Gregory Morrow

[I think the French have the right idea when it comes to child - raising...]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml;jsessionid=ZWLRDQHQDHFMXQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ 0IV0?xml=/portal/2007/06/15/nosplit/ftmaman115.xml


Is Maman mean or magnifique?

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 15/06/2007

"Living in the heart of Paris, Janine di Giovanni sees daily evidence that
French mothers are strict with their children to the point of cruelty. But
it does seem to work...

A New Zealand friend, a mother of three, recently texted me: "I am in the
park and just saw a French mother kick her son hard then go on talking to
her friends while he cried. What is wrong with these people?"

A few days before that, sitting in a café near the Luxembourg Gardens in
Paris, which is unabashed baby central, with my (French) husband, I saw
something even scarier. A tiny child, just walking, was trying to catch up
with his chic and slender mother, who was furiously pushing the buggy
deliberately too fast for the baby to get close to her.

The child was crying frantically, red in the face and holding up his tiny
arms begging her to carry him. There was no way he could catch her. And she
knew it. "Non, non, non," she screeched in a high-pitched voice. She
strolled ahead faster leaving the baby in the dust.

"Don't say it," my husband warned seconds before I nearly said, "what is
wrong with these people?" Instead I muttered, "well, that kid will be in
therapy for the rest of his life."

I joke about these things, but it's not altogether funny. One of the
toughest things I have had to get used to in an otherwise idyllic Paris is
the huge gap between Anglo-Saxon (or Italian American in my case) parenting
and parenting French style. The French are certainly stricter. They shout
more. They slap more. And they enforce manners.

But as a result, you find beautifully brought up children, and many of my
French friends who are parents will argue endlessly that instilling
discipline and setting boundaries is the way of showing the utmost love.

Dr Caroline Thompson, a French child psychologist and family therapist who
was educated in America until the age of eight and had a British father,
agrees to some extent that children should not be completely indulged.

Although Thompson favours the early educational system in America, which is
more loving than in France - where children start strict, all-day school at
the age of three - she recently wrote a book entitled The Violence of Giving
Love about how dangerous it can be to make children the centre of the
universe.

She points out that in Anglo-Saxon cultures, certainly in American culture,
children are generally thought of as being the centre of the world, whereas
in France, they are most certainly not.

It all starts from the cradle. In Britain, new mothers read the gentle and
loving Penelope Leach; in America, they read the classic Dr Spock. But in
France, mothers read one of the gurus of French child development,
Françoises Dolto. Dolto was an authoritarian who believed that children
should be separate from their parents and live their own lives.

"Dr Spock would be too lovey-dovey for a French parent," laughs Thompson,
who adds that this all filters down to the educational system. "In France,
it is not about blossoming. It's about the transmission of knowledge."

Which is not altogether a bad thing if you have spent time in America and
observed the phenomenon of spoilt-rotten American children. I will never
forget my husband's horror when some visiting Upper-West-Siders I barely
knew arrived at one of our dinner parties with their uninvited nine-year-old
son.

That would have been fine; except that Seth was one of these precocious
Manhattan kids who had to sit at the table with adults. He completely took
over the evening, interrupting adults' conversations, and - to the delight
of his besotted parents - performed a 10-minute hip-hop routine between
courses.

In France, that would simply never have happened. The child would have been
paraded out to say bonsoir, peck cheeks, and then scurry back to his or her
room to read or study.

"Children in France are seen, but not heard," says one American friend,
Katherine, who is a mother of two. "Except on the playground, where the
parents don't get involved and then it becomes Lord of the Flies."

Because I am accosted with a version of French parenting every day - I live
in front of the Luxembourg Gardens, and see the endless parade of mummies -
I do an informal survey of my Anglo girlfriends in Paris on their view of
French parenting. The response is staggering.

One friend writes, "What do I think of French mothers? Mean, mean, mean".
She tells of a mother of two whose youngest child was in hospital for a
week. When he was released, the family immediately left on a beach holiday,
along with a nanny the baby had not met before.

The mother wanted to go to the beach and instructed the nanny to feed him.
When he would not eat with the stranger, the mother sent him to bed hungry
and screaming. He ate when he woke up, ravenous, and this time, he let the
nanny feed him. "That will teach him," the mother said proudly. The boy was
17 months old at the time. "This is a true story," my friend writes.

Another American, Mary, also the mother of two, blames it on the French
educational system, which does not encourage creative interpretation. She
also believes that child rearing has not progressed beyond the 1950s.

"What has always puzzled me is why generation after generation of French
women raise French girls to become French women - bitchy, competitive,
anti-fraternal, unsmiling, the preternatural Froide-ness."

An English friend, Sophie, wrote of seeing a French child eating sand in the
park. When she politely informed the mother, the woman - who was deep in a
book - retorted, "Maybe she will get sick and it will be good for her. She
will learn her lesson."

Sophie's explanation is that France has one of the highest percentages of
working mothers in Europe. "I am amazed at how fast they dash back to work,
leaving three-month-old babies in the crÚche," she adds.

But other friends rushed to the French mother's defence. One English woman,
a mother of three who has lived in France for 20 years, said the hardest
thing she had to get used to was how schools and hospitals shut out parents.
"You leave your children there, and voila," she says, "you don't see them
again."

But she explains that it is purely a cultural difference. "You see, they
firmly believe in institutions. So if you take your kid to school or the
hospital, you have no say in the matter. It's up to the teachers and doctors
to decide what's best, not you.

That is why you see children alone in the hospital all the time. The mothers
aren't mean. They are just conditioned. It would do their heads in
completely if they had to think out of the box."

An American friend, Susan, who grew up in Paris and is the mother of three
boys, explained: "It's always shocking for Anglo-Saxons to hear the shrill
'ça suffit' that is the refrain of all French mothers. They speak with
sharpness that is alarming to the uninitiated."

However, Susan does not see their behaviour as mean. "They think they are
doing their children a favour, which is to civilise them. Teaching your
children proper behaviour from the earliest age is of almost moral
importance."

She recalls taking her five-year-old son to the park and telling him
repeatedly not to do something. An elderly woman was eavesdropping and
suddenly reached over and pinched the boy's ear until he squealed. "Listen
to your mother," she said sternly in French.

Susan was not offended. "I know she, and every other French grandmother,
would think that is for the good of the child. Anglo-Saxons tend to see
children as charmingly thick savages who can be taught manners in a
superficial way. The French grasp the deeper meaning of civilised behaviour
as soon as they can speak, and drill it into them."

My son's godmother, who is French, also believes in discipline (though she
is a highly loving and supportive mother and godmother). She says, "there is
something called l'heure de l'adulte". That is when they go away and leave
us alone." Children, she says, have to learn boundaries. "The big difference
is that the French believe strongly in creating those divisions. And it
works. Look how well behaved French children are, compared to American
children."

I have to say, she has a point. When I see my six little French nieces and
nephew, lined up neatly with plaits, scrubbed freckled faces and pinafores,
parroting "Bonjour, tante Janine," and "Merci, tante Janine," and going off
to their violin and piano lessons, I know she has a valid point.

But the hippy, earth mother part of me still wonders about originality,
creativity and free thinking. (There is no such thing as an earth mother
here, it is simply not chic). I worry that all this repression and enforced
manners will kill any creative drive.

But then I think about Seth, the kid from the Upper West Side who invaded my
living room and destroyed my dinner party. On that note, I am very happy to
live in France and follow the French model. Slightly."

</>

Janine di Giovanni is the author of 'The Place at the End of the World',
(Bloomsbury)

Doofy

Gregory Morrow wrote:

> My son's godmother, who is French, also believes in discipline (though she
> is a highly loving and supportive mother and godmother). She says, "there is
> something called l'heure de l'adulte". That is when they go away and leave
> us alone." Children, she says, have to learn boundaries. "The big difference
> is that the French believe strongly in creating those divisions. And it
> works. Look how well behaved French children are, compared to American
> children."

And yet, French people grow up to be arrogant jerks. Most that I've met
anyway. Particularly the men.

Hairy French Chicks are H

I don't think Magda has this problem. Obviously her parents didn't
spank her enough which is why she grew up to be such a fat-mouthed
shrew. That's why her guys have to smack her now and then. Problem
is, she enjoys it. I think the Yanks call that a win-win situation.


"Gregory Morrow" <[email protected]> wrote:

>[I think the French have the right idea when it comes to child - raising...]
>
>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/ma...ftmaman115.xml
>
>
>Is Maman mean or magnifique?
>
>Last Updated: 12:01am BST 15/06/2007
>
>"Living in the heart of Paris, Janine di Giovanni sees daily evidence that
>French mothers are strict with their children to the point of cruelty. But
>it does seem to work...
>
>A New Zealand friend, a mother of three, recently texted me: "I am in the
>park and just saw a French mother kick her son hard then go on talking to
>her friends while he cried. What is wrong with these people?"
>
>A few days before that, sitting in a caf� near the Luxembourg Gardens in
>Paris, which is unabashed baby central, with my (French) husband, I saw
>something even scarier. A tiny child, just walking, was trying to catch up
>with his chic and slender mother, who was furiously pushing the buggy
>deliberately too fast for the baby to get close to her.
>
>The child was crying frantically, red in the face and holding up his tiny
>arms begging her to carry him. There was no way he could catch her. And she
>knew it. "Non, non, non," she screeched in a high-pitched voice. She
>strolled ahead faster leaving the baby in the dust.
>
>"Don't say it," my husband warned seconds before I nearly said, "what is
>wrong with these people?" Instead I muttered, "well, that kid will be in
>therapy for the rest of his life."
>
>I joke about these things, but it's not altogether funny. One of the
>toughest things I have had to get used to in an otherwise idyllic Paris is
>the huge gap between Anglo-Saxon (or Italian American in my case) parenting
>and parenting French style. The French are certainly stricter. They shout
>more. They slap more. And they enforce manners.
>
>But as a result, you find beautifully brought up children, and many of my
>French friends who are parents will argue endlessly that instilling
>discipline and setting boundaries is the way of showing the utmost love.
>
>Dr Caroline Thompson, a French child psychologist and family therapist who
>was educated in America until the age of eight and had a British father,
>agrees to some extent that children should not be completely indulged.
>
>Although Thompson favours the early educational system in America, which is
>more loving than in France - where children start strict, all-day school at
>the age of three - she recently wrote a book entitled The Violence of Giving
>Love about how dangerous it can be to make children the centre of the
>universe.
>
>She points out that in Anglo-Saxon cultures, certainly in American culture,
>children are generally thought of as being the centre of the world, whereas
>in France, they are most certainly not.
>
>It all starts from the cradle. In Britain, new mothers read the gentle and
>loving Penelope Leach; in America, they read the classic Dr Spock. But in
>France, mothers read one of the gurus of French child development,
>Fran�oises Dolto. Dolto was an authoritarian who believed that children
>should be separate from their parents and live their own lives.
>
>"Dr Spock would be too lovey-dovey for a French parent," laughs Thompson,
>who adds that this all filters down to the educational system. "In France,
>it is not about blossoming. It's about the transmission of knowledge."
>
>Which is not altogether a bad thing if you have spent time in America and
>observed the phenomenon of spoilt-rotten American children. I will never
>forget my husband's horror when some visiting Upper-West-Siders I barely
>knew arrived at one of our dinner parties with their uninvited nine-year-old
>son.
>
>That would have been fine; except that Seth was one of these precocious
>Manhattan kids who had to sit at the table with adults. He completely took
>over the evening, interrupting adults' conversations, and - to the delight
>of his besotted parents - performed a 10-minute hip-hop routine between
>courses.
>
>In France, that would simply never have happened. The child would have been
>paraded out to say bonsoir, peck cheeks, and then scurry back to his or her
>room to read or study.
>
>"Children in France are seen, but not heard," says one American friend,
>Katherine, who is a mother of two. "Except on the playground, where the
>parents don't get involved and then it becomes Lord of the Flies."
>
>Because I am accosted with a version of French parenting every day - I live
>in front of the Luxembourg Gardens, and see the endless parade of mummies -
>I do an informal survey of my Anglo girlfriends in Paris on their view of
>French parenting. The response is staggering.
>
>One friend writes, "What do I think of French mothers? Mean, mean, mean".
>She tells of a mother of two whose youngest child was in hospital for a
>week. When he was released, the family immediately left on a beach holiday,
>along with a nanny the baby had not met before.
>
>The mother wanted to go to the beach and instructed the nanny to feed him.
>When he would not eat with the stranger, the mother sent him to bed hungry
>and screaming. He ate when he woke up, ravenous, and this time, he let the
>nanny feed him. "That will teach him," the mother said proudly. The boy was
>17 months old at the time. "This is a true story," my friend writes.
>
>Another American, Mary, also the mother of two, blames it on the French
>educational system, which does not encourage creative interpretation. She
>also believes that child rearing has not progressed beyond the 1950s.
>
>"What has always puzzled me is why generation after generation of French
>women raise French girls to become French women - bitchy, competitive,
>anti-fraternal, unsmiling, the preternatural Froide-ness."
>
>An English friend, Sophie, wrote of seeing a French child eating sand in the
>park. When she politely informed the mother, the woman - who was deep in a
>book - retorted, "Maybe she will get sick and it will be good for her. She
>will learn her lesson."
>
>Sophie's explanation is that France has one of the highest percentages of
>working mothers in Europe. "I am amazed at how fast they dash back to work,
>leaving three-month-old babies in the cr�che," she adds.
>
>But other friends rushed to the French mother's defence. One English woman,
>a mother of three who has lived in France for 20 years, said the hardest
>thing she had to get used to was how schools and hospitals shut out parents.
>"You leave your children there, and voila," she says, "you don't see them
>again."
>
>But she explains that it is purely a cultural difference. "You see, they
>firmly believe in institutions. So if you take your kid to school or the
>hospital, you have no say in the matter. It's up to the teachers and doctors
>to decide what's best, not you.
>
>That is why you see children alone in the hospital all the time. The mothers
>aren't mean. They are just conditioned. It would do their heads in
>completely if they had to think out of the box."
>
>An American friend, Susan, who grew up in Paris and is the mother of three
>boys, explained: "It's always shocking for Anglo-Saxons to hear the shrill
>'�a suffit' that is the refrain of all French mothers. They speak with
>sharpness that is alarming to the uninitiated."
>
>However, Susan does not see their behaviour as mean. "They think they are
>doing their children a favour, which is to civilise them. Teaching your
>children proper behaviour from the earliest age is of almost moral
>importance."
>
>She recalls taking her five-year-old son to the park and telling him
>repeatedly not to do something. An elderly woman was eavesdropping and
>suddenly reached over and pinched the boy's ear until he squealed. "Listen
>to your mother," she said sternly in French.
>
>Susan was not offended. "I know she, and every other French grandmother,
>would think that is for the good of the child. Anglo-Saxons tend to see
>children as charmingly thick savages who can be taught manners in a
>superficial way. The French grasp the deeper meaning of civilised behaviour
>as soon as they can speak, and drill it into them."
>
>My son's godmother, who is French, also believes in discipline (though she
>is a highly loving and supportive mother and godmother). She says, "there is
>something called l'heure de l'adulte". That is when they go away and leave
>us alone." Children, she says, have to learn boundaries. "The big difference
>is that the French believe strongly in creating those divisions. And it
>works. Look how well behaved French children are, compared to American
>children."
>
>I have to say, she has a point. When I see my six little French nieces and
>nephew, lined up neatly with plaits, scrubbed freckled faces and pinafores,
>parroting "Bonjour, tante Janine," and "Merci, tante Janine," and going off
>to their violin and piano lessons, I know she has a valid point.
>
>But the hippy, earth mother part of me still wonders about originality,
>creativity and free thinking. (There is no such thing as an earth mother
>here, it is simply not chic). I worry that all this repression and enforced
>manners will kill any creative drive.
>
>But then I think about Seth, the kid from the Upper West Side who invaded my
>living room and destroyed my dinner party. On that note, I am very happy to
>live in France and follow the French model. Slightly."
>
></>
>
>Janine di Giovanni is the author of 'The Place at the End of the World',
>(Bloomsbury)
>
>
>
>
>
>

-Magda

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:28:58 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "Gregory Morrow"
<[email protected]> arranged some electrons, so they looked like this:

... [I think the French have the right idea when it comes to child - raising...]

Yup. "Qui aime bien ch�tie bien".

How come "Spare the rod and spoil the child" is simply ignored in Anglo-Saxon countries?


... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/ma...ftmaman115.xml

R. Steve Walz

Gregory Morrow wrote:
>
> [I think the French have the right idea when it comes to child - raising...]
>
> Is Maman mean or magnifique?
>
> Last Updated: 12:01am BST 15/06/2007
>
> "Living in the heart of Paris, Janine di Giovanni sees daily evidence that
> French mothers are strict with their children to the point of cruelty. But
> it does seem to work...
>
> A New Zealand friend, a mother of three, recently texted me: "I am in the
> park and just saw a French mother kick her son hard then go on talking to
> her friends while he cried. What is wrong with these people?"
--------------------------
She was witnessing the process by which the French become the most
cowardly, venal, moralistic AND immoral people in Europe! The reason
the French have quietly moved away from actually practicing Catholicism
in their daily lives is that they are far too SELFISH AND CORRUPT to
do so, and NOT that they have done so because they criticize it for
being wrong and misguided, instead they are ashamed of missing their
confession like naughty little children who have, in their mind, given
up on ever actually BEING good. They see this as being in vogue just
as rich Americans see being greedy as being fashionable these days.

Their abuse by selfish parents makes them selfish adults, ones who
cannot be trusted to make promises and keep them, and who cannot even
vote consistently for what they want if they don't get it right away or
in a startlingly short time. This classic French child abuse is what
makes the French cowardly weasels, dishonest, asinine and a stupidly and
almost charmingly self-involved and morally indolent in the way
that is the absolute charicature of uselessness as a people.

They are so lazy and selfish that they cannot even become quality
Communists, and are ever stuck in a Socialism that they can't make
work because they don't actually want to.


> A few days before that, sitting in a caf� near the Luxembourg Gardens in
> Paris, which is unabashed baby central, with my (French) husband, I saw
> something even scarier. A tiny child, just walking, was trying to catch up
> with his chic and slender mother, who was furiously pushing the buggy
> deliberately too fast for the baby to get close to her.
>
> The child was crying frantically, red in the face and holding up his tiny
> arms begging her to carry him. There was no way he could catch her. And she
> knew it. "Non, non, non," she screeched in a high-pitched voice. She
> strolled ahead faster leaving the baby in the dust.
>
> "Don't say it," my husband warned seconds before I nearly said, "what is
> wrong with these people?" Instead I muttered, "well, that kid will be in
> therapy for the rest of his life."
>
> I joke about these things, but it's not altogether funny. One of the
> toughest things I have had to get used to in an otherwise idyllic Paris is
> the huge gap between Anglo-Saxon (or Italian American in my case) parenting
> and parenting French style. The French are certainly stricter. They shout
> more. They slap more. And they enforce manners.
>
> But as a result, you find beautifully brought up children, and many of my
> French friends who are parents will argue endlessly that instilling
> discipline and setting boundaries is the way of showing the utmost love.
------------------------
What a lie, the European nation of weasels and con artists being called
"beautifully brought up"! A Lie Indeed!!
Steve

Gregory Morrow

doofy wrote:

> Gregory Morrow wrote:
>
> > My son's godmother, who is French, also believes in discipline (though
she
> > is a highly loving and supportive mother and godmother). She says,
"there is
> > something called l'heure de l'adulte". That is when they go away and
leave
> > us alone." Children, she says, have to learn boundaries. "The big
difference
> > is that the French believe strongly in creating those divisions. And it
> > works. Look how well behaved French children are, compared to American
> > children."
>
> And yet, French people grow up to be arrogant jerks. Most that I've met
> anyway. Particularly the men.


Most all of the French that I've encountered have been perfectly
decent...except of course for Runge :-)

The French put a premium on manners and formality and are thus seen by
Anglo - Saxons as somewhat cold...it's a real cultural difference.

--
Best
Greg

-Magda

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:09:12 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "Gregory Morrow"
<[email protected]> arranged some electrons, so they looked like this:

...
... doofy wrote:
...
... > Gregory Morrow wrote:
... >
... > > My son's godmother, who is French, also believes in discipline (though
... she
... > > is a highly loving and supportive mother and godmother). She says,
... "there is
... > > something called l'heure de l'adulte". That is when they go away and
... leave
... > > us alone." Children, she says, have to learn boundaries. "The big
... difference
... > > is that the French believe strongly in creating those divisions. And it
... > > works. Look how well behaved French children are, compared to American
... > > children."
... >
... > And yet, French people grow up to be arrogant jerks. Most that I've met
... > anyway. Particularly the men.
...
...
... Most all of the French that I've encountered have been perfectly
... decent...except of course for Runge :-)
...
... The French put a premium on manners and formality and are thus seen by
... Anglo - Saxons as somewhat cold...it's a real cultural difference.

BTW, when are you paying us a visit?

Gregory Morrow

Magda wrote:

> On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:09:12 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "Gregory Morrow"
> <[email protected]> arranged some electrons, so they looked like this:
>
> ...
> ... doofy wrote:
> ...
> ... > Gregory Morrow wrote:
> ... >
> ... > > My son's godmother, who is French, also believes in discipline
(though
> ... she
> ... > > is a highly loving and supportive mother and godmother). She
says,
> ... "there is
> ... > > something called l'heure de l'adulte". That is when they go away
and
> ... leave
> ... > > us alone." Children, she says, have to learn boundaries. "The big
> ... difference
> ... > > is that the French believe strongly in creating those divisions.
And it
> ... > > works. Look how well behaved French children are, compared to
American
> ... > > children."
> ... >
> ... > And yet, French people grow up to be arrogant jerks. Most that
I've met
> ... > anyway. Particularly the men.
> ...
> ...
> ... Most all of the French that I've encountered have been perfectly
> ... decent...except of course for Runge :-)
> ...
> ... The French put a premium on manners and formality and are thus seen
by
> ... Anglo - Saxons as somewhat cold...it's a real cultural difference.
>
> BTW, when are you paying us a visit?


Perhaps next year, I am dying to see Paris...

Until now, I've only seen Paris in films like _Breathless_ and _Funny Face_
and many others, Paris is a cinematic dream city like New York is.

--
Best
Greg

>

The Markku Gr

"Gregory Morrow" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Magda wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:09:12 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "Gregory Morrow"
>> <[email protected]> arranged some electrons, so they looked like this:
>>
>> ...
>> ... doofy wrote:
>> ...
>> ... > Gregory Morrow wrote:
>> ... >
>> ... > > My son's godmother, who is French, also believes in discipline
>(though
>> ... she
>> ... > > is a highly loving and supportive mother and godmother). She
>says,
>> ... "there is
>> ... > > something called l'heure de l'adulte". That is when they go away
>and
>> ... leave
>> ... > > us alone." Children, she says, have to learn boundaries. "The big
>> ... difference
>> ... > > is that the French believe strongly in creating those divisions.
>And it
>> ... > > works. Look how well behaved French children are, compared to
>American
>> ... > > children."
>> ... >
>> ... > And yet, French people grow up to be arrogant jerks. Most that
>I've met
>> ... > anyway. Particularly the men.
>> ...
>> ...
>> ... Most all of the French that I've encountered have been perfectly
>> ... decent...except of course for Runge :-)
>> ...
>> ... The French put a premium on manners and formality and are thus seen
>by
>> ... Anglo - Saxons as somewhat cold...it's a real cultural difference.
>>
>> BTW, when are you paying us a visit?
>
>
>Perhaps next year, I am dying to see Paris...
>
>Until now, I've only seen Paris in films like _Breathless_ and _Funny Face_
>and many others, Paris is a cinematic dream city like New York is.

Not a problem. You can stay with Magda. She'll be only too happy to
let you share her bed. And Loafie can get you a discount on her
airline. Don't forget to drop in to see Markku for a few days. You
know them Finns just LUV to get naked in the sauna with their buddies.
But wash your foreskin first, Markku is very particular about that.

-Magda

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:26:10 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "Gregory Morrow"
<[email protected]> arranged some electrons, so they looked like this:

... > BTW, when are you paying us a visit?
...
...
... Perhaps next year, I am dying to see Paris...
...
... Until now, I've only seen Paris in films like _Breathless_ and _Funny Face_
... and many others, Paris is a cinematic dream city like New York is.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. Try to see "Romance on the Orient Express" (almost
as old as Breathless, but still), the last part of it was filmed in the centre, where I
live. It didn't change too much...