Things we’ve learned

About food…..

It is just as common to find a mediocre french restaurant as a mediocre Australian restaurant, but the French won’t overcharge you. Much of the menu is the same from one place to another. Having said that, there ARE good restaurants in France.(GR)

restaurant in St Emilion - careful stepping away form the table !

The ‘seasonality’ of french food doesn’t mean they don’t still overcook everything.

The French don’t understand beef. The fact that they cut their meat differently isn’t the problem, it’s that they don’t age their beef so it’s all tough.   They breed their chickens for large legs so there isn’t much meat on the rest of a french chicken and they can be stringy. This is probably why they eat so much pork, turkey and duck.

“Spicy” in french food is the equivalent of “very mild” in any other cuisine.

The ‘international’ section of any supermarket sells English and Chinese and maybe some Mexican and Indian foods, but very limited.  Asian restaurants are very frenchified, that is, bland and overcooked food.

Eating out can be very cheap if you aren’t too fussy. We have restaurants nearby where we can get a 4 course lunch, with bread and wine, for less than AUD20.00 each.

Yes, there are hundreds of cheeses, all of them good.

just enough bread for dinner

There is absolutely nothing as good as a fresh warm baguette.…..and french pastries  -  Mmmm.

About driving…..

It is said that the French are bad drivers. They are actually very polite but they also like to stop in the middle of the street to talk to each other. If a van stops to make a delivery in a narrow street everyone just waits patiently until they can move again. And no-one uses indicators despite it being in the road rules. Very polite but also very annoying!!

even the dogs know better

There are small cars and motorbikes on the road that can only travel up to 30km/hour and you don’t need a driver's licence to drive one.  Imagine what it’s like having one of these in front of you on a country road.

Of course you can park anywhere you like as the parking signs are only a suggestion and naturally you can double park if you are collecting your baguette from the boulangerie. 

what traffic light ??

 About shopping…..

Plan ahead - it is french law that shops don’t open on Sunday, except for supermarkets in the morning (big cities like Paris are exempt because of tourists) and most businesses, banks, post offices are closed on Monday. Everywhere closes for lunch between 12.00 and 2.00 but they are also all open until  7.00pm.

Shopping can be seasonal. You can search for something one week and not find it anywhere and a month later it is in all the shops. You just have to learn the annual shopping cycle.

French shops never carry any stock and are reluctant to order anything for you. Something will be on display and on sale but that will be the only one in the store and they won’t sell it to you because then there won’t be any on display ??????

If you want more than one of anything you’ll be lucky to find them in the one store.

The large stores and supermarkets are franchises and so they won’t order something from another store for you.

The sales in January are called “Le blanc” (white). Don’t know why.
We have since been informed that “Le Blanc” refers to household linen, ie sheets, towels etc. January is THE month when everyone buys their new household linen. So that's why there is so little available the rest of the year.  Why only in January ?????

French house paint is rubbish.

It is important that you always greet the staff and other shoppers with a polite 'bonjour' when you first enter the store and an 'au revoir' or 'bonne journée' when leaving otherwise you will be considered rude and may be ignored. 

About the language…..

What you learned in school is of little use in practice. Like English, the French abbreviate and use slang. Some speak clearly and some speak quickly. You just have to learn it. Not easy with our older heads.

We have learned that the English are more formal in their use of language but the French prefer that you just get to the point. It does make things easier. We are told that Australians are better at this.

It still doesn’t help when your hairdresser wants to chat (as they do) and she only speaks french and you only understand a quarter of what she is saying.

We have found that having to shop for all our household things and lots of hardware has helped improve our vocabulary, for example, la couette (quilt), un drap housse  ( fitted sheet) , sous-couche (undercoat) , un détecteur de montants (stud finder), un truc ( that thingummybob that does……, you know). All essential french.

And the most important things….

The French are always kind and welcoming.

We are really pleased that we came.

à bientôt mes amis