They eat baguettes all the time - TRUE
Seriously, I see so many people on the tram, VeloV and on the street holding a baguette, its crazy. In the supermarket, the main available bread is baguette and all sorts of different types and sizes. Their baguettes taste really good so there is a reason for this craze.
Love cheese - TRUE
Well, I was shocked when I entered Carrefour and found just an aisle with cheese, a full long one. There were maybe 20 varieties of Camembert, maybe more...the variety is really insane just in a normal supermarket. It's even more on an outside market on a Saturday or Sunday morning. French people love to buy cheese and they really don't care how much it is, they know what type of cheese they like and that's it.
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| A small sample of the variety of cheese in a Market |
Drink a lot of wine - TRUE
I am not a wine drinker, but because they drink it all the time, and its quite cheap in here, I started drinking it myself! In Lidl you can buy wine, and not the disgusting type, for €2-€3!! Of course if you have €5-10€ you can really buy some good wine in the supermarket! The variety is again huge, so its impossible not to find wine for all tastes!
They don't speak other languages - FALSE
So this one was one that I was a bit worried about. OK, older French people in some supermarkets, banks or administration jobs cannot speak other languages other than French, which actually is exactly what happens in the UK and Portugal for the same age group. However, I have met and talked with around 30-40 young people since I got here, and all of those could speak English and quite a few could also speak other languages such as Spanish, German and Portuguese!
I always make the effort to speak French, even though its really tough in some situations (such as in a bank), but they really are patient and sometimes to help me out explain it in English or Portuguese for my own sake! Smiling always helps too :)
They all dress well - TRUE
OK this one is a generalisation of course but, yes most French men and women dress really well. I have been on trams, metro and on the street, and they have a great sense of style. They even look great riding a bicycle or a scooter.
They are slim and healthy - TRUE
Again, I wasn't sure about this one with all the cheese, bread and food they eat but it is true! I think I have seen only 1 overweight person!! This is a massive difference compared to what I see in the UK for example.
One of the reasons I believe, is that French people like to eat good food and not really keen on junk cheap food, its cultural! They eat a lot but well.
Another reason might be - if I compare it to the UK, is that the sweets/junk food in the supermarkets is actually advertised with massive discounts, or on the way in or out of the supermarkets, enticing the customers to buy those!
Another reason is that French people, at least in Lyon, are really sporty. So many people cycle to and from work using either there own bicycle or the VeloV, that its bound to make a difference. They run a lot too, and they tend to go to classes and be quite active.
They smoke a lot - TRUE
They do smoke quite a lot and they don't seem to care about second hand smoking! Not sure why this is the case, as would be interesting to know why in the majority of the countries the numbers of smokers is going down, and a country like France seems to be an outlier!
Burocracy is painful, slow and not efficient - TRUE
Going to a supermarket queue in the UK takes about 5 minutes maximum, even on a busy day - in a normal day in France, it can take up to 10-15 minutes.
The bank queues are also painful and it seems only one person is attending the customers. The phone stores such as ORANGE have the same issues- on day I was there, there was such a big queue that French customers were screaming complaining to the staff.
Their are cold, arrogant and not friendly - FALSE
I spoke a little about this one at the end of my previous blog, but had to mention it again.
I have met maybe 20-25 French men/women since I got here, and I don't remember one person being cold or not friendly with me. OK, I am aware that most times I am out socially, and French are known to be more friendly during their nights out, so maybe I have to wait until I work with French people to really see this.
I have made some really good French friends already, and I really like them. They aren't as outgoing/crazy as us Portuguese/Spanish, but there is no need, they are really friendly and great people.
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