Re living in France
The last time I went abroad I eventually found myself in the Delirium Taphouse (Brussels) talking to a Parisian guy who'd come to Belgium to study. He was telling me he'd love to come and visit London because "all the English people I've met seem really polite and friendly."

Whereas all the Parisians, he said, are "rude, self-centred idiots."

I insisted that he'd got this entirely the wrong way round, and that Londoners could be far worse than Parisians. Evidently it's a bit of a "grass-is-greener" debate. But you're right, they do have nice food.

As for Facebook: if it fucked off overnight, I'd notice one major difference - my friends would send out emails to people they actually wanted specifically to talk to, as opposed to sending non-facebook types like myself the email with the slightly condescending "for those not on facebook" subject line.
Edit: Vipros and Baz - I agree entirely.
(LongJohnBaldry, Thu 11 Dec 2008, 10:54, Reply)