1) No sink in the toilet
I have to mention this one first because it has bothered me from the very first day I lived in Paris. My previous home that I shared with a French family in the Asian district of Paris had a small toilet where the only thing inside it was the actual toilet seat. After using the toilet, I had to walk to the bathroom or kitchen in order to wash my hands. The same problem occurred at H's previous place and at my current job. It is somehow very unpleasant that everyone using the toilet has to open the door without washing their hands first. And to be honest, I really doubt if all French people even wash their hands always after their business... I am happy that our current apartment in Gentilly has the toilet and the bathroom together, so the sink is located right next to the toilet seat. Hygiene at these times is specifically important.
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| Toilets often have only the toilet seat. |
2) Having a late dinner
Being a Finn, I was used to have dinner between 5 - 6.30 pm, unless if the occasion needed to push it a bit later. In France it is not very common to eat before 7 pm. For example if you want to go to a restaurant (that are actually allowed to have people also inside them now after the corona restrictions), going before 7 pm guarantees you get to choose basically any table you like. In the contrary, if going around 8.30 - 9 pm you should be prepared to sit in a full restaurant or even queue if you choose a popular place.
Sometimes French people like to go for drinks after their work before they would head for the actual dinner. I wonder how they can do that since I would be so hungry after my work that I'd want to go for food right away and not sit somewhere trying to enjoy only a drink. Due to my working hours we often have a quite late - around 8 pm - dinner, too, but I wouldn't mind eating earlier if possible.
Yes, and I know that in some other countries they eat even later, like in Spain. But for a typical Finn 8 pm dinner is already late. How else could you still enjoy the evening snack?
3) Baguette
Talking about food and France, I have to mention baguette again. That is eaten SO MUCH here! You always get baguette slices at restaurants and you often see people walking home with a baguette in their hand or bag. I know that my employers also buy a baguette basically every single day. Aren't French people getting bored of having always just baguette, baguette, baguette..?
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| Some baguette we got in a Parisian restaurant before our starters even came. Onion soup and goat cheese salad. |
4) "Oh là là!"
One of the phrases you maybe hear the most after "Bonjour" and "Ça va?" in France, the phrase that is not only a stereotypical idea of how French people react. You hear it a lot! It can be used both in positive and negative way, with an excited or a disappointed voice. And I have to say it didn't take too long before I started using "oh là là" constantly at work, as well.
5) Parking where fitting
I don't think it is actually allowed but I have seen cars parked partly on the zebra crossing, in the corners of intersections, partly on the pedestrian road, and sometimes cars have been stopped in the middle of a road (when there is enough of space for other cars to pass it). Some other times I see cars parked so close to each other that it is impossible for them not to push others when leaving. Actually I also have seen twice cars hitting other parked cars when desperately trying to fit in between. This all must be due to the huge amount of people and the density of Paris. Even though there are plenty of public transports all around the city, the amount of cars used every day is big. During the rush hours you can see the 3-lane highway that goes around the city getting completely stuck and cars have to stand in queues. I would never like to have a car of our own here. Luckily we don't need it.
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| I couldn't find any photos of my own about parked cars in France, so I took this example from another blog: https://aipetcher.wordpress.com/tag/french-parking/ |
6) Everything needs to be on paper and personally
Yes, the French bureaucracy that I also have written about before. France doesn't have an electronic system to hold information about its citizens and one cannot take care of much stuff online. In Finland I am used to do so much online and sign in with my bank access codes in order to identify myself for formal things. Here such things don't exist. You have to print and fill papers and go personally bring them on the spot. French people are highly against authorities having their information and there would be many people who would never have themselves in online registers even if possible. Hence, we go by paper. In fact it bothers me a little bit that the tax organisation is the only place that would know for example me and H being married together. I sometimes wonder if something was to happen to one of us, how long it would take that the information reaches the other one. People couldn't check if we are married to someone or not.
7) Lack of the spirit of customer service
This differs from store to store and place to place. Of course there are some very kind people who are more than happy to help. But the difference of the quality of service hit to my face stronger since it had not been long since I came back from Japan before I moved to France. The Japanese customer service is something of its really own and I cannot compare it to any other place I have ever been. The politeness in Japan is something to be wondered for the rest of my life. So, after getting used to that, it was a bit strange to return to Finland where customers are often left to do their own choices in peace and with minimal interaction. Then moving to Paris, where I sometimes struggled to get any kind of help if I spoke only English, or where people tried to answer my question as fast as they could so that they can continue to other stuff, made me miss my time in Japan.
I think this might be highly due to living in a big city where there are just so many people that you cannot care for each person around you. Also living in the noisy areas where you always have to wait and put yourself first in order to get what you want, causes stress for sure. In some way I find it interesting though because French people are also more social than Finns or Japanese. But maybe they keep that socializing for their free time more. Again, saying this doesn't happen everywhere. I have also got very nice service in English or patience when I struggle with my French.
8) Working culture
The rush hours take place at a later time in France than in Finland. French people starting working later than Finns on the average and they also stay much later at work. It is not uncommon that the parents return home between 6 and 7 pm and that is why it is often a nanny or a grandparent who picks up the children from the schools and day cares (like I do). I know that French people like to have a proper lunch break that usually lasts from one hour to two full hours, so it is no wonder they work until a later time.
Another thing I have paid attention to while working with children, is that parents seem to have a big pressure to go to work even in abnormal situations, such as someone being sick. Children are taken to schools and day cares even with a fever or a chance of vomiting. I am used to parents staying at home to take care of their sick children in Finland, but it was not only me who got tired of handling disease spreading at the preschool I used to work at. Even after we wrote a clear paper to inform the parents to keep their sick child at home until they have spent one full day without symptoms resting, someone still tried to have their child to come to school after just vomiting in the car on the way there or after having fever the previous night because "this morning he seemed better"... Somehow so strange for me. That risked not only the sick child to get worse, but also other kids and the teachers had a risk of getting it.
But actually even though it looks like French have a pressure to go to work, it simultaneously seems that they stay at home when having a reason for it. "Today there is a strike, cannot go to work." "It is snowing, cannot go to work." So, I am not completely sure what the reality about the working culture is...
9) No warm clothes
France doesn't get nearly as cold in the winter as Finland might get, but the temperature drops to zero or under each year. It is understandable that French houses or clothing are not as cold-resistant as what I am used to see, but it still is quite chilly also here if you are not prepared for the coldness. In addition to winter coats, scarfs and some occasional gloves or hats, people go in light clothes. Even many children go outside with usual pants or girls with a skirt and tights and without gloves or hats. I feel cold even watching them. But maybe it is not worth of it buying warm pants or others when those would be used for a several days or weeks only?
10) Mölkky
Mölkky is a Finnish outdoor game where you throw a wooden round billet to numbered pins. I was surprised when I noticed that it is quite popular among the French, as well. Every now and then I see people playing it in the parks and it still has the Finnish name written on it. We actually bought one of our own recently but we realized that our garden is not the best place to play it - at least not when the grass has not been cut for weeks.
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| Playing Mölkky at our yard was not the easiest place to do it. |
