Living in France

living in France

Classic Things about Living in France:

1) The daily baguette.

2) The Eiffel tower

3) Colored socks with tennis shoes

4) Greeting people with: Bonjour MADAME, or Bonjour MONSIEUR.

5) Not mixing sugary foods with salty foods, hence a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, is an unacceptable lunch.

6) One sentence you must ignore, though you will hear it often; "Ce n'est pas possible!"

7) Coin operated grocery carts.

8) Middle names a mile long example: Thierry Alain Francois Jean Michele Dupont.

9) Cigarette smoke

10) When you want to say "one" with
your finger, you use your thumb. When you go into the bakery and you
want to order one baguette, you hold up your thumb, "Une baguette." If
you hold up your pointer finger you will confuse the baker and will
receive two baguettes.

11) Wine and cheese is not a party theme

12) "Oh la la!" Can be positive or negative depending on how you say it.

13) They know how to wear a scarf a hundred different ways.

14) Marriages happen at the City Hall. Then if you want you can have a religious ceremony.

15) Strikes

16) xoxo does not mean hugs and kisses.

What does being French mean to you?



Comments

59 responses to “Living in France”

  1. Dining room tables dominate living rooms. And if caught snacking on the street one is greeted with a sincere “bon apetit”!

  2. M-Noëlle

    Being French? = being myself, I suppose…?!?
    Most general surveys (from tourists in France) say that we grumble at everything and that we are not welcoming…
    What do you think about those statements ?

  3. Di Overton

    When my daughter Charlotte went to live in Paris we bought her a book – 60 Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong – it was invaluable. However I don’t remember reading about the thumb up for one. I just thought they were saying – that’s good 🙂

  4. Hi Corey! Cy here, coming to you from the Cote d’Azur! What does xoxo mean?? I’m most interested to know. Thanks!

  5. The French have such a sense of style! My mother was French and her clothing was so amazingly suited to her. Before I went to France myself I had heard M-Noelle’s observations (above) and yet I found the people I met there to be unfailingly friendly and kind. And the food! Superbe!

  6. Love to hear all about your life in France.
    Kisses

  7. I heard the negative stuff about French people too, before visiting. It simple isn’t true. (now, if you are an arrogant overbearing american, sure!)But everywhere we went, everyone was wonderful! Even in Paris, our waiter sat down and talked with us for a long time. I LOVED IT!
    France is full of romance and Americans have always had a thing for everything french; French food, French clothing, French accents, (I grew up loving Pepe Le Pew! “Ah my darling, I love you, where have I been all your life? Le mew…Le mrrreow…”
    If that doesn’t make you smile, nothing will!

  8. Being French means…
    – your whole (inc. extended) family sitting around the dining room table for hours for a simple but fantastic meal to celebrate pretty much anything …
    – Avidly reading numberplates to work out where the owners live.
    – miles and miles of excellent motorways surrounded by beautiful countryside.
    – knowing all the little family run cafes/retaurants where you can get a 3 course meal for under €10.
    – malabar & caramber sweeties …
    – Badly dubbed TV!
    – Pomme D’api & Okapi magazines for kids…
    The list goes on… I have the pleasure of being half French and although have lived in th UK all my life I somehow feel more French than British.

  9. Ellen Cassilly

    I agree with Jennifer about the sincere “bon apatit” when caught snacking in the street, but I also felt a bit of a sadness coming from them. An undertone of “that poor person, so rushed that they can’t take the time to savor their meal with a loved one”. I think that this is changing with the younger generation.
    I also found the French to be either fiercely private or very inquizative. The inquizative ones did not fit properly with the rest of the French so they would always preface their questions with “if it is not too indiscrete, …..” hugs, Ellen

  10. Julie Ann

    Good food, good wine, a proper lunch, style, elegance, cheek kissing and the “tu and the vouz” ! – I knew I would enjoy this post, Jx

  11. My Melange

    All of the above and good wine, great food, fresh produce, markets, FLEA MARKETS, a lovely language and good friends 🙂

  12. welltraveled10judi

    Please,please put some calmer music..it is jarring

  13. Yikes!! What does XOXOXOX mean in French? Hope I’m not being scandelous!

  14. poppy fields

    Being French to me…is making my daughters say “bonjour” and double kiss on the cheek all the moms and dads we run into when school lets out.

  15. Toni Brown

    I’d have to say that being French means being able to have a 3-hour philosophical, political, intellectual, analytical & historical conversation about … toe jam.

  16. SweetPeaSurry

    I used to love ya, until I found out YOU were the one with the crazy MYSPACE muzak!!!
    HA … anyway … I got you this … because I loff ya anyway!
    You’re so awesome you got an award from me … don’t hate me because i loff ya!!!

  17. Diane Laurent

    Ahhh…being French, It’s elegant It’s beauty It’s prfoundly feminine!!
    Diane

  18. Coin operated grocery carts?? fascinating!

  19. The “bon apetit” comment once made me feel ashamed of not eating correctly at a table. Today city streets are filled with lunchtime munchers who happen to be French. McDo as well. The charm of the café with one choice meal of the day will outlive the new trends I hope.

  20. AmandaMay

    Amazing bread (even the rolls we were served in our cheap hostel were delicious!). Interesting faces… I have a theory that French faces are so interesting because one must move their mouth much more to speak proper French. Not that I know this for sure, my attempts at French speaking have hardly been successful, but I do notice that people I see speaking French have such expressive mouths and faces in general.

  21. Hi Corey
    am i doing something wrong? i have music with your blog now
    thanks
    jody

  22. how i love to come here and learn new things!
    i too am very curious what
    xoxoxo
    means as well
    i still do not know if i can get over the loss of those delicious blue green tiles …

  23. Air kisses as my daughter calls it!

  24. 1.”vouvoyer” people that you don’t know even if they are very young…
    2. some sweet-sugar mixes….as foigras with peaches 🙂 (I love maple sirop and peanut butter though!)
    3. food, food and more food. Staying hours at table
    4. not being direct
    5. Have conversations that may last hours and have opinions about everything!
    6. mix generations is easy
    7. being very proud of it even if complying about everything here 🙂

  25. actually i was talking about this last night with a friend…and i said…I love that the french (who could be essentially wrapped in a french flag!!!!! ) but will forever remind you: “maybe it is because i am french…(fill in blank)…” how many times have you heard that?????
    nancyxx

  26. I saw a photo essay about Tina Barney. She specializes in photos of the upper classes. There was a very aristocratic type older French gentleman. He said that the French are very particular about the vouvoyer address. He always addressed his own parents as vous, not tu. I found that quite amazingly formal. The French people I’ve met have always been very friendly and patient with my attempts at their language.

  27. Seriously, xoxo? Damn but that made me laugh!
    xoxo back at ‘cha!

  28. From my brief stay in France I can tell you the things that I miss the most:
    1. Baguettes
    2. Bonjour!
    3. Everything is gift wrapped.
    4. The usage of the word Voila!
    5. Corey
    6. Driving fast
    7. How warm and welcoming the French were to two gals from America.
    8. Provence, Paris, everything! I fell in love with France.

  29. parisbreakfast

    M-N I find the French most gracious.
    As for sweet-sugar mixtures – at the movies they will give you moitie sale/moitie sweet popcorn…but popcorn ain’t French so maybe it doesn’t count.
    Why don’t they use XOXO?
    They don’t have GOSSIP GIRL over there yet?
    You can not return ANYTHING to a shop.
    Did you say that?
    Oh and never write on money i.e. your bills = sacriledge.

  30. Wandering Chopsticks

    I think of the French influence on Vietnamese food. Baguette sandwiches with Vietnamese cold cuts and pickles. Yogurt. Single filter drip coffee with condensed milk. And the beef stew recipe I’m posting today. 🙂

  31. I have lived in Louisiana for 15 years and have never been to France, but:
    ‘Tis the season for Debs, Belles and Balls here in Louisiana, which I’m pretty sure we got from the French, particularly after reading all of your comments. Actually, all year around there are parties for everything. Plus, they are all in mixed age groups (very nice to see a grandmother dancing with her grandson). Here’s my post about it:
    http://dlouisianat.blogspot.com/2009/01/season-of-debs-belles-balls.html
    We call unfamiliar adults, Mr. or Mrs. Geautreaux, for example; familiar adults older than we are as Miss Daphne or Mr Robert, for example. Most of my friend’s children can call me “Miss Denese”. Very good friends who are contemporaries, or children who are our children’s friends, we call by their first name.
    We do a single kiss on the cheek (not a double kiss side to side, or the triple kiss they do in Switzerland). My children hug and kiss their friends often, particularly if they haven’t seen them (even for a short while). There are lots of “I love yous” between friends. And adults we now know after 15 years will tell us they love us.
    But, it’s taken forever to get this far. If you are a short-timer here, you’ll never experience any of the above!

  32. fries…just kidding 🙂
    Tongue and Cheek
    Nice
    The Louvre
    Nutella ( ha we used to eat nutella in french food days in high school)

  33. 1. The smell of cigarette smoke and lavender.
    2. Witty conversation (usually involving the mention of a philosophe).
    3. Easy meals where servers don’t pester the diners.
    4. Cheese!
    5. Easy, classy style.
    6. Dark hair and eyes,
    and
    7. Kisses 😉
    I have always found the French to be welcoming and warm.

  34. Stephanie

    Just spent Xmas in Paris! LOVED it. okay…fois gras, baguettes, Brie, Champagne, Eiffel Tower, family owned bistros, metro, Monoprix, Sacre Couer. Wait! Most of that is about food. Yummy! There was absolutely NOTHING about Paris that we didn’t love.

  35. I’m only French at heart but being French means …
    1. lavender – lots of lavender!
    2. red wine
    3. setting a proper table even if you’re only having toast
    4. appreciating anything old
    5. café au lait en bol
    Just a few of my favourite memories of France!
    xo,
    Lynda

  36. Suzanne G

    France is lovely, but you don’t need to go to France for all of that, just come to Montreal. 🙂

  37. France to me means romance… and since hubby’s family is originally from France, I guess I’m spot-on with the romance theme! =)

  38. I was told on my mother side of the family her father was “French” — I never met him though my grandparents were tailors and my gran mere was also a lace maker–
    So being French means:
    Lace lots of lace,
    Good food (wine-bread, cheeses, olives, — my mother & her mother were excellent cooks
    French music I love the old style
    Edith Pilaf
    & the new style Mme/ Carla Bruni (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gwS8ldk6NY&NR=1
    Grape fields
    Lavender fields
    Olive Trees/farms
    French white hand milled soaps.
    French appreciation for beauty, style & design & romance, art & architecture
    French Movies
    The French country side……….
    Bastille Day!
    The French Language oh so beautiful!
    Eifel Tower, Varisellies
    and so much more,
    Joanny

  39. france to me is the boat basin at ville franche…..
    missy from the bayou

  40. I imagine it to be having tea in an open cafe watching a painter paint a lovely scene..I am sure I am off here but I like the view of that in my mind Thanks for sharing France I learned a great deal
    love and blessings

  41. Christine

    If you are a woman, a one piece bathing suit means something entirely different when sunbathing in the South of France than it does in the States..

  42. Bonjour! I did not know that the hand signal for “one” is one thumb up. Good to know as I would have made that mistake during my future trip to Paris (no plans yet but I have hope).
    French to me:
    art!
    men who know how to stylishly wear a scarf
    croissants
    good chocolate
    haute couture
    the Eiffel tower, of course!
    Edith Piaf
    Daniel Autieul
    French Canadian:
    poutine
    fleur de lis
    the late PM Pierre Trudeau
    separatists – no!
    Roy Dupuis – oui!

  43. herhimnbryn

    When we were in Paris in 2006, we stayed in a VERY basic hotel, but loved every minute there. People were friendly and all the more so when they found out we were Australian ( no idea why?). I struggled and persisted with my schoolgirl french and we had a ball. I want to go back NOW.

  44. Dogs everywhere, on leashes, sitting under tables or at them and doing their business on the sidewalks.
    Long meals.
    Double cheek kisses.
    New wines and cheeses with salad always served after a meal.
    Always champagne before meals with muchies.
    What my dil calls “The Jerry Lewis Face”, that expression the French make when either they don’t agree with you or don’t know the response to something.
    The smell of baguettes or croissants in the air by boulangeries.
    Chestnut blossoms in the spring.
    °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
    Hi Linda
    You hit it right on the head, true down to the last sentence.
    The French love Jerry Lewis don’t they?
    Corey

  45. Debs (Newdknit on Ravelry)

    Thank you all for sharing and thanks Corey!
    I am going to be there in a few weeks…I can’t wait.
    Extremely excited
    Oz Debs

  46. New Year Greetings which continue through the end of January in form of kisses,phone calls and even cards from the local boulangerie. In the midst of this season, I send mine as well to you & your readers!
    ——————
    Hi Jennifer
    That is so true, the first time the French see a family member or friend after New Year’s Eve they say Happy New Year and give their blessing or wish to one another. You have one month to say it.

  47. Hasmin Cannon

    Baguette, Croissant, La Tour Eiffel, La Louvre, Haute Couture, Perfume, Champagne, Oh La La, and Romance!
    —————–
    Hi Hasmin
    Oh yes the perfume. One for day wear, another for evening wear, depending on the season too!
    C

  48. France to me means so much – i don’t even know if i can jot it all down. Of course all the things others mentioned about food and perfume and dogs and people…but it was in Paris and in Deuil-la-Barre where i found out who i really was. It was walking the streets and riding the subways, unable to speak French, totally connected with my own thoughts and ideas amoung so many people that i found out who laura really is. It was a life-changing experience and one i am so glad to have had!

  49. Does xoxo mean anything in France?
    Hi Martha
    No it does not. And when an American sends a letter and signs it XOXO the French wonder what does that means.
    C

  50. Alison Murray Whittington

    I love this post and all the comments. Having only been to France twice, and briefly, I can only say that France and “Alison makes a faux pas” go together like, uh, peanut butter and jelly.
    But I have just learned that I am partly of French descent (to my utter surprise, as my grandmother always insisted that she was 100 percent Irish, but it turns out we are French, and Spanish, too, oh my), so I think I shall have to visit France again and make more associations.
    (Incidentally, when I lived in Germany, that same grandmother was horrified to learn they didn’t have peanut butter, so she sent me a giant can of it. I didn’t want it, and my host mother looked at it askance. It sat on the pantry shelf for the entire year.)

  51. Geralyn Gray

    I loved your list–My family and I just returned from a trip to Paris. We celebrated the New Year at the Eiffel Tower. You can share our trip with pictures on my blog. The people were so so so nice. A taxi driver even offered me a tissue when I asked my daughter for one and she didn’t have any. A group of couples shared champagne with us at midnight on New Years when we didn’t have any to toast in the New Year. The cigarette thing was noticed too. Here we are the land of the free, but no smoking in restaurants……so my daughter noticed how many people still smoke in Paris right away. The bathrooms i never had a problem—I got a little annoyed at the Carousel in the Louvre after being told the Musuem was full and we couldn’t get in we used the bathrooms at the Louvre Carousel –there were two people working–making sure they got a half of an euro and the bathroom had no toilet paper!!! It was a tight squeeze too. This was our last day and the first time we had to pay anything, so I think we were pretty lucky. I loved Paris—-I romanced it a lot in my mind–but, it lived up to all of my expectations. I loved just walking day or night taking everything in. We loved the sights, food and most of all the people, except the ones who cut us in line—that happened a lot—what’s with that????

  52. From my first visit to France years ago: yellow headlights on cars (not white like in the US), cafe au lait in bowls, the playful sarcasm of the french (which I was at first hurt by, til I got that they were teasing me, and then was flattered), homemade vinaigrette, that wonderful yogurt-creme fraiche mix that you still can’t get here,living in STYLE, always, no matter your budget.

  53. Coin operated grocery carts are also very Australian – at least in my part of Melbourne. And strikes although recent governments are working on those.
    We fell in love with everything French, my hubby and I, but the thing that made us really smile and shake our heads was the way cars are parked in Paris – bumper to bumper – until the reason was explained to us!
    “Oh la la!” we exclaimed!
    Also that disarming upward toss of the head as a greeting. To us it seemed as though we had brought a bad smell into the room
    until i realised it was all in the cultural interpretation of things, only to discover just how friendly and helpful the French really are.

  54. Everything on your list, Corey, plus chocolate truffles and Chanel No. 5 for me. I still say “ce n’est pas possible!”.
    Bisous, Colette

  55. miz Booshay

    I thought I could stop by and say Pepe Le Pew to make you laugh…but I see someone else beat me to it :o)
    I love your beautiful, interesting adopted home :o)

  56. Dee/reddirtramblings

    This was so much fun to read.
    I’ve never been. 🙁 Someday, HH and I will go, and I’ll hear French spoken as it should be instead of that I learned in high school and college. The Diva is now learning the language, and she has all of these wonderful, interesting French songs on her ipod. La Belle et Le Bad Boy is one of them. I know it’s old, but it’s a hoot to share this with her. She’ll be 16 in a week and half.
    xoxo,
    Dee

  57. This was so fun! I read all the comments slowly and savored them 🙂
    I’ll add BonBons and music with accordions! Maybe someday I’ll get to sample the real thing 🙂
    The “fries” answer made me laugh!

  58. Being a French Canadian means great big family gatherings and lots of great food…and poutine yes poutine.
    Love Claudie
    xo

  59. Janet Maddison

    Just returned from our yearly stay in France..I miss;
    The civility
    The bread
    The ability to make the very ordinary special
    The ‘souffle’ noise as an expression
    The crazy dash home for lunch
    The pride in regional food,wine
    Bonne Dimanche
    The perfectly manicured landscape..sculptured woodpiles,manicured ditches…
    Dogs in shops,airports…
    La Poste
    Knots of old men smoking outside cafes and tabacs
    Seasonal window displays
    Eavesdropping on womens’ conversation at the Friday marche
    Sexy gendarmes..great uniforms..very tight
    Creative parking

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