PROJECT

BASED
ON
FRENCH
(FRENCH CULTURE
)

SUBMITTED BY:
 FRENCH CULTURE
The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by
profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France,
and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and
of decorative arts since the seventeenth century, first in Europe, and from the
nineteenth century on, worldwide. From the late nineteenth century, France has
also played an important role in modern art, cinema, fashion and cuisine. The
importance of French culture has waned and waxed over the centuries, depending
on its economic, political and military importance. French culture today is marked
both by great regional and socioeconomic differences and by strong unifying
tendencies.

The French are often perceived as taking a great pride in national identity and the
positive achievements of France (the expression "chauvinism" is of French origin)
and cultural issues are more integrated in the body of the politics than elsewhere
(see "The Role of the State", below). The French Revolution claimed universalism
for the democratic principles of the Republic. Charles de Gaulle actively promoted
a notion of French "grandeur" ("greatness"). Perceived declines in cultural status
are a matter of national concern and have generated national debates, both from the
left (as seen in the anti-globalism of José Bové) and from the right and far right (as
in the discourses of the National Front).

Religion
France is a secular country where freedom of thought and of religion is preserved,
by virtue of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The
Republic is based on the principle of laïcité, that is of freedom of religion
(including of agnosticism and atheism) enforced by the Jules Ferry laws and the
1905 law on the separation of the State and the Church, enacted at the beginning
of the Third Republic (1871–1940). A January 2007 poll found that 51% of the
French population describe themselves as Catholics—and only half of those said
they believed in God--, 31% as atheists, 4% as Muslims, 3% as Protestants and 1%
as Jews. France guarantees freedom of religion as a constitutional right and the
government generally respects this right in practice.

Regional customs and traditions

Modern France is the result of centuries of nation building and the acquisition and
incorporation of a number of historical provinces and overseas colonies into its
geographical and political structure. These regions all evolved with their own
specific cultural and linguistic traditions in fashion, religious observance, regional
language and accent, family structure, cuisine, leisure activities, industry, etc.

The evolution of the French state and culture, from the Renaissance to today, has
however promoted a centralization of politics, media, and cultural production in
and around Paris (and, to a lesser extent, around the other major urban centers),
and the industrialization of the country in the twentieth century has led to a
massive move of French people from the countryside to urban areas. At the end of
the nineteenth century, around 50% of the French depended on the land for a
living; today French farmers only make up 6-7%, while 73% live in cities.[14]
Nineteenth century French literature abounds in scenes of provincial youth
"coming up" to Paris to "make it" in the cultural, political or social scene of the
capital (this scheme is frequent in the novels of Balzac). Policies enacted by the
French Third Republic also encouraged this displacement through mandatory
military service, a centralized national educational system, and suppression of
regional languages. While government policy and public debate in France in recent
years has returned to a valorization of regional differences and a call for
decentralization of certain aspects of the public sphere (sometimes with ethnic,
racial or reactionary overtones), the history of regional displacement and the nature
of the modern urban environment and of mass media and culture have made the
preservation of a regional "sense of place or culture" in today's France extremely
difficult.

Education
The French educational system is highly centralised, organised, and ramified. It is
divided into three different stages:

 primary education (enseignement primaire); secondary education (collège

and lycée); and higher education (l'université).

Primary and secondary education is predominantly public (private schools also

exist, in particular a strong nationwide network of primary and secondary Catholic
education), while higher education has both public and private elements. At the
end of secondary education, students take the baccalauréat exam, which allows
them to pursue higher education. The baccalauréat pass rate in 1999 was 78.3%.

In 1998, 75% of health payments in France were paid through the public healthcare
system. Since 27 July 1999, France has a universal medical coverage for
permanent residents in France (stable residence for more than three months).

Food and lifestyle

Traditional French culture places a high priority on the enjoyment of food. French
cuisine was codified in the 20th century by Georges Auguste Escoffier to become
the modern version of haute cuisine. Escoffier's major work, however, left out
much of the regional character to be found in the provinces of France. Gastro-
tourism and the Guide Michelin helped to bring people to the countryside during
the 20th century and beyond, to sample this rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of
France. Basque cuisine has also been a great influence over the cuisine in the
southwest of France.

Ingredients and dishes vary by region (see regional cuisine). There are many
significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many
dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations
across the country in the present day. Cheese (see list of French cheeses) and wine
(see French wine) are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both
regionally and nationally with their many variations and Appellation d'origine
contrôlée (AOC) (regulated appellation) laws (lentils from Le Puy-en-Velay also
have an AOC status). Another French product of special note is the Charolais
cattle.

Fashion
French fashion in Paris
Paris and French fashion are world famous.

French fashion is setting the trend with

icon brands such as Chanel, Dior, Hermes,
Jean-Paul Gaultier, Louis Vuitton and
Yves Saint Laurent.

Many lesser known French fashion

designers turn Paris into the fashion city
of the world. Look at our selection of
French fashion brands.

All of these fashion brands have stores in

Paris. While in Paris, discover the best
French fashion.

Most French fashion top brands have their

main store on Avenue Montaigne or Rue du
Faubourg Saint-Honore, both near Champs-
Elysees avenue.

The Saint-Germain des Pres district on the lef

bank has many French fashion clothing stores
Look for them in streets around rue de Sevres
with flagship Le Bon Marche luxury
department store.
 More recently, the rue des Rosiers  in Le
Marais emerged as one of Paris foremost
fashion streets.

Media and art

Art and museums

The first paintings of France are those that are from prehistoric times, painted in
the caves of Lascaux well over 10,000 years ago. The arts flourished already 1,200
years ago, at the time of Charlemagne, as can be seen in many hand made and hand
illustrated books of that time.

Classic painters of the 17th century in France are Nicolas Poussin and Claude
Lorrain. During the 18th century the Rococo style emerged as a frivolous
continuation of the Baroque style. The most famous painters of the era were
Antoine Watteau, François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard. At the end of the
century, Jacques-Louis David was the most influential painter of the
Neoclassicism.

 Music
France boasts a wide variety of indigenous folk music, as well as styles played by
immigrants from Africa, Latin America and Asia. In the field of classical music,
France has produced a number of legendary composers, like Gabriel Faure, while
modern pop music has seen the rise of popular French hip hop, French rock,
techno/funk, and turntablists/djs.

France created the Fête de la Musique (first held in 1982), a music festival, which
has since become worldwide. It takes place every June 21, on summer's day.

 Cinema
France is most famous for its romance-themed movies. The French are also very
good with theatre. Many famous actors are derived from France.

France is moderately good with animation and cartoon. You may know them for
their famous "Astérix" comics, and a few cinema productions.

 Books, newspapers and magazines

France has the reputation of being a "literary culture"[28], and this image is
reinforced by such things as the importance of French literature in the French
educational system, the attention paid by the French media to French book fairs
and book prizes (like the Prix Goncourt, Prix Renaudot or Prix Femina) and by the
popular success of the (former) literary television show "Apostrophes" (hosted by
Bernard Pivot). This image not withstanding, 1980s figures showed that the French
spent 50% less on books and used lending libraries 1/12 as often as the British.
[citation needed]

Although the official literacy rate of France is 99%, some estimates have placed
functional illiteracy at between 10% and 20% of the adult population (and higher
in the prison population).[29]

Transportation
There are significant differences in lifestyles with respect to transportation between
very urbanized regions such as Paris, and smaller towns and rural areas. In Paris,
and to a lesser extent in other major cities, many households do not own an
automobile and simply use efficient mass transportation.The cliché about the
parisien is rush hour in the Métro subway. However, outside of such areas,
ownership of one or more cars is standard, especially for households with children.

The TGV high speed rail network, train à grande vitesse is a fast rail transport
which serves several areas of the country and is self financing. There are plans to
reach most parts of France and many other destinations in Europe in coming years.
Rail services to major destinations are punctual and frequent.

Holidays
Despite the principles of laïcité and crepes the separation of church from state,
public and school holidays in France generally follow the Roman Catholic
religious calendar (including Easter, Christmas, Ascension Day, Pentecost,
Assumption of Mary, All Saints Day, etc.). Labor Day and the National Holiday
are the only business holidays determined by government statute; the other
holidays are granted by convention collective (agreement between employers' and
employees' unions) or by agreement of the employer.

The five holiday periods of the public school year[37] are:

 the vacances de la Toussaint (All Saints Day) - one and a half weeks starting
near the end of October.
 the vacances de Noël (Christmas) - two weeks, ending after New Years.
 the vacances d'hiver (winter) - two weeks in February and March.
 the vacances de printemps (spring), formerly vacances de Pâques (Easter) -
two weeks in April and May.
 the vacances d'été (summer), or grandes vacances (literally: big holidays) -
two months in July and August.
On May 1, Labour Day (La Fête du Travail) the French give flowers of Lily of the
Valley to one another.