We all know that stereotypes are very general and not true of everyone, but I have found that some stereotypes about the French do have some reason, so in this blog I am going to attempt to put down in words what I have learnt about France and its 'citoyens' over the last seven months in twenty points, and coming up at number one is the famous stereotype that the French love their bread, and in particular baguettes.
1) Baguettes are a must-have for every meal.
In the American TV show 'Gilmore Girls', the main character, Lorelai, gets asked if she likes coffee, to which she responds: 'Only with my oxygen'. This is how I imagine a French person would respond if asked whether they liked baguettes. They eat baguettes for breakfast, with their lunch, for their afternoon 'gôuter' (snack), and with their dinner. Take just a five minute walk down the street in France, and I can guarantee you that you will see at least one person carrying a baguette, if not more. My flatmate and I are still trying to solve the 'how can French people be so thin when they eat so many baguettes?' question, something that will always be a mystery to me!
2) Lunch is a big deal.
When I first started working in France I was shocked to see on my timetable that a full two hours had been scheduled for lunch. At work in England you are often lucky to even get half an hour of a work-free lunch break, however the French would be horrified to have anything less than two hours off to eat their fully cooked lunch and talk to their colleagues. Yes that's right, they have a fully cooked lunch, often with several courses, and accompanied by a baguette of course! Lots of French workers will go out to a restaurant to have their 'plat du jour' for lunch, or they will go home to eat a cooked lunch with their family, or eat at a cantine in their workplace. In the schools I work at there is no cantine provision for the staff, so most of the teachers bring in a packed, but still cooked, lunch to heat up in the staff room. This usually consists of a salad for starter, some form of meat or fish (it's impossible to a vegetarian here!) and vegetables for main course, a yoghurt for dessert, bread and cheese, a coffee (espresso style - see point 3), and a square of chocolate to finish it all off. Yet again the question of how the French stay so thin comes to mind considering the size of their meals!
3) Coffee is a necessity after lunch, but never with milk.
At a restaurant, the sure fire way of separating the French from the foreigners is to see if they order 'un café' after their giant lunch. When eating out with friends, we have actually been practically snubbed for not having a coffee to finish the meal, as it is the expected norm for French customers. Not only is it very important to have a coffee after your lunch, but if you do end up ordering it, it is not coffee in the sense that us anglophones know it, it is served very small, and with no milk - basically an espresso.
4) If you see someone eating you must say 'Bon appetit'
Sticking with the food theme, I have noticed that before every meal, or even snack, French people will always say 'Bon appetit' to you. This is apparently so obligatory that I have had people say it to me even when I have been eating an ice cream on a street bench! At most meals I have eaten with French people I have been asked what is the English translation for the phrase, however their reaction is not as excited when I tell them that we don't really say it as much as them, and if we did we would say 'Bon appetit'! I usually just tell them to say 'Enjoy your meal', but just imagine then strange looks they would get if they said that to a random person eating an ice cream in the street!
5) Bisous!
Another thing that is difficult to adjust to as an anglophone is the compulsorary 'bisous' (kisses) whenever you greet someone. In the UK we have the handshake, or if you know the person well you might hug them, but kissing someone on the cheek is generally reserved for family or close family friends. We like our personal space, so kissing someone you've never met before on the cheek would be mortifying! Not only do we have to deal with the internal embarrassment, but you also have to remember how many kisses you should do, as depending on where you are, the number changes - in the South of France it is usually three, and as you get more northern it is usually two. It's taken me a while to get the hang of this, causing much confusion when I attempted to go for a third kiss when greeting someone in Angoulême, where apparently two is enough!
6) Everything is 'super'
Something that has stood out to me whilst listening in to the conversation of the teachers in my staff room is the use of the word 'super'. If something is really small, it is 'super petit', something that is really pretty is 'super jolie', and something that was really good is 'super bon'. I find it 'super amusant'.
7) The French are the masters of hand gestures and pulling funny faces and sounds when talking.
Despite the fact that in general, French people try to move their mouth as little as possible when speaking (which is pretty difficult for non-native speakers!), they are, in fact, very expressive, constantly using their hands when telling a story, topped off with what is effectively blowing a raspberry with their mouth every so often. Pffft.
8) They think it is cool to use English words.
In the same way that we might use a French word to make something sound sophisticated, the French think that using English words and phrases makes them seem cool and trendy. I have heard some great phrases such as 'le place-to-be' or 'le shopping'. In fact, they like to stick '-ing' onto lots of random English words to make nouns which would make no sense to us, for example 'le parking' (car park) and 'le footing' (running). What makes this whole phenomenon even funnier for us anglophones is that French people often don't understand us when we say these English words, because you still need to apply a French accent to the words to be understood. I learnt this when trying to order a 'Raspberry Bliss' smoothie once. It's almost safer to stick to the flavours with French names.
9) Work and play are two separate things.
One thing I have found whilst working in France is that once they have finished work, they go home and don't think about work again until they come back in the next day. Granted, the French don't seem to like working much, what with their two hour lunch breaks and massively long holidays, but there is definitely something to be learnt from their attitude to enjoying life away from work. In England and the US, work does seem to take over our lives, and we often don't spend enough quality time with our loved ones, and relaxing and refuelling for the work ahead. Slowing down and appreciating life is a good thing to do every now and then.
10) Despite not seeming to work that much, French people are usually tired or ill.
In the UK, if someone asks you how you're feeling, the usual response (much to my mum's despair!) is to say 'I'm fine', even if we're not (I mean who really asks that question and wants a long-winded answer about how badly your day is going?!). However in France, there is the usual 'Ça va? Oui, ça va' conversation, but all too often the response will be negative, usually something along the lines of how 'fatigué' they are, or how they are 'malade' with something. Did I mention that the French don't really like working?!
11) French people are not precious about their cars.
Take a walk along the narrow streets of Sète, and you will notice that a) the cars are all very small, and b) pretty much all the cars have dents and scratches. Given the narrow and windy streets it is understandable that small cars are necessary, although not many drivers adapt their driving for such roads, hence the state of disrepair that most cars are in. They just don't care about their cars, which although is slightly scary, is actually quite a refreshing difference to the sometimes over-protectiveness of people about their cars in the UK. Having said that, I wouldn't like to be in the passenger seat of some of the cars I've seen in France!
12) The French love beurocracy.
Before coming out to France I heard many horror stories about French beurocracy, as they like to be very precise, and have no problem with being difficult with customers. In general, I have found it to not be as bad as I expected, although it still took several trips to the bank to give them exactly the right papers they wanted. The worst culprits have been CAF, which is the government organisation that gives out benefits, and who give us language assistants money towards our rent. I first sent off my application at the start of November, and many letters and trips into their offices later, I have been told that I will receive my allocation in the next15 days. But as I have learned, never trust a French government worker, so we shall see if that actually comes to fruition!
13) Apparently sweat suits are à la mode in schools.
France is usually quoted as one of the most fashionable countries in the world, but from my experience with French schoolchildren I would beg to differ. Because they don't wear school uniform in France, the children I teach can wear what they want. This means that most of my students wear sweat suits which have matching jumpers and tracksuit bottoms. My personal favourite is the style with leopard print running down the sides. I don't know where this fashion craze has come from, but someone definitely needs to burn them all!
14) Bonjour, but please don't talk to me
Much to my American flat mate's horror French people aren't the chattiest the bunch if they don't know you (which means making French friends is pretty tricky!), however if you walk into a shop, it is obligatory to say 'bonjour' or 'bonsoir' (they are also sticklers for using the correct term - I still haven't worked out at what point in the day you're supposed to start saying bonsoir!), and to say 'merci, au revoir' when you leave. In the same fashion, whenever someone gets off a bus, they shout down to the driver 'merci, au revoir!'. This has taken some getting used to, especially as the door to get off the bus is down in the middle of the bus, so you are actually quite far from the driver!
15) French people are very cultured.
Another thing I have learned whilst listening to teachers' conversations in the staff room, is that French people love their culture. They have long, in depth conversations comparing the latest films they have seen (usually several a week), what's on in the cinema and theatre that week, the latest TV shows and documentaries they've watched, their most recent trip to an art gallery etc. Cultured activities like these are deemed extremely important for all ages, and also reinforces their pride in France.
16) Everybody wants to live in the South
As in Britain, there is a very clear North/South divide, although in the case of France it is more of a North/Paris/South divide. Habitants of each of these sections are very proud of where they live, ridiculing the others for their accents and way of life. However, as depicted in the famous French comedy 'Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis', the south of France is deemed to be the ideal place to live with its sunshine and more relaxed way of life. In fact, I have been told that if you were to get a promotion to the south of France, the general consensus is that you'd be mad not to take it, and then you should never leave! So I'm guessing that means that the south is full of happy, promoted people, and the North has everyone else who is still awaiting their promotion (apart from Paris, of course!).
17) The French seem to always 'en grève'.
After several months in France, I have now come to the conclusion that on any one day, somewhere in France, someone will be 'en grève' (striking). It is totally acceptable and normal to strike here; it's seen as a basic human right. In the few months I have been here, there have been several public transport strikes affecting the trains and buses, a couple of teacher strikes, and most recently an enormous public workers' strike. My friend from uni recently visited me, but had to cut two days off her trip as there was a French air traffic controllers strike happening which meant her flight out was cancelled at the last minute!
18) Discipline in French schools seems to slacken as you get older.
In the primary schools that I teach in, the teachers are very strict, to the point where a child will get a massive telling off if they are just a little bit too loud in one of the games I play with them. However, by the time the student reaches lycée (secondary school), the rules seem to be very relaxed - my flatmate works in a lycée and she tells me that mobile phones are allowed in lessons, students will fall asleep on lessons, and they are often very difficult to quieten down to get anything done. I think the question of 'what happens between école élémentaire and lycée?' is another one of those to add to the mysteries of France!
19) Most of France is countryside.
French trains are very efficient, and they need to be given the size of France! Take any train journey in France and you will see that the majority of the country is rural countryside, which is very pretty, although means that most people live in very rural, isolated areas. I suppose it makes sense as France has the same size population as Britain, but double the land space.
20) French people are very particular
I mean, in no other country would an argument between two town mayors prevent a tramline being built to the airport. Yep, that's right, in Montpellier, one town mayor whose sector included the airport, wouldn't let the mayor of Montpellier build the tramline into his sector so that it reached the airport, simply because he didn't like him. So now, all travellers have to take a tram to a bus stop, and then take a shuttle bus, rather than just a tram as would make sense!
So that concludes my very long blog post about France and the funny things that exist here. All written in the 3.5 hour journey form Montpellier to Paris! If you have any other observations about France, do let me know!
A bientôt!
Rachel this is really interesting and so funny - I'm reading it in the uni library (procrastinating...) and I had to stop myself giggling out loud multiple times! xx Hannah (from Spring Harvest)
ReplyDelete