Charles Kramer, The Levison Group
Eight hours, confined in a small cabin, propaganda playing on a screen situated three feet from your face, a tight leather band belting you into your chair, men and women in uniform frequently questioning you in broken English, checking on you. Indecipherable blarings over a speaker system in a language you do not understand awakening you if you close your eyes. It might be a form of torture no law abiding American should be forced to face, if it wasn’t actually plane travel to France. The free drinks, good meals, and wide bodies, fully reclinable seats in Business Class further the differentiation.
In the last decade or so, American sentiment towards the French has soured. Although we still call our breakfast joy “French Toast” and have abandoned the feeble attempt to rename “French Fries” as “Freedom Fries,” many still talk about our beret-wearing allies with disdain. My question is, “why?”
Recently I ventured over to the land of Lafayette. Every lawyer in the state of Missouri is required to visit French and study Napoleonic law at least once every twenty-seven years, and it was my time to go. Okay, perhaps that’s not exactly true. Let’s just call it a vacation — although I did visit the Sorbonne, so it should count for something. In any event, as you may imagine from the intro, it was not horrible.
My trip started with two days in Chantilly, where the lace is made and a castle chocked full of amazing artwork and one of the most prestigious horse show venues in Europe are located. My efforts to visit the local courthouse to learn about local legal mores failed because it turned out I had arrived on Easter Sunday. Undeterred, I toured the castle, watched some horse jumping, and then had dinner in the hotel’s Michelin five star restaurant. The next day we left for the first of our five days in Paris with its Arcs, Tours, Musees, and restaurants, and the aforementioned Sorbonne.
There is currently much dispute here in the US, both legal and political, about the propriety of two proposed bullet train projects, one from Los Angeles to San Francisco and the other from St Louis to Chicago. I thus believed it to be my duty, in the name of legal research, to take the high speed train from Paris to Lyon. Once in Lyon, of course, it just seemed natural to take the six day river cruise from Lyon to Avignon. Those readers who are truly accomplished attorneys no doubt recognize the cruise route as French wine country. The history, sights, castles and churches of the trip were amazing, as were the vineyards, wineries and bridges. However, as a lawyer, I can honestly tell you that the best part of the voyage was the lack of reliable cell phone or internet access.
For the modern attorney, being out of technological contact is a throwback to days of old. It frankly takes some days to get used to. Feelings of panic were filed by feelings of isolation, which gave way to resignation, then to acceptance and finally to, well, bliss. If the description sounds a bit like a twelve step program, it’s not surprising. We don’t realize how addicted we are to our technological tethers until we let them go.
In truth, there were some big picture lessons learned by the attorney within me. The main point that slowly sunk into my wine-addled mind was how similar our different countries really are. The French boast one of, if not the, most successful “socialized medicine” health care systems in the western world. Yet, it may be surprising to learn that only 35% of the system is in fact government subsidized. The rest is private pay, usually through programs funded by employers. One of the biggest issues being debated in France right now is the impact the costs of health care on employers is having on the unemployment numbers. The costs of hiring workers are such that companies are being slow to rehire workers let go during the economic downturn. Sound familiar? France is also one of the leaders in Nuclear Power. Yet in the short three weeks we were there, we saw three anti-nuclear demonstrations. The most recent “ground breaking” legislation in France? — The legalization of same sex marriages. The subject that has been proposed for the next legislative session? — Legalization of medical marijuana.
It’s true, as they say in the movie “Pulp Fiction” that the French have a different word for everything. However I found none of the snobbishness or anti American attitudes that are the stuff of legend, but rather a warm, open and friendly people, struggling every day in much the same manner as we do. From the big cities to the small towns, from the tourist areas to “les Halles” district of Paris, we were welcome. The French chain “Pomme de Pain” is more like a Panera Bread Company than we might wish. The French coffee is amazing, as are the Croissants, yet there actually are Starbucks in even the smallest towns (and I’d hate guess how much McDonalds is spending to advertise their “Cajun Chicken” on virtually every bus stop in the country).
It is impossible to spend more than a day or two in France and not realize that we truly live in a global economy and that the problems confronting us at home, be they legal, economic, political, religious or social, are also being encountered by our brethren across the pond. So, what is he final lesson learned?
Do not hate the French. Talk to them. Remember, they gave us Lafayette, they gave us the Statue of Liberty, and they were the first to proclaim “Libertee, Egalite, and Fraternite.” They also sure can cook.
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Under Analysis is a nationally syndicated column of the Levison Group. Charles Kramer is a principal of the St. Louis, Missouri law firm Riezman Berger PC. Comments or criticisms about this column may be sent to the Levison Group c/o this newspaper or to the Levison Group at comments@levisongroup.com.
© 2014 Under Analysis L.L.C.
