why cant we let them make jokes about whatever they want in a PRIVATE conversation?!? I wouldnt want to even start thinking about what for example Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Perle were chuckling about in THEIR little get-togethers...




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