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Well, do Quebeckers favor strong French cigarettes?
I see that Marie-Josee Croze lives in France. Are France's taxes lower than Quebec's?
Not a smoker but I'm assuming that by "strong French cigarettes" you mean Gauloises. Not sure if they're even sold here, the most popular brands (among people I know, though smoking is wayyyyy down here compared to 10-20 years ago) are Player's, Du Maurier, Benson & Hedges.. we don't have Marlboro or Camel here.
I don't know Ms. Croze's tax status but I would assume she "lives" in France because it has a much bigger movie market than Quebec, and therefore she can make a lot more money. I have very mixed anecdotal evidence regarding France taxes vs. Quebec taxes.
Not a smoker but I'm assuming that by "strong French cigarettes" you mean Gauloises. Not sure if they're even sold here, the most popular brands (among people I know, though smoking is wayyyyy down here compared to 10-20 years ago) are Player's, Du Maurier, Benson & Hedges.. we don't have Marlboro or Camel here.
I don't know Ms. Croze's tax status but I would assume she "lives" in France because it has a much bigger movie market than Quebec, and therefore she can make a lot more money. I have very mixed anecdotal evidence regarding France taxes vs. Quebec taxes.
Gauloises are really not that hard to find in Quebec but as you said the most popular brands are the Canadian ones.
And also as you said living in France for Quebec artists is not at all a question of seeking tax relief.
French-speaking Canada was largely cut off from France from 1763 until about the 1950s. Which explains many of the particularities of its cultural and linguistic development.
Since then there has been a strong growth in "contacts" of all kinds, in all areas of human activity.
Sunshine destinations (Florida, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico) dominate winter travel in Quebec, but in summer France is by far the number one overseas tourist destination for Quebecers. Quebec is also a very popular travel destination for people from France, and many even come in winter to experience the great outdoors and do stuff like snowmobiling, etc.
French accents are regularly heard all over Quebec, from travellers, foreign students (Quebec is a popular place to study and there are many exchange programs between the two places) and also immigrants.
Every year France is near the top of the countries of origin for immigrants to Quebec. As such, Quebec is one of the only places in North America that has a rich western country near the top of its list of countries that generate immigrants.
Within a 3-km radius of my house there are three bakeries or pastry shops owned by people originally from France. My kids went to a preschool run by people from France. My last boss was born in Quebec of French parents, and every year in school my kids have had at least one classmate born of French parents.
French movies generally have a 5 to 10% market share at the Quebec box office. It is not uncommon for a a few times a year to have a French movie top the box office in Quebec.
Many French singers (but not all of them) are big stars in Quebec and you hear songs from France on the radio regularly.
French and Quebec celebrities appear regularly on talk shows, etc. on either side of the Atlantic.
You can get French TV shows in Quebec but generally what the two places do is exchange concepts and remake them for their home markets. This happens a lot.
I was wondering for things like the written word, music recordings, and various cultural trends which are very "portable" even without air flight or extensive immigration patterns. Like, were french songs of the chanson genre popular in Quebec when they were in France? Did La Bolduc ever achieve any measure of success in France?
Quebec was referred to as the "New France" a long time ago.
Today, it is an "extension" of upstate NY and bordering New England states, which a) happens to be in another "jurisdiction," b) has 2 incredible major cities, and c) has French as its principal language.
It is not a second France. Sure, some move back and forth, and there are about 3 direct Air France flights a day from Montreal, but some of them also hem and haw about "I'd rather be back in France," or "I'd rather be back in Quebec."
Quebec was referred to as the "New France" a long time ago.
Today, it is an "extension" of upstate NY and bordering New England states, which a) happens to be in another "jurisdiction," b) has 2 incredible major cities, and c) has French as its principal language.
It is not a second France. Sure, some move back and forth, and there are about 3 direct Air France flights a day from Montreal, but some of them also hem and haw about "I'd rather be back in France," or "I'd rather be back in Quebec."
An extension of upstate NY? Really? Geologically perhaps.
The places on either side of the NY-QC (and QC-VT and QC-NH too) are definitely "foreign" to one another, moreso than any other part of the Canada-US border.
I was wondering for things like the written word, music recordings, and various cultural trends which are very "portable" even without air flight or extensive immigration patterns. Like, were french songs of the chanson genre popular in Quebec when they were in France? Did La Bolduc ever achieve any measure of success in France?
Then in the 70s things really took off for Quebec artists in France and they haven't really looked back since. France is a big market for a lot of Quebec singers.
But it's not an entirely seamless exchange. There are very popular artists in France who are not really stars in Quebec, and huge Quebec stars who are unknown in France. It's really case-by-case, even if there are a lot of cases.
As for the written word... yeah books from France are quite popular in Quebec. I think they have something like a 25% market share and many French authors are literary "stars" here.
Last night the biggest TV network in Quebec, TVA, premiered its version of The Voice.
One of the guys who passed the first round of auditions was a French guy from Paris. He flew to Montreal to perform on the show last night. Unfortunately for him he was not selected. All of the judges seemed to be familiar with the song he selected, which was by legendary Belgian singer Jacques Brel:
Then in the 70s things really took off for Quebec artists in France and they haven't really looked back since. France is a big market for a lot of Quebec singers.
But it's not an entirely seamless exchange. There are very popular artists in France who are not really stars in Quebec, and huge Quebec stars who are unknown in France. It's really case-by-case, even if there are a lot of cases.
As for the written word... yeah books from France are quite popular in Quebec. I think they have something like a 25% market share and many French authors are literary "stars" here.
That's great info. I also heard before that sometimes movies from France or dubbed over with Quebecois French, which is an interesting idea.
Do you know if European French print media and literature has historically been popular in Quebec? Like was Flaubert popular in Quebec while he was popular in France? Were there subscriptions to Le Figaro from the beginning?
That's great info. I also heard before that sometimes movies from France or dubbed over with Quebecois French, which is an interesting idea.
Do you know if European French print media and literature has historically been popular in Quebec? Like was Flaubert popular in Quebec while he was popular in France? Were there subscriptions to Le Figaro from the beginning?
The Quebec-France thing is best viewed through the US-UK lens. Sure there are lots of commonalities and exchanges but in general, like Americans, Quebecers more often than not have their own stuff.
As for literature, keep in mind that for a fairly long time after the British Conquest in 1763 it was illegal to import French books into Quebec. So a lot of the material was simply inaccessible. It was tough sledding but because of this eventually a domestic literature emerged here, and eventually things also loosened up on the import side.
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