lundi 5 mai 2008
Dear Americans,
After all of the American media's grousing lately about gas prices, I would just like to point out one thing: how about paying more than twice as much, as we do here in France?
Yep. That's right. Here is the oh-so-exciting math:
Average gas prices here in France: about 1.40 € per Liter.
1 euro is about 1.55 $ lately.
1 gallon is 3.79 US Liters.
so: 1.40€/L x 3.79L/Gal x 1.55$/€ = 8.22$/Gallon.
There. Are you feeling better now? Can you please stop complaining already?
Yes, yes. Things are *further apart* in the US than in France. But it is your choice to live far away from your work, or drive one hour to go shopping, or to buy a huge honkin car.
Get over it.
Thank you,
People living in France
After all of the American media's grousing lately about gas prices, I would just like to point out one thing: how about paying more than twice as much, as we do here in France?
Yep. That's right. Here is the oh-so-exciting math:
Average gas prices here in France: about 1.40 € per Liter.
1 euro is about 1.55 $ lately.
1 gallon is 3.79 US Liters.
so: 1.40€/L x 3.79L/Gal x 1.55$/€ = 8.22$/Gallon.
There. Are you feeling better now? Can you please stop complaining already?
Yes, yes. Things are *further apart* in the US than in France. But it is your choice to live far away from your work, or drive one hour to go shopping, or to buy a huge honkin car.
Get over it.
Thank you,
People living in France
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10 commentaires:
Actually if you look on the long term thing, the rise of the price in France is much slower than in the US.
When I first came to the US, a gallon of gas was about 99 cents, back then this was pretty much the price of a liter in France.
So in the past 10 years, while the price of gas got multiplied by 3 in the US, it got multiply by only about 1.5 in France.
On the other hand maybe Americans are now learning to use less gas, buy gas-efficient cars and all...
you are telling us to stop complaining....all you do in your blog is complain! I ride my bike to work every day, we have 1 car and use it only when necessary...not everyone has a huge car and drives 1 hour to work!
If you are going to leave a comment, at least be brave enough to leave your name. I DO NOT just complain in my blog. There are a lot of great things that I say about both countries. Grow up.
You touched a nerve there I think!!
yeah, in Australia they have petrol for 1.40 dollars a litre...much cheaper than here, but its a huge scandal. I guess you're used to what you're used to.
You're a right... and what's MORE... why do Americans have such darn big cars? French people make WAY more babies than Americans, n'est-ce pas? So, it would make more sense for the French to have bigger cars to tote the family around! I don't see a ton of HUGE cars in France as I do here in Cali...... I am here in Cali now and people are really cutting back on there driving out here, I think??!!!! You really Do have to have a car in LA or San Diego... Public transport. isn't as good as in Paris... San Fran, New York or Chicago.. I do miss France... I'm tanking up at $42 a week and that's an economy car.. What's it like $8 gallon in France... I think Americans DO need to GROW up... AND.... get a Dem. Prez!!! Amen to you Megan!!!!
There is really no need for you to do the conversion from Euros to U.S. dollars, because I am assuming that if you live and work in France you are being paid in Euros. That said you are still paying 5.30€ per Gallon. But just think, if you went and visited the U.S. and needed to rent a car you would only be paying $2.60 while all the other American saps would be paying $4.00.
-Elisabeth
I agree. As an American who first visited Europe in the 90s and saw what gas prices were then, we've never had the right to complain about gas price here.
Actually, not all Americans have a choice where they work. Lots of us are struggling to hold onto our jobs, wherever we happen to live and work. If the job requires a long drive, we drive it because we can't find another job.
Your point about the choice of car is well-taken. However, even a gas hybrid is going to require a fair amount of money to fuel (and you don't necessarily save the money over the lifetime of the car, due to its cost).
BTW, I visited a friend in Cassis last summer before going to Albi for a choral exchange. I love the Provence region. I only had time to spend one afternoon in Aix, but hope to go back again someday for a longer stay.
I just chimed in on a similar post on Leesa's blog. One thing I've noticed since I left the States in 1990 is that little by little, people stopped driving cars there. When I left, people were driving automobiles. Over the past ten years, it seems nine out of ten drivers are behind huge trucks, SUVs, etc. So I imagine they are feeling the pain. But I don't feel that sorry for them.