10 Culture Shocks Tourists Have When They Visit France | American Couple Reaction

10 Culture Shocks Tourists Have When They Visit France | American Couple Reaction

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[knucklehoagies]

I went to France twice (Paris, Marseille, Nice, everywhere in between).... The "rude" French thing is one of the biggest myths we've ever been sold as Americans. French people are very helpful and very nice people. Just 2 important tips.

1. ALWAYS say Bonjour before speaking to someone or even just entering a store. The French take formal greetings very seriously. It's treated as sort of an ice breaker establishing that you are equals and not 1 person EXPECTING the other person to respond like someone's personal servant. (France has a more egalitarian culture than the US so the whole "customer is always right" thing does not fly there at all.)

2. Make the effort to at least speak some French even if it's a few words. Just to show that you're respectful and not some cocky self centered tourist.

[suzannecollie]

You have probably heard that the french are rude and i can tell you when you really get to know the people in france the french people are the most lovely and friendly people i ever meet and iam European from Switzerland

[elyass_]

As a french myself i'm gonna "react" to all of these points :
1. so yes, in France a lot of people are smoking, even if the prices of cigarettes are becaming more and more highter, when there's really a lot of persons, you can be sure that you'll see at least one person smoking, even in front of high school, students are smoking (not all of them of course).
2. for that one it's 100% true, french people aren't as rude as people are saying, we aren't more rude than anyone else, but in really huge cities (totally talking about Paris), you can hear some really rude people, but most of time they're really nice, and if you get to the countryside, you'll see the most incredible person ever, people that are super nice and kind, and if you speak french, everyone at any places will be super kind. If you are going to meet a french family, you'll see by yourself that we aren't as rude as the stereotypes are saying.
3. about sunday, yes, pretty everythings are closed, and shops decide if they are closed 1 or 2 days during the weekend, for example, if they're open the saturday and they're closed for 2 days, it'll be closed monday, so sunday and monday, that's the case for a lot of bakery.
4. he just said everythings ;)
5. 100% true, on pretty every sidewalk there's at least one, but everyone found that annoying, but they don't do anything even if they're suppose to, like, if their dog poop, they clearly have to pick it up, but they don't, so, really annoying but, i'm not sure it'll change.
6. yes, but pretty rare nowaday, depend on where you are, etc.. and as the title said, not everyone does it. About what you said, yes, men have to wear speedo, but only at the pool, not at the beach.
7. he said everythings, but even if they can open late, they do close late too for diner !
8. Cleary, at 100%, yes it's one of the best cuisine in the world, even at the UNESCO for our gastronomy, which is fantastic (even if the pictures he showed don't look incredible), and fun fact; there's more than 1.200 differents cheeses in France. Our food is different from where you are in the country, so there's really a lot of diversity. For the rest he said, yes he's right, but in french families, the lunch time can be for 4 to 10 hours, it depend from every family, but for me, it can start at 12, and finish at 1am for the very long ones, but most of time you'll start at 12 and finish at 4pm, but continue to talk at the table.
9. he's right, imagine a german going to usa and he's talking in german and you're suppose to respond to him, it'll be impossible, here it's pretty the same, we are in our country with more than 80millions tourists each year so more than how many we are, and pretty no one are talking in french, so it's really annoying sometimes, so if you're talking in french, it's very respectul and nice ;) ! but we still can speak english, the "new" generation (less than 40), can barely speak english, and for the more younger one (less than 30), they can hold a conversation more easily than back in the days when it wasn't proposed at school, so that's why old persons aren't speaking it 'cause they never learned it.
10. and finally, he's right, but when you're younger than 10/11, most of time there's still an adult (parents) to look at them if there's a problem, but when you get to be 12 and more, you're just free to hang out and do some stuffs. about what you said, the "go ahead see you later", it's really that but it can be if they stay in the neighborhood or around the house when they're young, but as i said, when he'll get older, it's totally that and they can go pretty everywhere etc...
11. THANKS YOU MAN ! for real, we have a beautiful country with pretty every time of nature there can be, and people just know Paris, it's super sad, just get to : "Les alpes, la côte d'azur, les pyrénées, la méditérranée, Les Calanques, Corse, les Gorges du Verdon, les volcans d'Auvergne, Le méandre de Queuille, le jura, Le Cap Blanc-Nez, Le Mont-Saint-Michel, versailles, a lot of cities like strasbourg, nice etc.., Les falaises d'Étretat, Les Dunes du Pilat, Le Canal du Midi, and much more !
12. yes we do get a lot of immigration, and so a lot of persons in the street, but pretty only in big cities because it's more attractive for them, so in the countryside, they're not a lot.

If you read all of that, i hope you learned a lot about France, we hope that tourists will still continue to visit us, but, if you have to go to France, Don't forget about visiting others things than Paris, and you'll be amazed !🇫🇷🇫🇷

[louse_strrs]

The Louvre and Versailles are closed at least once a week because this allows them to organize private events such as film or documentary shoots as well as interviews
And the lawns are closed but not eternally you have to check before sitting because they are closed in turn to allow the grass to grow and not end up with a land with only soil

[Micade-bnxc]

If businesses (including museums) close on certain days, it's because we consider that all people deserve free time to live ... and not die working!

[chucku]

The thing about not touching fruits and vegetables to serve yourself is only valid for open air markets and specialized shops. Most of the time you can pick fruits and vegetables in supermarkets but you have to weight them by yourself on specific scales where you select what you're weighting and are available close to the vegetables aisle instad of the cashier doing it near the cash register. The advantage is you can precisely check the weight and price of the products beforehand instead of having a guess and knowing it when you're paying.
The speedo requirement only exist in most public (and some private) swimming pools for sanitary reasons because too many teenagers used to come with the shorts they were wearing in the city without changing it before bathing. On the beaches, lakes, rivers or ponds you can wear whatever you want (except maybe on private beaches).

[sylvain]

if you come to my country, you can enjoy the castles of the Loire Valley ( Chenonceau, Chambord are the finest ones ) and many places more

[lucywho]

Tuesday is the closing days for nationals museums, because they are open on both saturdays and sundays

[champagnesylvie-lavieenfra]

🌎🗼💒 *I'am proud to be a FRENCH amazing woman from because my magnificient France is so beautiful! Such a diversity in landscape and everything looks so amazing. I have always considered France to be the most beautiful country in Europe because it takes a bit of everything the nicest from Europe. Not to mention the culture, tradition and history that only emphasises how big the French nation is!* 🥐🥂🍾 best regards! 🍵🥖🌾

[Adrienmon]

8:42 It's "Go ahead, see you later". I was authorized to roam by myself at 7 y-o, especially to go to school or just doing my own buisness (friends, playing outside...) as long as it was not too far obviously.

[christianc]

This is an honest video, it describes reality, without exaggerating to create a buzz but without hiding the bad.
This is rarely the case because most videos of this type are filled with errors or even lies.
Thanks to this Youtuber who raises the level.

[Niouclo]

Yes, the Speedo thing is real, but only for public swimming pools

[theRAV]

there is nowhere a requirement to wear a speedo at the beach
in some places in Europe you are required to wear those in aquaparks or swimming pools for hygienic reasons

[ambroiseperret]

In french pool swimming shorts are sometimes not allowed because they are less hygienic than dedicated swimm suit .

[lesjolissouvenirs]

N'oublions pas que la première plage naturiste a été ouverte en France et que la France est la première destination pour les naturistes.

[sylvain]

we do not give tips after paying the bill because a "service compris" because the price includes the service of the waiter

[superpieton]

Reality is, smokers are a minority in France. We are 67 millions French people, and only 12 millions smokers. The region of Paris concentrate 12 millions people (1/5th of whole France lives in "île de France", which is Paris and the surrounding cities), so if you confuse "Paris" with "France", you'll see a lot of smokers.

[onissius]

At pool, you can not wear a swiming short, but a speedo (translate as "swiming underpants" or "swiming jersey").
This is for hygiene reasons. You can wear shorts all day (apart from swimming) but you should not swim in these same shorts.
For the food parte, this is not a potato, this is a entire "Foie gras". ;-)

Another fun fact about cheeses.
We do not know exactly how many different cheeses we have, but it is over 1200 different cheeses. So you can eat 1 different cheese every day for more than 3 YEARS without ever eat 2 time the same cheese !

[torkshowgaming]

Hello from France ! 😇6:01 🤣🤣I'm done 😂😂No, that's a foie gras (duck or goose), for Thanksgiving 😁👍

[Alex-mpzb]

Remember that state museums are free on the 1st Sunday of each month! Might save you some money...
Speedos are compulsory in public pools for hygiene and make sure swimmers are not in shorts or bermudas they might have worn in dirty places.