Heritage places as perpetual sources of income

We will never know if the erstwhile emperors of France had this in their mind when they had built or commissioned such beautiful monuments all over France. MONEY. The French  govt makes a killing by charging millions of tourists every year a substantial entry fee at many such monuments! Not a bad way to generate revenue. Lesson for the US, and especially India, with SO many beautiful cultural and historic monuments lying under-utilized.

citadel at Lyon, 6 euro

Jacobin square, Lyon

Gardens at Versailles, 8.50 euro

Louvre, 15 euro

Louis XVI palace gates, free!

Hall of mirrors, Versailles, 9 euro

Lunch, with this view from table, 20 euro

gardens at Versailles, 8.50 euro

Apple product prices in France

Apple stores in France charged the same prices numerically as the Apple stores in the US. But the difference was the currency in question; i.e. the Euro in France and the Dollar in the US. So, an iPad that cost $350 in US was sold at 350 in France; but the currency in question was the Euro, which was undoubtably a stronger currency!

Apple is taking its French customers for a ride!

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/06/04/apple-store-to-open.html

Public transport in France

French people enjoy a great and reliable public transport system. They can do without buying a car, unlike the people of the US. Paris and Lyon, the two major cities we visited had very a good network of trams, trains and metro stations. The metros in France are so easy to understand that a foreigner, with no knowledge of French language could also travel comfortably to any destination of his choice.

The train platforms had a unique signboard that displayed the number of minutes left for the next train to arrive, and the train after that. This reduced the frustration of passengers and helped them manage their waiting time better.

Peaceful protests for Animal rights

As I set out from my hotel one morning, I saw a group of people congregate in a prominent public place, carrying placards of graphic pictures of Abattoirs and of the cruelty to animals that take place there. The unique aspect to their protest was that they did not do any talking per se. They stood there with their placards, and displayed a handmade counter, giving a live feed of the number of animals facing a cruel death every minute in France. They also played shrieking animal noises in the background, the ones that are made by animals when they are about to be killed.
This unique way of protest had an effect on the French people, and I saw many of them stop from their busy schedule and take notice. Moved by their effort, I too joined them briefly.

French kids and smartphones

Its not unusual in the US to see parents using hi-tech gadgets such as iPhones and iPads to distract their children and stop them from causing trouble or running amock, especially in a public place. But in France, the parents seem to have a tighter hold on their kids and do not seem to need the use of technology to 'tame' their kids! Plus one, for the parents in France!

http://cdn-ugc.cafemom.com/gen/constrain/500/500/80/2012/12/19/21/ek/9n/powllzmm0w.png

Gender equality at the workplace

As a part of company visits, we visited several companies such as Galderma, Aldos and Renault. We observed the most modern industrial practices and equipment, including hi-tech machines from Sweden and Six-Sigma implementation.We saw equal participation of females in the work force, even in the factories, which are considered the traditional strongholds of males.

http://www.history.com/photos/women-factory-workers-of-world-war-ii

Honesty at the Paris flea market

Another cultural difference that I noticed between the US and France was the presence of widespread flea markets. These flea markets were a treasure trove of eccentric items, sold at throwaway prices. It was at one such flea market that I found a beautiful French style hat that I had always wanted to buy.

The flea market had hats in 3 piles of various price ranges -10, 15 or 20 Euro. I picked up a beautiful grey linen hat from the 20 Euro pile and started to bargain with the owner, an immigrant in the country to sell it to me at 15. He looked at me and the hat, and said, "You can have it for 10, Monsieur.." I was pleasantly surprised. 

As I walked away from the flea market after making the purchase, I had a warm feeling inside me. The owner told me that the hat was a 10 Euro hat that had landed in the 20 Euro pile. He could have easily made a 5 Euro profit by agreeing to sell it at my offer of 15. But he chose to be honest and this gave me a taste of the business ethics of France.

http://www.parislogue.com/files/2009/08/saintouen.jpg

Usage of coins as currency

http://gopalshenoy.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/money1.jpg

The usage of credit cards is so prevalent in the United States that people do not hesitate to swipe them to make purchases of even a few cents. Due to the absence of a minimum purchase value to use credit cards, and social stigma of using coins to make payments at points of sale, the usage of coins has been hit in the US. The vending machines in the US do not accept coins of value lesser than 10c, making all the smaller coins useless. As such, the people have huge stockpiles of  "change" at home that they cannot or do not want to use.

This was a cultural difference I noticed in France - French people used coins a LOT more than Americans. Even the smallest denomination of the Euro was happily accepted as payment in most establishments, without any frowns or condescending looks by passers by. The Metro tickets and public transports required coins to buy tickets and only a few machines accepted paper bills. 

French Customer Service

Courtesy: Reuters

When my flight from JFK New York landed in Lyon, I did not know that fate had a surprise in store for me. Excited to finally arrive in France for my study trip, I reached the baggage retrieval place and waited for my bag to arrive. Alas, after waiting for 30 minutes, it dawned upon me that my bags are misplaced/missing. I experienced a sinking feeling in my heart when I remembered that I had checked in all my business clothing and other essentials and had not carried a spare set of clothes in my carry on bag. This meant I could not be a part of the company visits and B-school sessions that I was supposed to attend.

That is when the Air France customer service came into picture. After looking up the advanced software for baggage tracing, the French lady at the desk, who spoke fluent English reassured me that my bag was safe and  told me where exactly it was at that point of time. They promised me that they would deliver my bag to my hotel within the next 24 hrs in urgent priority. This was a great relief. 

I went back to my hotel and went to sleep to recover from my jet-lag. The next morning, the concierge had a big surprise waiting for me! No prizes for guessing what it was. They also sent me an apology note and promised to reimburse any out of the pocket expenses I had borne in the last 24 hrs. I experienced first rate customer service. Thank you Air France :)