The DON'Ts of Visiting FRANCE

The Do's and Don'ts of Visiting France, so you know how to get the most out of your French vacation. It doesn't matter if you are visiting Paris, Avignon, the French Riviera, the Normandy Beaches, or trying the food in Strasbourg or Bordeaux, there are a lot of things travelers and tourists to France should know before they go. These are some of our definite no - no's when it comes to visiting France.
Tourist information on visiting France
Filmed in Bordeaux, France

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Copyright Mark Wolters 2023

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[BillGreenAZ]

Here's another don't: Don't speak loudly on the Metro or the TGV. I'll never forget, I was on the Metro in Paris talking with my travel partner who is from Canada. I was excited to be in Paris so I was speaking rather loudly. I looked around and saw that everyone else was silent. OMG, I was being that "Loud American". I quickly shut up and then started talking in whispers to my friend.

[AnneMB]

France is a wonderful country. Recently visited and had a great time. A little politeness goes a long way in anyone’s country. 🇦🇺🇫🇷

[jeannamcgregor]

We made reservations for dinner in Paris once and it was confirmed, but when we arrived the maitre d' unhappily told us the restaurant was full and we had missed his email to that effect. We talked about their booking app and how it didn't talk directly to his restaurant seating app and I commiserated a bit. He offered us the only seat in the house by the rather windy door and we took it, and I said in my insufficient French "You are so kind!". Then the free champagne arrived! And 5 mins later he moved us to a nice table that had opened up. The French are a truly lovely people.

[gel]

The French are lovely, warm, kind, patient. I am Irish and my French is really poor, though I always try, despite visiting France many times. They have given the world so much, great food, wine, cognac, calvados etc. Additionally, great artists, composers the list is endless.

[sarah-phillips]

Don't forget to say "Bonjour" upon entering shops or before asking someone a question. It's just polite and French custom. As far as clothing, I agree: no need to look like you're part of Fashion Week, but wearing comfortable shoes is a must. We saw women wearing tennis shoes or other comfy shoes with everything as cobblestones are not nice with high heels.

[missydemeanors]

Also...French waiters are not giving 'bad service"...the USA just treats wait staff like servants and compares all service to this. French wait staff are purposely slow to be respectful and not rush customers. They do not 'check in' throughout the meal because that is intrusive. I think The USA just tries to hold the rest of the world to their own peculiar standards and then are surprised when circumstances are different.

[aaronrs]

The French are so accommodating. In 1997 I was on my way to Charles De Gaulle Airport late at night when the metro closed down for the evening. A stranger gave me and my girlfriend a ride across town to make our flight home.

[AgathaLOutahere]

I was on a group tour in Greece during covid. My face mask broke and a French woman in the group went up to her room and brought me a new mask.
That was refreshingly nice and a very good gesture.

[didaskohistory]

I love the French! Every place I went in France - Paris, Rheims, and Normandy - the people were so nice and friendly.

[jacherry]

protect this man at all costs i love his channel

[MiaHessMusic]

Don't think France is just Paris. Amen! Best words ever spoken!!! So many wonderful places to visit in France!! One of the prettiest town I went to was Josselin. Normandy is lovely and the butter can't be beat! I'd pick a region as you said!

[shirleyackerman-bethel]

We loved France and planned to go back. I found everyone dressed just normal. Everyone was dressed in Jean, sweaters, puffer coats. Yes there were some dressed to the 9s but in general most are dressed normally, just no sport hoodies, or university sweatshirts or hats. I think this push for dressing up was overstated. These ppl were the locals.

[heatherwhittaker]

❤ this is 100% correct...I love France and the French were wonderful to me.

[rustdesk]

Great advice for visiting anyplace. But I found the French to be really warm and friendly. We can’t wait to return.

[kn]

I’m from the U.S. and I just got back from Paris. I have to say the French people were some of the nicest people I have met in Europe though I have pretty much had nothing, but good interactions with Europeans everywhere I have gone. In fact my creepiest experience was with an older American guy on a tour while I was traveling alone.I have found that the English fluency in Paris was the highest of where I have traveled in Europe so far ( Spain, Italy, Switzerland). I was surprised it was easier to communicate in English in Paris than in certain parts of Switzerland. Food was truly amazing no matter where we went. Thankfully we were careful and not bothered by pickpockets. The city was pretty clean most places we went. I would definitely go back. My tip is to make sure you plan how to get to Versailles and have a backup plan. We were trying to take an Uber because with construction on the metro it was going to take 1.5 hours each way on the train. We scheduled an Uber ahead of time and it took an hour to get a pickup. The hotel kept trying to call a taxi and they kept cancelling because they didn’t want to go out there. We luckily left plenty of time before our timed ticket, but we just made it for our ticket time window.

[Jinxoln]

As a French, I wanted to add that some stores and other services like banks also closed on mondays, not all of them but some of them.

Other than that, thank you so much for your videos, I binged them so many times and you helped me so much Mark :D

[blanemaine]

We went to france on our honeymoon in dec/Jan. It was so great! We went to Nimes, carcassone, Lourdes, tours, Normandy, and Paris. We were there for 12 days and although some places we were only there for a day and we drove everywhere it was phenomenal and we got to see all of the country side! I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else for our first trip together

[danniijane]

Agree with this. Just back from Paris and the people were great! X

[rockpaperscissorsx]

Mark just would like to thank you for your videos and tips for both London and Paris. Our time in paris was absolutely wonderful! We thought the people were so friendly and kind. 100% agree with your points I just knew some basic lines in French and felt that got such a long way with the vendors and wait staff. One day We had lunch at le procope and the hostess asked us if we didn’t mind moving to a different table so a family of 3 with a baby could sit together we didn’t mind at all. We ended up getting a complimentary glass of champagne with dessert, so nice! We also wore very plain clothes and we even had both visitors and staff start speaking to us in French at first LOL! also took your advice in a different video and we got ourselves a piece of art from a local artist at an art gallery to remember our trip. Thanks again!

[skeetermegamoto]

Check out the vanishing roller blader at 8:32.