Bonjour tout le monde! And welcome to France! Surprising myself more than Anyone else, I am currently in Tours, France, for a language intensive that starts on Monday. I thought I would start things off with a blog, so I can remember these things once I've left. But right now, we're just beginning! So far, I am super happy with everything. But I will write more about that later. Today, I wanted to point out 3 things I ADORE and prefer about cultural ways of doing things, and three that are harder for me. So without further ado --
Three things I prefer about France:
1. Their approach to Covid.
There is a reason that the USA's rates are insane to France's. Most likely, multiple reasons, but here's the one I've noticed while I'm on the ground. People ACTUALLY are wearing masks. They are wearing them correctly, and when possible, they are socially distancing. In addition, France's policy for visitors is incredibly detailed as well, and there is an existence of a "Health Pass" (or in French, a "Passe Sanitaire") which is a QR code that allows you to quickly prove that you're either vaccinated, or negative for Covid. I haven't seen this at full force yet, but I am quite pleased with the idea.
2. Public Transportation
This is an easy one, and I'm not the first person to talk about it. In Paris, they have the metro, and it is incredibly efficient. Here, there was a train from Paris Airport to Tours. It was incredibly fast, on time, and they even had an app or two to help you along the way. There was no huge difficulty, everything had clear signs, and once I was in Tours, there were some cars, but it is a walking city, and it is very lovely that this is so. I think it makes a huge difference in terms of being environmentally friendly, less noisy, and prettier to look out. It is also incredibly efficient. I think the USA, especially California, could take a huge hint about this, as all we have are cars, cars cars.
3. Beautiful Architecture
This is also a no brainer, but France is SO beautiful to look at, both on the inside and out. There is a beautiful style -- it fits with the crisp air, and there are lots of white, old buildings, and gardens. There's just such a different vibe. The insides are different too, lots of white, sloped roofs in the attic, wood desks, it's just very charming and very beautiful. My host family has a garden here, and it is gorgeous. High ceilings in the main rooms, pure white staircases, there's just something to be said for the taste of the French. Truly gorgeous.
Things I have to get used to
1. Bathrooms
The first thing I thought of was the bathrooms in France. There are two things that make me prefer the American way of doing things. The first is that, especially in the train stations (gare, in French) the bathrooms are pay per use, about 1 euro (roughly a dollar and some change) You have to have coins, or a French card (this is new, it was coins only in Paris in 2014). I very much prefer the US way of having it free. And in their defense, some are free. But some are not, and that always seems inconvenient to me. The second one has to do with the homes in France. There are two bathrooms, one with a toilet, and one with everything else -- shower, bath, sink, etc. The toilets are very small, and the bathrooms are large. The thing that unnerves me is there is NO sink in the toilet, you have to go to the bathroom to wash your hands.
And I will never understand that.
2. Dinner
This is something one has to adapt to, not a dig on what is done. It is simply a cultural difference. Dinner in France is always late. It starts at 7:30, but can be even later. The reason for this is lunch usually runs until 2, so it makes sense, but as someone who's typically asleep by 7:30, 8, this is an adjustment for me. (Dinners are good, however!)
3. Walking
This is also not a dig, merely something hard for me. As I mentioned earlier, France is typically meant to be walked. BUT since I have arthritis in my ankle, it's also something that is tricky for me. Typically, 15-20 minutes is seen as not very far. And it's not, if you think about it! But for me, I will have to plan very differently to be able to get around, something I had forgotten about prior to this, something that was not as much as a problem several years ago. I'm hoping, however, that my foot will get stronger as I go along, not weaker. We shall see. Right now, I am resting it from all the walking I did from the aero- airport.
All for now!
~ Emery
