Posted on 07/27/2014 12:12:01 PM PDT by not2be4gotten.com
So, as an American, after 3 months living in France, for the first time, let us review what we have found and possibly blow away some myths and untruths you have been hearing all of your life, shall we? lol
1) The French are rude/unhelpful/disdainful.
This is the biggest bunch of bull stereotype on the planet. Americans are the strange ones here, as we have to always put on a false face and smile all the time, for various cultural reasons. Look at our current President, who became powerful, almost entirely by his toothy smile. The French are normal and don't "fake smile" all of the time. Many Americans take this as rude. The French people, in general are wonderful, helpful, outgoing and gregarious. Many Americans say this to feel culturally superior. This is just cultural liberalism.
2) Paris is safe and crime free.
Mostly true. You will not worry about walking down that dark alley at 2 AM.
3) French people are smelly.
Untrue. This comes from the fact that French men tend to pee on the sidewalks and that does smell.
4) French cuisine is the world's best.
UNTRUE (and this is my own opinion, so take it for what it is worth). The French are blessed with some of the best fruits and vegetables in the world. The Tomatoes, cherries, cantaloupes, peppers, onions, nectarines and even seedless watermelon! The problem with all of this, is when these ingredients end up in a French kitchen, that's where it all goes wrong. They mix in snails, frog legs, livers and various other stuff. It is all very unappetizing.
I walk by café restaurants every day and look at the food that people are eating and it is not for me.
And if you come over here and expect to make that wonderful lasagna, pork and sauerkraut, enchiladas or macaroni and cheese, you have your work cut out for you. Just finding Cheddar cheese, a packet of taco seasoning or a decent jar of spaghetti sauce, this going to be a real problem for you. Example, you cannot find Italian sausage, sour cream, summer sausage, pepperoni, (decent) sauerkraut or chili powder, anywhere. I could make a long list of these things, but I just don't have time. The Indian restaurants in North East Paris are fantastic (again, this is a personal preference).
5) The wine in France is wonderful.
True. At any grocery store you can invariably find a $3 bottle of wine and it will be great.
6) The French are a bunch of lazy socialists.
I don't know, I see a lot of very hard working people here. I was surprised by this. And there is so much wealth here, the transportation systems are almost unbelievable.
7) There are wonderful cheese shops in France.
True. Every cheese shop I have been too has "Blue Stilton" cheese. And it is always relatively inexpensive and delicious.
8) The French smoke a lot.
This is true. Especially young women 20 to 30 years old. Nobody really knows why.
9) French woman are beautiful.
True. And they all seem to get all made up every day. It is like an unwritten rule for the woman of France to look as good in public as possible, all of the time.
10) French women are not fat.
True. Walking the streets of Paris for a few weeks, this is very apparent. Again, the question is why?
11) The French drive all of these small cars.
This is true and false. There are a lot of scooters, motorcycles and small cars running around Paris. There are a lot of big Mercedes, Land Rovers and trucks, also. There are a lot of European cars here, which I wasn't expecting, in that I had just assumed that every (most) cars in the (western) world were made in America, which is not true.
A couple of points about France and motor vehicles:
A) I don't recall seeing an American style, what we Americans, would call, a "pickup truck". Like a Ford F150, Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Ram anywhere in Europe.
B) I don't see any Toyota Camrys or Corollas, the best selling cars in the world.
C) I see all of these "motorcycles" with 2 front wheels here, which I don't see in the states. And I don't understand why.
D) When you rent a car in France, unless you want to pay a premium, you end up with a manual transmission (a stick shift car). Whys is this?
Anyway, just some observations from the "old world".
I thought I would share it.
I don't get into the Muslim situation here, because I don't have the time tonight.
It is significant and I have seen the problems and have lived the problems.
Maybe for another post.
What do they call a “Quarter Pounder with Cheese” in Paris?
While hitchhiking from Paris (1977) a Frenchman picked me up...he spoke no English but did speak German. He was driving to Switzerland to pick up his French-Canadian girlfriend for a weeks vacation climbing in the mountains around Grindlewald. I got to know them both and I ended up climbing with them for the next week. The interesting thing was, no one could talk to everybody at the same time. I could speak to him in German and to her in English. They could communicate in French. It was fun.
Royale avec fromage
I agree with all your points except #4.
That’s because of the Metric System, right?
Royale avec fromage.
CC
Bump
Jinks, buy me a coke!
CC
This is true. Especially young women 20 to 30 years old. Nobody really knows why.
...
10) French women are not fat.
True. Walking the streets of Paris for a few weeks, this is very apparent. Again, the question is why?
People who smoke are quite often thin. In America, people used to combine these two qualities, to a certain extent. Then, we decided to stamp out smoking. Today, we wonder where all the obesity came from.
It's all quite obvious.
French people walk a lot as well. I went to Paris last year, and all I know is that I could never drive there.
They call it “hamburger a la Americane” and the hamburger meat is raw.. Really, I ordered one and had to send it back to be cooked.
A local PBS station is rerunning "Nicolas Le Floch" (set during Louis XV) and is supposed to be fairly historically accurate.
Any way, one of [police inspector] Le Floch's informants is a guy with a screen and bucket. Not that Le Floch hits his mark all the time...
I actually went to a McDonalds last year there, and it was fine.
Agree except as to the food. French food is great. Still cook out of my Julia Child cookbook.
My experience too: the French were friendly, generous, smart. I have no idea where the negative stereotypes came from. I have been to France about a dozen times over the last 20 years and I always had a great time and made new friends. If you visit the cemeteries in Normandy and the Muese-Argonne, you will be blown away with the beauty and reverence they have shown for our honored dead.
The only disagreement I have with the author of the piece is that the food is sensational everywhere. If you’re looking for American chow, not too available. If you’re looking fine dining, France is the best.
I would expect that Mc Donalds would be OK, I was at a French sidewalk cafe.
I spent over ten years in Europe. France is much like the rest of Europe, some people are nice, some are rude. Americans traveling in Europe are the same.
American and Mexican food is easier to find these days than back in the day, but why bother. Even the Brits are putting out fine chow these days if you know how to find it. Indian, Indonesian, Hungarian, etc. places are generally very nice. Frogs and snails were put on this Earth for a purpose, the French have figured this out.
American cars have never sold well in Europe because of how Europeans tax their cars and their gasoline. Maneuvering a ‘63 Buick through medieval villages was never going to work. I’ve tried most of them: Peugeot, Audi, VW, BMV, Lotus. The Lotus was the best except for the mechanics bills.
smoking is more disgusting though
plenty of smokers are fat
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