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".
You must have gone to some really bad Donor stands, because every Doner I've had in Germany (even the most mediocre) were better than the best Gyro I've had in the US.
People in the former Communist countries tend to be friendly towards Americans, especially the Poles, because they remember how they stood against the Soviet Union.
Cheddar is a British/American cheese, not even made in France. Why hanker for cheddar when so many gorgeous French cheeses are available and local?
The French use cheese more as a course than as a topping like we do. I ate my first slice of camembert in the garden of the Louvre. I can still remember that thrill.
Gas mileage, and the fact that (until recently) European automatic transmissions were notoriously unreliable (even Rolls Royce used to buy GM auto trannies).
Meh... french women are ugly imo (especially compared to when in Germny) and dress very vulgar... but that tattoo craze in the US has probably upped them now, notwithstanding smoking.
They also may look thin but they have zero muscle mass... all celulite or very softy.
What French women have is that they are not power crazy like in America for the most part because fathers there will discipline both girls and boys the same. No holier than though never criticize bs. A dum woman will be called out and rectified by both gender peers. They are a bit more logical and a piece of mind to an extent... although their trust of gays is cmpletely stupid because I know gays make fun of how they easily manipulate stupid french women there.
No, they are pretty tasty, but a Gyro is a Gyro. German draft beer makes everything better. The red cabbage can be potent.
LOL! When I was there in the 60s I had to depend on Italian restaurants and fish'n'chip shops for sustenance. In this century, it's the streetside fruit vendors, Starbucks, McDonalds, Nando's fast food, and the Turkish kebab shops. Had one spectacular meal at a gay-owned restaurant in London's theater district, though.
Sounds like you are stereotyping Americans, not just liberal Americans that make it a point to go over there and find overly liberal French with whom to discuss US foreign policy.
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 dont 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.
Comment?
Paris is safe and crime free: Mostly true. You will not worry about walking down that dark alley at 2 AM
They have higher so-called tolerance for more frequent maintenance. Especially when it comes to the railroads, which are state-owned (funny you glossed over that part of their socialism). However, what with the socialistic way of doing things economy-wise, what ought to be the most money-making part of railroading (freight) does not make money and they do a lot more trucking.
the transportation systems are almost unbelievable
I have never known them to be into small cars exclusively. Who came up with this stereotype? The Citroën DS was not what one would call a small car, although it had four-bangers for engines; neither was the SM or CX.
The French drive all of these small cars
Eh? France is in Europe, so why would they not have European cars? France themselves still have Renault, Citroën and Peugeot, who have historically been their big three after a fashion (and have been sold in the USA at various historical intervals); Germany is next door to France and that country basically invented the automobile, especially the internal-combustion-engined type.
There are a lot of European cars here, which I wasnt expecting, in that I had just assumed that every (most) cars in the (western) world were made in America, which is not true
In Europe or France? Pickup trucks are all over Europe. How many do you see in the cities over there, certain parts of which have very narrow streets?
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
Because most people that rent cars over there want a stickshift. The average price of gas over in France ATTOW is 1.51 per liter of 95 octane RON (about 91 octane US), which is about $7.65 per US gallon, so an automatic is going to be thirstier especially in the city.
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). Why is this?
It is their way of weaning stupid out of the streets. French are not big on accessibility and affirmative action. You cannot stick shift, forget getting a driver’s license.
As a 50 year old USA american, no, I was not expecting to see this many cars produced in Europe. It was a real Revelation to me.
My favorite was one where they smeared a just barely hard-boiled egg across like mayonnaise.
Tres delicieux!
The French are not very good at cooking vegetables. I agree with that. Only the Indians do a good job. However french cooking is complex. Go to the South of France and the Ratatouille is great. Every region has its own way of cooking. Great fries in the North, great green bean salad in the South.
Glad things are getting better in France. My first trip to France was over 50 years ago and they were AWFUL! I have been back quite a few times and it seemed a little better each time. It helps if you can speak the language and I cannot.
As far as the peeing anywhere is concerned, that is a European thing and not just the men. My Dutch friend (female) went into a strangers yard while we were out walking and peed in the shrubbery. I walked away and almost died of embarrassment. She laughed at me. :(
Could it have been roquefort, which is also blue?
Europe is very protectionist and their roads are tiny in some parts. So the American comfort design goes out the window. Notwithstanding gas price and importation. It restricts their choices.
Never heard of it.
2)The vast majority of Germans are nice people and fun to be around, especially when drinking. :-)
3)Be scrupulous with your business dealings-- the bad American attitude of breaking a contract because you've figured in the cost of litigation is really frowned upon in Germany-- you will be sued and you will lose-- big.
4) What we consider "ordinary" criminal activity is almost non existent in Germany. But I hope you a white, with light skin and blue eyes. If you're not, be careful about small towns, public transportation late at night or working class bars (no, I'm not kidding). I'm of French descent and tan easily, so I'm not 'white enough' for some Germans from the former DDR.
As a friend frequently says " There are the countries that use the metric system, and there is the other country that went to the moon."
For the most part people who live in NYC are thin. It’s called walking all day long.
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