Salut, tout le monde! Greetings from lockdown. I hope you enjoy this video all about French culture shock. If so, let me know if you'd like a Part 2 and what parts about French culture shocked or surprised you upon visiting France! Merci. ;-)
Last year when I was in France I dropped in to a pharmacy to buy some sunscreen expecting it to take 3 minutes and ended up in 15 minute conversation with the pharmacist about my skin type before being allowed to choose a product. It was interesting, and I was impressed by how seriously the pharmacist took even the simplest things.
Every supermarkets sell sunscreens, and i'm pretty sur it's cheaper too (and not so great), but the pharmacy will sell you quality product for the use you need.
French butchers are highly skilled and trained. They can cut an prepare in numerous ways each small different part and/or muscle of all the animals they work on. It's an old tradition. Parisian butchers always been ones of the best butchers worldwide. It takes many years to learn properly french butchery and it's directly linked to french gastronomy, meat cooking being 90% of french best recipes. It's a high level art when done properly.
I fully agree with you. And the quality of meat is really excellent. I have travelled extensively in Europe and only in GB and F did I find top quality meat.
You said it. Butchery is an art, Parisian butchers used to have their own private language (le Louchebem), which was mostly ununderstandable if you haven't been trained by a Parisian Butcher.
Keep in mind that in France it is not as acceptable as in the US to enter a restaurant or a bar just to use the bathroom. There is a great probability that the owner/waiter may tell you that the bathroom is only for the clients.
Yeah, Jean-Luc, that's no excuse for this kind of uncivilized behaviour. In Paris, you have public toilets everywhere. You even have an smartphone app to tell you where they are. And still we see people peeing everywhere and don't care to shame them. You go to any other European capital and albeit they have the same problem you've mentioned - can't use the restaurant / bar toilet - you don't see this public pissing culture happening anywhere else in the civilized world. And you don't have all those freely acessible public toilets everywhere around other cities. Just to finish - I have never ever been denied access to a toilet in a bar or restaurant anywhere in France, but it happened to me in Graz, Austria, where I have never seen anyone peeing on the street. We have to acknowledge there is a problem of lack of civility in France, and that this is one of the several ways it manifests itself, because if we don't, if we keep looking for excuses the way you are doing right now (and pretty much everyone does about the biggest problems in France), this will never change, and we will still be seen as the gross disgusting neighbours by our European fellows...
Yes, right, but also, it is not only in France that most of the restaurants wouldn't let men pissing in their toilets without consuming, at least in every western european country
@@mmarques2736 Curb your assumptions. Jean-Luc didn't say it was an excuse. That's all in your head. Perhaps you are not happy in France anymore. Portugal welcomes melancholy misers. ;)
For an American it would still feel odd. Restaurants typically are open for dinner by 6PM at the latest and often earlier. Having dinner at 8 PM would be considered quite late and anything after that downright continental LOL.
I could understand that in as pain or Italy as they tend to eat later, but tourists aren’t used to eating a meal too late. So it depends if we’re talking a dense urban area or not.
@@hztm oh I visited Spain a number of years ago and I was blown away by how late those people stayed up. I think it was the midst of some sort of festival and I’d be getting up in the morning and people were just rolling in from the night’s festivities it was insane. I was traveling alone so I tend to not eat sit down dinners so much as pick up food that I can eat in a park or have a picnic with on my own. I just feel awkward sitting alone in a restaurant. Given their nocturnal ways that’s probably best. Sleep deprivation must be a national epidemic.
To all foreigners, please notice the large majority of French finds men peeing on the pavement or on buildings (it's tolerated in the grass on the side of a road) absolutely disgusting and gross ! ^^
Sure, but no one does nothing about it, no one shames the one pissing, we parisians just got so used to see it that we don't care anymore, so this culture ain't going away anytime soon, therefore, don't expect foreigners to feel less disgusted by us just because the majority (I doubt we have the right to claim it is a large majority, no way to quantify it but surely not the case in Paris or Marseille) condemn it...The true is that you will walk in any other European capital, and you won't see such behaviour passing without being shamed. We have a serious problem of civility in France.
French pharmacies are hands down the best in the world. Amazing products and amazing support from the pharmacists. Only problem is that (old) people love them so much that they even kind of hang out there and make waiting times often quite long. Bonus point: it always smells amazing in them.
But we usually don't say a thing because most of the time those old people are lonely and the pharmacist might be their only real conversation of the day
If you're a Pharmacist you may have to smell piss from disturbed customers, like I had to for a 1/2 hour late one night in the UK. Spare a thought for the Pharmacist.
As a french vet thank you very much for that compliment about us :) it is true that it's much cheaper than in the US or even UK, but not always for the best: vets in France are not very well paid (in general) for the work they do. They have lots of pressure especially concerning shifts, and sadly many young vets give up on their job, and it is currently very difficult for employers to find new vets for their clinics. And people are not ready to pay a little more, mainly because they have no idea of the price of medical care (due to our healthcare system where you do not receive the bills). But clients like you make us think we chose the right job anyway :)
I appreciate you taking the time to comment and the work that you do. I know how demanding your patients are (and their owners!) and I would absolutely pay more because you do such important work. French vets have been outstanding and my dog has received amazing care, both from her regular vet and in an emergency situations. I always buy Christmas gifts for the staff at my vet practice because they mean everything to me and it's the least I can do. xx
France culture plus à vous tous des bisous et à bientôt bises de nous faire une demande à la recherche d'un emploi je ne sais si c'est possible pour vous deux je suis à vous deux pour vous deux je vous remercie pour vous deux je vous remercie pour vous deux pour le cas échéant de la recherche d'une personne intéressée immo à bientôt bises de me confirmer que vous allez bien je ne sais pas trop de la semaine prochaine pour votre réponse rapide je ne sais pas trop tard pour vous avez reçu une réponse rapide et de la maison de la recherche d'une entreprise qui me confirmer que vous allez recevoir un mail pour vous deux je suis à la maison de retraite et à bientôt
@@MG-nr9dt gaffe avec le terme "vet" en anglais, c'est aussi une abréviation très courante du mot "veteran" (pas besoin de le traduire je pense), à utiliser avec "prudence" pour éviter tout quiproquo.
I am a veterinarian. I graduated in 1976. I went home to practice in my home area. It was rural, economical depressed, and already staffed with enough veterinarians. I made so little money; I had no employees. After 11 years, I couldn't take it anymore. I became a USDA Public Health Veterinarian supervising meat inspection. It was gainful employment. I finally had the money to enjoy life and retire. In the US, I have heard veterinary student debit on average is 3 years of gross income. It is just another example of how the education system is victimizing young people.
Here in California, where marijuana is legal, the stores all display a similar green cross like the French pharmacies. I wonder if any French tourists have experienced culture shock by walking in to a cannabis dispensary thinking it was a pharmacy?
As a French person, I indeed confused a cannabis dispensary for a pharmacy once, before quickly realizing that I wasn't going to find any paracetamol in there!
@@bangchanswebbrowsinghistor5145 We call it Tylenol or generically acetaminophen in the US, and you can buy it at any supermarket or other kind of smaller food store, or at any drug store. Like in the UK.
4:00. a french owner pharmarcie is a " pharmacien". He/she has to study 6 years long to get a diploma. U will get the best medicine advises even u have just to buy Advil or Paracetamol... the number is fixed by the french government no to have competition between them.
I am French. At some point in my life I found myself with 3rd degree burns and the specialist that treated me in the hospital was actually a pharmacist that was specialized in treating burns
@@davidmorrill2943 yup I’m an English Quebec who speaks French too. The Cajuns were a miss pronunciation of Acadian who where kicked out of Acadia (Canada’s maritime region) by the British in the 1700s. They wound up in Louisiana
America never let the French keep their language. I’m glad in Quebec we’re protecting it (there’s 8,000,000 of them) it’s often turned into an English vs French here but being born in Montreal in 1961 and still here I’m pretty used to it and I try not to let it ‘ ruffle my feathers’ a lot of my friends who were English left long ago. Some of us stayed. Vive la difference.
Me too. I love visiting Nova Scotia and Paris. They are extremely different but then so is New Orleans. We do have a French attitude when it comes to our independent ways. My parents lived in France when they were young and totally loved it. The only part they didn’t love was being harassed by the Communists because they were American. But that may have been a function of the times. The other French people were just lovely.
Hello, I am French and I have been living abroad for many years. I find your video very interesting as it gives the perspective of a non native French on France, and you say things that I didn’t really notice since it seems normal to me. In regards to peeing in the street, I don’t find it that common, but as mentioned above maybe I don’t notice anymore. What I can say is that in the other countries that I lived in (Spain, Ireland, Germany) or travelled to, I find it much easier to find public toilets “clean “ than in France.
To an American just seeing one person do this would be shocking. If our children are with us we would think they were in danger. I’m not exaggerating. We would get the heck out of there fast.. Maybe even call the police. 😂
@@KP-vg3zn Well, in theory, it's illegal in France too, plus, you'll only stumble upon this in big cities and almost exclusively in Paris + the surrounding areas.
Hi Florent, Wer do you live now - those 3 countries + France were the countries I have been looking @.. .Out of these 4 which one did you like the most??
Lol when I was 13/14, I visited France on a school trip as a student ambassador. In Paris, I had to go to the bathroom really bad one day, and was scrambling to find a restroom. But everyone I found, you had to pay for, and in my young American mind, that was preposterous. I thought I finally found one inside a restaurant when some guy stepped in front of the door at the last second and scolded me in French (I couldn't understand anything). So I turned around, saw some steps, walked down, and peed under some random bridge in Paris. I didn't know it was a common thing there, but I didn't care if I was breaking the law or not, I just had to go so bad.
Here in México, our meal times, at home, are quite different. The largest meal is called “comida” and is usually eaten between 2 and 4 pm. Often, the meal later in the evening is quite light in comparison, perhaps just some fruit or sweet bread (pastries) with coffee or chocolate. I just returned from having a meal with friends and we ate between 2:30 and 4:30 pm. The only time we eat a large dinner later is when we are out with friends at a restaurant for a social occasion.
The debit/credit card thing is common across much of Europe, not just France. Most people have credit cards, but use debit cards for daily small purchases.
True. I know people from a billionaire family and most of them have only prepaid credit cards: the kind you top up with a few thousand to use on a faraway vacation and if you lose it, meh, no big deal. Debit cards for everything within the EU.
People have been using debit cards in France since the early 1990s for even McDonald's. I thought it was so odd (I am from Québec but studied and worked for 8 years in France) that people were using credit cards to buy BigMacs!!! But they were debit bank cards.
but something is getting lost in translation here coz carte de crédit and carte de débit are not exactly the same but they can both be delivered at your bank (and it's a paying service contrary to checks which are free and we are fighting really hard to keep them and all the advantages they offer) whereas "revolving" credit card(carte de crédit à crédit?) can be obtained at a credit agency (not banks). also some stores like fnac for exemple in link with some credit company let you have a "revolving" credit card to use with them.
I'm always interested to hear about French culture shock. I was born British and have been living in France since 1983. I also have French nationality since 1992 and consider myself more French than British.
Whenever I go back to France, I look forward to a trip to my local pharmacie: soft lights, soft music, delicious fragrance, fresh flowers on the desk, and the feeling you are in an elegant boutique, even if you are buying wart remover! Last time, the pharmacien was wearing black leather pants and red clogs. I wanted to give him a "bise"!
Indeed. Many French in people come unstuck when they rent a car and cannot be pay the deposit as their card is a direct debit card and not a "credit" card. For that, you need a "deferred debit card", (carte à débit différé). To get that, your are likely to have to demonstrate a regular monthly income, otherwise the default card will be the direct debit card. On the subject of "credit cards", France is nowhere nearly into revolving credit facilities as in North America and the UK. Revolving permanent credit lines with cards to make payments do exist in France. They are horrendously expensive though. To the French, the idea of paying for ordinary shopping by credit is not so big culturally as in the US and the UK. The average amount of household debt in France compared to the US and the UK is a lot lower.
Love your channel - I moved to Bordeaux (from California) in 2015 and absolutely love the life here, however it does take some adjustment. The pharmacies are all different so I have fun checking them out....although only 2 pharmacies in town are open on Sundays, so it’s always good to stock up on what you need in advance!
@Diane, regarding public urination, keep in mind that free rest rooms are not necessarily as common in France as in the United States or Canada. Either one has to pay one or two Euros, or hit a lock door with a sign saying it is for patrons only. I also saw many restaurants with combination locks on their restroom doors that can be unlocked with a time limited code printed on the receipt.
And why aren't woman peeing in tbe strees? The problem is not the free restroom please, is just male feeling entitled to get their dick put and pee all over the street because they own it
Same in the U.S. a pharmacist license requires a multi year degree. Even though a large pharmacy may have many employees, it cannot issue prescription drugs without a pharmacist on site. If only one pharmacist is available, drug sales stop when they are gone for lunch.
If France is known for something, then it has to be the bakery (food). It is a great attraction and african-american people enjoy this. You need to also need to check out the cafe and the French people are so outgoing.
As a frequent visitor to France, I am always surprised that a small village will have a florist. On further investigation I found it was much more common than the UK to take a floral tribute to the cemetery or have flowers as a table decoration.
That's because we like to bring flowers to our parents when we visit them, or when we're invited at the house of people we love. It's also a nice gesture for your lover.
Good detailed information and tips for everyday living in France! I’ve recently started my research for planning to move to France from the US. Some Expat sites are entertaining,, but yours is both entertaining and informative Thank You For Sharing 😊
Veterinary care. I can only agree with you. I experienced the vet care in Alberta and it's nothing in comparison to France. Prices are horrible in Alberta, care and attention to the animal is really not that great. I am traveling with my cat and we needed to go to the vet in France. It was awesome. Totally liked the way they handled the situation. Bottom line, I was worrying for nothing but they checked all angles. Handle my cat with such care I almost believe she was in china. Even my cat barely noticed she was examined, no rough flip. They let her a few minutes to explore the room... Delightful.
I love your video. I was born in the USA but both my parents were born in Mexico and I see the cultural similarities between France and Mexico. I love the bakeries, pharmacies, late night meals and veterinary care in both countries. Unfortunately, I have to say that in Mexico, it is also common to see men urinating openly in public and I find it absolutely disgusting. When I visited Mexico I even saw men urinating on churches and other public buildings and monuments, which I thought was terribly disrespectful. I'm glad I did not see that in France.
I lived in Mexico for many years and don't recall men urinating in public to be a common sight. See it more here in San Diego. Here, downtown smells like urine, but despite the huge homeless problem I think it's from all the dogs being walked.
Superbe chaîne ! Le nom de la chaîne « Oui in France » je ne sais pas si on te l’a dit mais ouiin en Francais c’est une onomatopée qui représente le bruit d’un bébé qui pleure 😀 Un beau contraste avec ton énergie positive qui se dégage de tes vidéos ! Bravo joyeux Noël et bonnes fêtes !
@@johnrambo5407 Plutôt, oui. Vous n'y êtes jamais allé ? Il y a quelques petites différences avec la France, évidemment, mais on trouve énormément de boulangerie (panificcio, paneterria), qui fabriquent également tout ce qui est foccacia, etc ; bref, énormément de nourriture à base de pain, excellente, et qui fait que l'Italie a résisté à la malbouffe, contrairement à la France, qui compte en Europe le plus de Mc Donald's… Dommage pour nous :-)
I’ve been to Italy so many times, (actually studied there) but I haven’t seen public urination as common as in France. Maybe once or twice late weekend nights some drunk men would relieve themselves behind a wall or something , but no..it’s not typical in Italy.
I live in the south of France since right before COVID (wow that sounds like a translation from French). I love your vids. So helpful, and I can sooo relate to a lot of it.
I just visited France from the UK and, arriving at Gare du Nord the first thing that struck me was the the smell of actual smoke from actual cigarettes (and it continued from there). Vaping is common in the UK (and France), but I'd almost forgotten about smoking.
Just a little precision : 'la bise' is not a kiss on the check. Actually, the cheeks are touching side by side and the lips are "kissing the air". When people actually kiss the cheek and are not from your close family, they are seen as perverts.
or making a move. but kissing on the cheek is real as with family. the whole side by side was made by bourgeois to give themself contenance. also popularise by les inconnus. "salut! TU ! VAS! BIENNN!"
Hii!! I wanted to add-on the smoking in France. As part of the mandatory military training back when it existed ( My father did it ) France mass-distributed cigarettes to the soldiers. Men got addicted in mass and brought home their nicotine addiction, thus creating a need for 'Tabac' ( which are usually also a bar/cafe targeted for men to hang around the beginning of the workday, or relax at the end ). Also smoking was considered classy and elegant, a sign of riches before the whole cancer scandal. It was part of the rich people aesthetic. That was the generation of my parents. Then the whole cancer scandal happened, but by then (from the top of my head) i think are half the population smoked. We have nicotine babies nowadays ( me! ) with mom allowed to smoke a few cigarettes during pregnancy ( the stress to stop was judge worse for the pregnancy than a few cigarettes a day ), and growing up around smoking parents, plus the fact it is very easy to meet a smoker who is going to politely offer you a cigarette, and then BOOM! You are a smoker. My estimates are two to three generations down the line we will have this epidemic controlled, but yeah. Great idea French government!!
Hey, nice video! As a French living in the US, I can mirror your experience. I'm quite lost with the credit history system and I basically stick to the debit card provided by an international online bank. I miss for sure my baguette and I slowly switched diner time earlier to fit the schedule. The pharmacy in the US is indeed quite different and we have to acknowledge that medication in France is perhaps more relying on physician's prescriptions since most of the medicine purchase happens over the counter. For the pissing thing, well... I think you'll find it mostly in Paris and other big cities (Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier..). Be sure it annoys everyone. Could be either people that do not have the choice because they live in the street and sadly they are many in the capital. Otherwise it would be some drunk or disrespectful folks but I would definitely not bring this in among the 'cultural specificities of France' ;)
Au tout début les français appelaient : cartes de crédits ; mais c'était une fausse appellation ? maintenant ,depuis plus de vingt ans nous les appelons : cartes bancaires ; le paiement est débité immédiatement de votre compte .
There are less and less checks used in France. 3,1 billions in 2009, 1,9 billions in 2017. I remember my mother using checks for groceries in late 80's, start of 90's but debit card use was not as massive as today. Today, almost nobody pays with a check in supermarkets, and it's always an elder person. More and more places do not accept checks because of frauds. Banks wants to stop the usage of checks, because their processing is expensive for them. I have a check book. I use it maybe once or twice a year. Sometimes, you have to because you need a bank record and you can't pay with a card. I had to pay my rent of my appartement by check every month, the owner did not want a transfer.
I love the French Pharmacies, myself. The Pharmacists were exceptional, caring and very competent. Many a time I was saved by a Pharmacist who had more experience and expertise than even the doctors I saw. We need more professionals like this. I was prescribed a cough medicine made of pine tree bark (yes…tasted terrible) that worked better than anything that I have had before or since. He was a “compounding pharmacist”, which are in very short supply in the US…usually a person in an old-fashioned and very expensive pharmacy in large cities in the US, and not at your local CVS or Walgreen’s.
There are private pharmacies in America that are only pharmacies and not drug stores. They are usually small and sometimes expensive or if not, have discount, generic drugs. They are usually open to the public, but have deals with certain local care groups, home nursing, hospice, etc., for most of their business.
Hello. It is illegal in France to write a cheque without sufficient funds in your bank account to back it up and there can be quite serious consequences for doing so.
We used to call it 'floating' a check. It's always been illegal in the US. I was surprised at the blasé way this was mentioned, and wondered about the French laws regarding this practice. Thank you for this clarification. 😉
I'm from Belgium and Spain, where peeing is very much ok in a park or other grassy area where you can turn away from people who are looking for an opportunity to be offended.
My favourite anecdote is, when my friend visited her doctor to confirm her third pregnancy (the first two were in UK) he admonished her to 'abstain from all alcohol, and to only drink one glass of wine with each meal'. Wine is considered a staple food, not an alcoholic beverage!
My father was in hospital in a small town in the south of France (we're Dutch but speak French). He was served a quarter of wine with lunch and dinner.
bizarre ; une femme enceinte responsable ne boit pas d'alcool pendant sa grossesse , même les française ? elles ne sont pas plus débiles que les anglo-saxonnes . non , le vin n'est pas considérer comme une boisson de base , la boisson de base est l'eau . le très bon vin est réserver pour les repas de familles ou de fêtes .même a ce moment là les femmes enceintes n'en boivent pas
@@ybreton6593 honnêtement si tu es dans une région avec une tradition viticole plutôt forte, le vin est considéré comme boisson de base et beaucoup de gens en boivent à au moins un repas par jour, c'est courant. Ceci dit oui, les femmes enceintes n'en boivent pas
Even my 15 year old daughter has noticed that in the States they drink to get drunk but in France and Europe you drink wine to enjoy and cherish the moment …
When a kid in the USA, 6PM (5:30-6PM) was considered late, normally it was 4:30 to 5PM fo dinner . In the countryside and Sunday 2-4PM. So it is funny to hear 6PM as being early. We would have a supper between 7-8PM (9PM for late people).
Urinate in the streets are gross also for us, people who do that are people with bad/no manners. The only time when people don't really judge you is when you pee on the side of a country road, hidden by you car or bushes.
French here... regarding the pharmacies, to open a pharmacy, you need a diploma (PharmD) and a licence, there are attributed depending the number of inhabitants, so it prevents the installation of pharmacy chains (but some exists, they are not as big as cvs or walgreens though). So if you have just graduated and want to open your own pharmacy, you have to buy it from a retiring pharmacists for example, it is a relatively regulated job, it is not a business like others...
@@youpihat the examples I had in mind : Pharmacie Lafayette or Gifar are pharmacies, not only parapharmacies, are organised in chains but operate differently from CVS
My daughter just got her PharmD, 6 years at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (University of the Sciences) and is doing a one year residence in Oncology pharmacy. She has little desire to work in a pharmacy and prefers hospital pharmacy. And yes she has taken and passed her boards and licensed in Pennsylvania she going to take the New Jersey Pharmacy law test to get her licence in her home state. Each US state licences their pharmacists, the main pharmacy boards are the same and transferable at this time. She went to her University right out of high school. When she graduated, NJ and Pa. removed her pharmacy tech licence which she got at 18.
@@larabelle78 Tiens, tiens, c'est nouveau ! Depuis quand la loi a changé ? Accepte elle La CMU en ligne ? Merci beaucoup "Iarabelle78" ! Très bonne journée !
As a Canadian I would lose it if someone pissed in public and I find it shocking bc I thought that the French where shy and not that open but I’m going to assume that that’s more of a pairs thing. I see it as a uncivil thing to do and that if you do it that you should be ashamed and yelled at
Wow. So much of this reminds me of my childhood in the sixties. The hands on pharmacy, no credit cards (debt), smoking, even the cuts of meat. It would be strange to visit, and enjoyable.
I remember going to my first big Saturday market in Rennes and seeing the meat display. Quite shocking! I loved my pharmacy there but I also love my pharmacy here in Gensac too. They are super sweet and helpful. As far as eating late, I noticed this when my friend visited. She has children and they have to be in bed by 7. So...no going out for dinner since the restaurants near me don’t start serving until 7! Thanks again for another lovely video. Much love from Gensac!
I absolutely love the meat markets in France. Seeing poultry,fish or game with the head and feet still on is a sign that the meat is fresh as the head will be the first part to start going bad. The vendors are showing you that their meat is fresh. The butcher will remove and dress your purchase before you take it home.
You could easily solve the urination problem by simply putting an electrified mesh around the base of bushes and every time somebody lets loose they get a 240 volt surprise
The peeing on the street thing is common in Spain too. It’s not a matter of laziness or illness. I’ve seen parents with boys around 5 to 7 years old, walk them over to the bushes at a busy urban corner to have them pee, if they have to “go” on the way home from school. No one takes any notice or cares. I think that the boys, having grown up with the habit, don’t think anything of it as adults either.
Hi Diane, I moved here to France from Ireland a couple of years ago and lots of what you talked about are very familiar to us in our home country. But two things stand out as radically different , peeing in public and the poor quality of meat compared to Irish butchers. My wife and I were driving on the outskirts of Carcassonne about a year ago when a military Jeep in front of us suddenly stopped, the passenger soldier jumped out with a full toilet roll in his hand and sprinted across a busy road narrowly missing cars and dived into a bush, a bit gross but really funny to watch.
In Georgia restaurants are open till 11pm, 12-1am or till early morning. So if you want, you can have your dinner at 3am, why not? Usually dinnertime is between 8-10pm and lunchtime 1-4pm.
French don't have dinner at 6pm because most of them are still at work at this time. The normal time for the beginning of the dinner in France is between 7.30pm and 8.30 pm, depending if you have young children or not. Later in restaurants in city centers. Thank you for all the videos about my country. You have choosen an original way to compare our both countries. It's interresting ang sometimes very funny.
Im french and im trying do be a pharmacist and just to clarify they have to do 1 year of PACES (premiere année commune aux études de santé) with all the students who wants to be doctor, psychotherapist, midwife,dentist and other job related to the field of health… which lead to a contest where we compose and then get a ranking according to our result. The better you rank and the more choice you have to choose in which sector you want to go (I want pharmacy) and places are limited (in my university 250 out of 1400 people will have the chance to continue their studies in the field of their choice). Its a very difficult year bc every one want to succed and the place for each field can be very little (in my university there are only 20 places in dentistry out of 1400 for example, and even less in midwives) so after that to be an office pharmacist you have to do 6 year so yes they are not inexperienced salespeople at all 😂
I'm from the UK and have been living in France for decades! I don't like hugging as a greeting so la bise suits me better! I know what you mean about men peeing in public, 'beurk' as the French would say. I love French pharmacies and baguettes too.
When I went in a pharmacist in US, I was shocked to be able to buy sodas, candies and CIGARETS ! It's suppose to be a place where you buy cure ! I have never urinated in public. It's OK in nature, not in a town. I barely never see men peeing in the street. And it's "pissotière" (a familiar word) or "urinoir" not "pissoire" (unless pissoire is a local term) 😁
Most pharmacies make their profits by selling all of the non-medical products. If the only sold medicines they oils not be able to stay in business. One major pharmacy chain, CVS, made the decision to stop selling tobacco products in 2014.
Vous ne pouvez pas acheter de cigarettes en pharmacie, ici au Canada. Eh bien, peut-être dans une province - en Colombie-Britannique - mais nulle part ailleurs.
I am a Brit living in France....Calvados, Normandie....and I frequently see men peeing beside the road in broad daylight. In the UK men do pee outdoors but is generally under cover of darkness and behind a bush. lol I have had three occasions where workmen have actually been caught 'tackle out' peeing in our garden. The telephone man, water supply man, and an electrician. All they had to do was to ask to use the toilet....but no. They do not wash their hands and i remember the electrician who I'd almost walked into while he was peeing in a rosebush then proffered his had to shake when he left. I just looked at it, aghast. The one thing I bless Covid for is the end of feeling pressured to shake hands with random people.
A ces français , ils ont tous les défauts ,! les britanniques sont parfaits ?sauf , quand ils sont en vacances en France ou Espagne ; ils boivent comme des trous , pissent n'importes insultes les forces de l'ordres ou la Guardia civil , ont des comportements , qu'ils n'auraient jamais sur leurs îles
A French living in France, and seriously, I've never seen this in my life, never heard about anyone experiencing it or doing it. I don't know if you think this is a cultural thing, but it definitely isn't. It is gross, and literally everyone thinks this way in France. I hope I brought you a little relief regarding the mental status of the average French lmao. Stay safe.
public urination?!? this one really took me by surprise. I never really experience this issue unless it s saturday evening and party people get drunk. But since alcohol is not known to make you smart, I guess that this can happen not only in france but wherever you can find drunk people.
Even Pharmacies in the US are privately owned, except that most of it are chain. There are also independent/stand-alone Pharmacies. In terms of patient counseling, it is the same here in the US. US Pharmacists are even more all-around because they do vaccinations and Comprehensive Medical Review. So European Pharmacists have limited scope in terms of hands-on practice.
Juste une petite précision concernant le fait d'uriner en public, surtout ne jamais dire au touristes que c'est quelque chose qui est faisable en France ils risquent d'avoir une "mauvaise surprise" si l'on peux dire. En fait c'est quelque chose d'interdit en réalité si la police vous prends sur le fait d'uriner sur la voie publique vous risquez une amande assez salé. Mais le fait est que les Français sont assez réfractaire aux règles. Sinon à titre personnel je trouve ça dégoûtant de voir quelqu'un pisser en public surtout que les villes on généralement des urinoirs gratuit. Mais le problème est que dans les grandes villes comme Paris elles sont souvent délabrée ou utilisée pour les gens qui veulent se drogué et c'est une des raisons pour lesquelles les Parisiens ont tendance à ne pas les utiliser.
Sympa la vidéo, on se rend pas tjr compte que ce qui est normal chez nous l'est pas pour les autres Good video ! We don't always understand that things normal here are not for strangers PS : the pharmacy you show as an example is near my house in Lille xD
Dismayed to hear the statistic on increased smoking in France. Unfortunately it seems that younger Europeans (not just the French) still fall for the outdated idea that smoking is cool or sophisticated, a 1950's or 1960's concept which the anglophone countries have largely moved on from.
imho that has nothing to do with being sophisticated (on the contrary) and maybe some young kids find it cool, but i personnaly just find it enjoyable. It's just like drinking, everybody knows that it's bad for your health but they usually just don't care. In fact, almost every smokers i know that are trying to stop just try because of how expensive it is now, especially for heavy smokers.
Debit cards are common and popular in Canada as well in addition to credit cards. An increasing number of businesses accept debit cards as the sole method of payment.
Hi Diane! On the subject of credit/debit cards in Europe, I like to point out that the extreme situation is in Germany, where so many people prefer to pay in cash due to the private life question. Indeed, nowadays, the bank, the police, the tax administration aso know, or at least could find out, how much you earn, how much you spend and where. Historically, it seems fully justified in Germany and in countries of the ex-communist countries. Due to Covid-19, many stores invite the customers to pay with a card instead of cash. I wish to congratulate you for your clear and precise presentations. Take care and stay healthy, with greetings from Luxembourg.
I'm pretty sure the use of debit/credit cards for everyday shopping skyrocketd all over the world with Covid. I honestly haven't returned to the ATM since. Before Covid I used to feel "guilty" of paying anything below 10€ with the card, but now I just don't care anymore.
My first experience in Europe was visiting Paris and literally in less than 5 minutes of arriving in town a man walked into the street directly facing my bus and began peeing in the middle of the street, again facing us. What level of 'middle ages depravity' is France operating on that this is a thing? While it left a lasting impression of France, I had choked up it to being unlucky timing and that he must be a drunk or mentally unwell but, no its just the culture, so much so that it gets a mention here. Come on France, civilization moved on from this sort of behavior centuries ago.
It's especially bad for those of us with bladder and prostate issues. Ever since my prostate was removed my urge comes suddenly and forcefully. Any trip outside the house takes planning so I can stop somewhere and go discreetly. As quickly as I find a place I still have some leakage. I also have issues with my bowels because a foot of my large intestine was remove due to diverticulitis. That's difficult to deal with but it's not as bad as the urination problem. Don't get caught pissing outside. My Uncle did after foing in some bushes off of a highway going to Long Island. He got a heavy fine and was listed as a sex offender for exposing himself in public.
Same with French people, if you see someone peeing in broad daylight, he's probably drunk. No sober-minded French would expose itself peeing without any cover.
Hello, We don't use credit card in France, we don't like generally be in debt. I think it's a catholic inheritance because the Roman Church used to forbid loan. Loan was considered to act like God, only God has the possibility to have action/ bet on future. The use of checks is common because there are free, there is no charges. It's a legal obligation for banks to offer free checks. As people already mention the french pharmacies work like the other european pharmacies. I try it in Greece, Germany, Spain and Italy and it was almost the same way. Meal at 18h00, it's an "apero". The ever first veterinarian school in the world was created in the 1761 in Lyon by Claude Bourgelat as he also created the job of veterinarian. And the four french veterinarian schools are members of "grandes écoles". There is a really difficult competition/contest ("concours") to get in these schools. Tabacco is a bad habit but it decrease a little bit, but the french lobby of bars and restaurants is really powerful so it is not possible for the moment to forbid tabacco outside the restaurants. I remenber Korea where tabacco is allowed only in few places, little hide. It was great. Peeing outside...it's a bad men habits because their physiology allowed them to do so. In France it lacks public restroom in the cities and clean especially.
@@annouchka63kim ah mais j'vous crois, je voulais simplement dire que je pensais, à tort, 6 (mais j'aurais été bien incapables de les citer, seuls Lyon et MA me sont venus en tête)
I love❤ your fun and very informative RUclips videos. You mentioned living in Loire Valley. Could you profile what your life is like in Loire Valley? The history is remarkable, but the guide books are all about wine, wine caves and chateaux. I’ve read about the Grand hiking trails and wondered how to find them, where to park and how challenging they are to hike. Maybe you have discovered a place in the Valley that is somewhat off the tourist trails? Thank you for sharing ❤
@@emjayay en France ce ne sont pas des cartes de crédits , mais des cartes bancaires le paiement est pris directement sur votre compte en banque . si vous n'avez pas suffisamment d'argent sur votre compte bancaire le paiement sera refuser .
@@johnlafever3162 but why do you absolutly need to "pay later" even for small things? Why not use the money you have when you have it? I can understand credit for a house a car or something expensive but for clothes or food I don't get it. It makes no sense to me.
I would pee outside if I've really no choice BUT never on the pavement; only on some bushes and soil and I would of course do it somewhere a least a little bit discreet. and of course in the countryside it's perfectly acceptable. I think people have took it too far and peeing on the sidewalk is gross (although I almost never see it). Sometimes homeless people also don't really have a choice as public toilettes are not super common depending on where you are.
Oui ! And once they get your address, they will send you "publicité" forever. At least the one near us has done so... about once a month, after my husband walked in 17 years ago to get a screw for his frames. That's about 150 envelopes that I've had to drop right into the recycle bin.
For the dinner, we eat the lunch like 14h or 2-3pm so eat dinner like 4 or 3 hours after is not really possible my lunch time is 14h30 (2:30pm) and my dinner is 22h (10pm)
Two things I see one this great book A Year in the Merde is a comic novel by Stephen Clarke about what dogs so on the street of the city! Two I hear this happens mostly in southerner France, some stores can have a two-hour lunch or can be fours hours, and you never who is doing their lunch and when and sometimes no lunch at all it is like playing dice you throw the dice, and sometimes you win, and sometimes you don't! Some stores can be open for 24 hours can be closed for lunch or at times closed for an employee meeting with no notice and in small village open half a day or open two or three days a week can happen; sometimes Mondays many stores are closed and sometimes many stores are closed on Sunday because it was illegal to be open on Sunday by French law!
I am French, lives in France, and the last time I have seen someone pissing in public was several decades ago. I think this is not something specific to France but something specific to Paris or some areas of Paris. To be fair, Brussels is even worse: there, public urination is a tourist attraction! ;-)
Me too, I see it a lot in the Loire Valley - one man in a Mercedes stepped out of his car and peed next to it, even though he was parked at a rest stop with a toilet!
I see it very often too ! And I live in Finistère. When I lived in Rennes it was the same, and wherever I go I think I can see men piss on the bushes or a wall.
As an Australian I have to say I don't see too many people using credit cards day to day here in Australia. For big purchases yes, but for day to day living- no. We have debit cards that directly withdraw money from a personal bank account.
As a frenchman, I'm shocked about this peeing outside kind of thing. Always been taught and seen it as rude and can definitely confirm it's not just me but all people around me. Like it's fine in the woods, or being hidden from view if the urge is pressing, but heck. that's gross, I rarely ever saw that too, both in paris and most of france wherever I went across the country. Side note, very interesting video and quite a few different and interesting perspective that changes from what you usually read or hear about between US and France, I'd be very interested in seeing a part 2 :)
I'm a french woman and public urination just makes me crazy. For men it's like "public space is our urinal", not caring one bit for the other people sharing this space. There is not excuse, sometimes men pee in the bushes near a restaurant ! French men are so entitled on this matter. In the summer when you are wearing summer shoes you never know when you are going to walk into urine. Yes public toilets are nasty. But how is a wall better ? If there is the opportunity, if I see one idiot urinating in public I try to make him fall into his own piss or wetting his pants.
For me (as a french person) it had some funny moments but was mostly annoying because she was kind of a mary sue. Even when she did mistakes or bad things (like having sex whith a teenager!!!) there where almost no bad consequences. And I felt like it depicted the american way as being the good way for a lot of things. Like she was some kind of hero here to teach french people how to do things...
Pharmacy story In the late 1980s I was in Dubrovnik in November and acquired a serious sinus infection. I found a pharmacy and had looked up some pertinent words in a Serbo-Croat dictionary to ask for meds. The lady pharmacist struggled for a minute, and then asked if I spoke French, which I did passably. She had been trained in France and worked there for years to save up money to open a pharmacy in her home town. She asked many questions (some of which I had to guess at), took my temperature, felt my pulse, and even looked in my eyes and ears. She gave me some meds with very specific instructions and told me to return the next day. The little bag full of meds cost perhaps $3US. My sinuses did get better, and I went back a couple times and got even more meds. When I got back I happened to show the meds to my brother-in-law, who's a physician. He said that the antibiotics were fine, for curing a massive infection in a horse.
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Salut, tout le monde! Greetings from lockdown. I hope you enjoy this video all about French culture shock. If so, let me know if you'd like a Part 2 and what parts about French culture shocked or surprised you upon visiting France! Merci. ;-)
Yes, definitely a part 2 would be great!
Maybe cars and driving in France. I felt French driving was scary and they were very impatient. Perhaps not having to tip. Maybe dating too.
@@dudehere1981 I made the driving video this summer ;-)
i may have found why some people pee in public : there is no public toilets in france (or really few).
What surprised me A LOTTT was spitting on the streets! Eww!!! At least this was quite prevalent a few years ago when I lived there XD
Last year when I was in France I dropped in to a pharmacy to buy some sunscreen expecting it to take 3 minutes and ended up in 15 minute conversation with the pharmacist about my skin type before being allowed to choose a product. It was interesting, and I was impressed by how seriously the pharmacist took even the simplest things.
Or you can buy some at the supermarket. 😁
Less waste, so actually the French people are going green in this area. Viva la France👍👍
Every supermarkets sell sunscreens, and i'm pretty sur it's cheaper too (and not so great), but the pharmacy will sell you quality product for the use you need.
@@Siegdrifa The supermarket I went to did not have the kind of sunscreen I needed. The selection was very small compared to the pharmacy.
@@thedavidguy01 i don't doubt that, the product in supermarket is often mainstream, and not as specialised as pharmacy.
French butchers are highly skilled and trained. They can cut an prepare in numerous ways each small different part and/or muscle of all the animals they work on. It's an old tradition. Parisian butchers always been ones of the best butchers worldwide. It takes many years to learn properly french butchery and it's directly linked to french gastronomy, meat cooking being 90% of french best recipes. It's a high level art when done properly.
I fully agree with you. And the quality of meat is really excellent. I have travelled extensively in Europe and only in GB and F did I find top quality meat.
@@francinesicard464 you meant in UK !
You said it. Butchery is an art, Parisian butchers used to have their own private language (le Louchebem), which was mostly ununderstandable if you haven't been trained by a Parisian Butcher.
@@francinesicard464 except that in Great Britain they don't know how to cook it :')
Keep in mind that in France it is not as acceptable as in the US to enter a restaurant or a bar just to use the bathroom. There is a great probability that the owner/waiter may tell you that the bathroom is only for the clients.
Yeah, Jean-Luc, that's no excuse for this kind of uncivilized behaviour. In Paris, you have public toilets everywhere. You even have an smartphone app to tell you where they are. And still we see people peeing everywhere and don't care to shame them. You go to any other European capital and albeit they have the same problem you've mentioned - can't use the restaurant / bar toilet - you don't see this public pissing culture happening anywhere else in the civilized world. And you don't have all those freely acessible public toilets everywhere around other cities. Just to finish - I have never ever been denied access to a toilet in a bar or restaurant anywhere in France, but it happened to me in Graz, Austria, where I have never seen anyone peeing on the street. We have to acknowledge there is a problem of lack of civility in France, and that this is one of the several ways it manifests itself, because if we don't, if we keep looking for excuses the way you are doing right now (and pretty much everyone does about the biggest problems in France), this will never change, and we will still be seen as the gross disgusting neighbours by our European fellows...
Yes, right, but also, it is not only in France that most of the restaurants wouldn't let men pissing in their toilets without consuming, at least in every western european country
Just enter in a bar without saying anything, I do it all the time when I'm in France, they don't even spot you.
I don’t even know that france have per culture maybe because you stay too much in paris 😂
@@mmarques2736 Curb your assumptions. Jean-Luc didn't say it was an excuse. That's all in your head. Perhaps you are not happy in France anymore. Portugal welcomes melancholy misers. ;)
As a French who has lived in different parts of France, I've NEVER seen a restaurant closed until 8pm... usually they open at 7pm.
For an American it would still feel odd. Restaurants typically are open for dinner by 6PM at the latest and often earlier. Having dinner at 8 PM would be considered quite late and anything after that downright continental LOL.
I could understand that in as pain or Italy as they tend to eat later, but tourists aren’t used to eating a meal too late. So it depends if we’re talking a dense urban area or not.
If 8pm is late, don't go to Spain, it's 10pm 😁
@@hztm oh I visited Spain a number of years ago and I was blown away by how late those people stayed up. I think it was the midst of some sort of festival and I’d be getting up in the morning and people were just rolling in from the night’s festivities it was insane. I was traveling alone so I tend to not eat sit down dinners so much as pick up food that I can eat in a park or have a picnic with on my own. I just feel awkward sitting alone in a restaurant. Given their nocturnal ways that’s probably best. Sleep deprivation must be a national epidemic.
@@pjschmid2251 Since I'm a night owl....Spain would be perfect for me😆
To all foreigners, please notice the large majority of French finds men peeing on the pavement or on buildings (it's tolerated in the grass on the side of a road) absolutely disgusting and gross ! ^^
C vrai 😅
Sure, but no one does nothing about it, no one shames the one pissing, we parisians just got so used to see it that we don't care anymore, so this culture ain't going away anytime soon, therefore, don't expect foreigners to feel less disgusted by us just because the majority (I doubt we have the right to claim it is a large majority, no way to quantify it but surely not the case in Paris or Marseille) condemn it...The true is that you will walk in any other European capital, and you won't see such behaviour passing without being shamed. We have a serious problem of civility in France.
I have spent many months in France in many different areas and I have never seen this!
@@yumyummoany You surely didn't spend a lot of time in Paris...
@@mmarques2736 you are right.
French pharmacies are hands down the best in the world. Amazing products and amazing support from the pharmacists. Only problem is that (old) people love them so much that they even kind of hang out there and make waiting times often quite long. Bonus point: it always smells amazing in them.
So true about the elderly chitchating for ours, the pharmacist usualy even knows their name.
True but eye wateringly expensive
But we usually don't say a thing because most of the time those old people are lonely and the pharmacist might be their only real conversation of the day
@@alexthomson7465 dude we have free healthcare, unless you want some aspirin or vitamins you just have to pay the doctor 20€ and the meds are free
If you're a Pharmacist you may have to smell piss from disturbed customers, like I had to for a 1/2 hour late one night in the UK. Spare a thought for the Pharmacist.
As a french vet thank you very much for that compliment about us :) it is true that it's much cheaper than in the US or even UK, but not always for the best: vets in France are not very well paid (in general) for the work they do. They have lots of pressure especially concerning shifts, and sadly many young vets give up on their job, and it is currently very difficult for employers to find new vets for their clinics. And people are not ready to pay a little more, mainly because they have no idea of the price of medical care (due to our healthcare system where you do not receive the bills). But clients like you make us think we chose the right job anyway :)
I appreciate you taking the time to comment and the work that you do. I know how demanding your patients are (and their owners!) and I would absolutely pay more because you do such important work.
French vets have been outstanding and my dog has received amazing care, both from her regular vet and in an emergency situations. I always buy Christmas gifts for the staff at my vet practice because they mean everything to me and it's the least I can do. xx
@@OuiInFrance aww thank you so much! Not all vets are perfect but most of us try their best and we get rewarded with people like you 😊
Sounds hard
France culture plus à vous tous des bisous et à bientôt bises de nous faire une demande à la recherche d'un emploi je ne sais si c'est possible pour vous deux je suis à vous deux pour vous deux je vous remercie pour vous deux je vous remercie pour vous deux pour le cas échéant de la recherche d'une personne intéressée immo à bientôt bises de me confirmer que vous allez bien je ne sais pas trop de la semaine prochaine pour votre réponse rapide je ne sais pas trop tard pour vous avez reçu une réponse rapide et de la maison de la recherche d'une entreprise qui me confirmer que vous allez recevoir un mail pour vous deux je suis à la maison de retraite et à bientôt
@@MG-nr9dt gaffe avec le terme "vet" en anglais, c'est aussi une abréviation très courante du mot "veteran" (pas besoin de le traduire je pense), à utiliser avec "prudence" pour éviter tout quiproquo.
I am a veterinarian. I graduated in 1976. I went home to practice in my home area. It was rural, economical depressed, and already staffed with enough veterinarians. I made so little money; I had no employees. After 11 years, I couldn't take it anymore. I became a USDA Public Health Veterinarian supervising meat inspection. It was gainful employment. I finally had the money to enjoy life and retire. In the US, I have heard veterinary student debit on average is 3 years of gross income. It is just another example of how the education system is victimizing young people.
Here in California, where marijuana is legal, the stores all display a similar green cross like the French pharmacies. I wonder if any French tourists have experienced culture shock by walking in to a cannabis dispensary thinking it was a pharmacy?
As a French person, I indeed confused a cannabis dispensary for a pharmacy once, before quickly realizing that I wasn't going to find any paracetamol in there!
@@bangchanswebbrowsinghistor5145 We call it Tylenol or generically acetaminophen in the US, and you can buy it at any supermarket or other kind of smaller food store, or at any drug store. Like in the UK.
@@bangchanswebbrowsinghistor5145 🤣🤣 sorry
yup .. walk in , buy maruana and a gun 😂😂💀
@@bangchanswebbrowsinghistor5145 Well, to be faiiir, that could also lessen pain quite well. With also some stunn...ehm stoning side effects x)
4:00. a french owner pharmarcie is a " pharmacien". He/she has to study 6 years long to get a diploma. U will get the best medicine advises even u have just to buy Advil or Paracetamol...
the number is fixed by the french government no to have competition between them.
Same in Greece
Same in Finland as well
Same in Italy, everything you said
Same in Poland
Same in Portugal.
You are extremely good at presenting new information in a very pleasant way! Thank you.
Thank you, so sweet of you to take the time to tell me that.
I am French. At some point in my life I found myself with 3rd degree burns and the specialist that treated me in the hospital was actually a pharmacist that was specialized in treating burns
I love how you say that your dogs health is just as important as yours . I couldn’t agree more !
I was born and raised in Louisiana. My dad was French, and it's interesting seeing the similarities in French culture.
Thank you for sharing this!
Was your Dad French Canadian, big difference from European French?
French Canadians & Louisiana french are of French ancestry but parted company in the 1700's.
@@davidmorrill2943 yup I’m an English Quebec who speaks French too. The Cajuns were a miss pronunciation of Acadian who where kicked out of Acadia (Canada’s maritime region) by the British in the 1700s. They wound up in Louisiana
America never let the French keep their language. I’m glad in Quebec we’re protecting it (there’s 8,000,000 of them) it’s often turned into an English vs French here but being born in Montreal in 1961 and still here I’m pretty used to it and I try not to let it ‘ ruffle my feathers’ a lot of my friends who were English left long ago. Some of us stayed. Vive la difference.
Me too. I love visiting Nova Scotia and Paris. They are extremely different but then so is New Orleans. We do have a French attitude when it comes to our independent ways. My parents lived in France when they were young and totally loved it. The only part they didn’t love was being harassed by the Communists because they were American. But that may have been a function of the times. The other French people were just lovely.
Hello, I am French and I have been living abroad for many years. I find your video very interesting as it gives the perspective of a non native French on France, and you say things that I didn’t really notice since it seems normal to me.
In regards to peeing in the street, I don’t find it that common, but as mentioned above maybe I don’t notice anymore. What I can say is that in the other countries that I lived in (Spain, Ireland, Germany) or travelled to, I find it much easier to find public toilets “clean “ than in France.
To an American just seeing one person do this would be shocking. If our children are with us we would think they were in danger. I’m not exaggerating. We would get the heck out of there fast.. Maybe even call the police. 😂
@@midlifeandnailingit6342 It is illegal in every state.
@@KP-vg3zn Well, in theory, it's illegal in France too, plus, you'll only stumble upon this in big cities and almost exclusively in Paris + the surrounding areas.
I know that when I was a teenager and we spent our nights outside everyone peed in the street. Girls and boys.
Hi Florent,
Wer do you live now - those 3 countries + France were the countries I have been looking @.. .Out of these 4 which one did you like the most??
Lol when I was 13/14, I visited France on a school trip as a student ambassador. In Paris, I had to go to the bathroom really bad one day, and was scrambling to find a restroom. But everyone I found, you had to pay for, and in my young American mind, that was preposterous. I thought I finally found one inside a restaurant when some guy stepped in front of the door at the last second and scolded me in French (I couldn't understand anything). So I turned around, saw some steps, walked down, and peed under some random bridge in Paris. I didn't know it was a common thing there, but I didn't care if I was breaking the law or not, I just had to go so bad.
The pharmacist will also inspect any mushrooms that you are not sure off.
Indeed, either you found the mushrooms in the forest as well as on your feet!
@@sergeblanc799
Sorry I prefer mine on cheese!
It is part of the training of French pharmacists to learn to identify mushrooms. Prevents a lot of problems.
You can ask for advice in an Irish pharmacy as well.
They are also very kind about removing splinters and disinfecting the spot afterwards for free
Here in México, our meal times, at home, are quite different. The largest meal is called “comida” and is usually eaten between 2 and 4 pm. Often, the meal later in the evening is quite light in comparison, perhaps just some fruit or sweet bread (pastries) with coffee or chocolate. I just returned from having a meal with friends and we ate between 2:30 and 4:30 pm. The only time we eat a large dinner later is when we are out with friends at a restaurant for a social occasion.
I like to eat the dinner meal about 4pm too. Better for the digestion too!!!
No en Oaxaca ni comida tenemos
Same in Georgia and other eastern European countries
same in Spain. I'm french and lived in Madrid 2 years but eating at 2pm is to late when you start working at 8am.
The debit/credit card thing is common across much of Europe, not just France. Most people have credit cards, but use debit cards for daily small purchases.
Or rather, people have Visa/MasterCard, but they work as debit cards.
True. I know people from a billionaire family and most of them have only prepaid credit cards: the kind you top up with a few thousand to use on a faraway vacation and if you lose it, meh, no big deal. Debit cards for everything within the EU.
People have been using debit cards in France since the early 1990s for even McDonald's. I thought it was so odd (I am from Québec but studied and worked for 8 years in France) that people were using credit cards to buy BigMacs!!! But they were debit bank cards.
but something is getting lost in translation here coz carte de crédit and carte de débit are not exactly the same but they can both be delivered at your bank (and it's a paying service contrary to checks which are free and we are fighting really hard to keep them and all the advantages they offer) whereas "revolving" credit card(carte de crédit à crédit?) can be obtained at a credit agency (not banks). also some stores like fnac for exemple in link with some credit company let you have a "revolving" credit card to use with them.
Yes, much healthier to not strch more than you can handle.
I'm always interested to hear about French culture shock. I was born British and have been living in France since 1983. I also have French nationality since 1992 and consider myself more French than British.
Whenever I go back to France, I look forward to a trip to my local pharmacie: soft lights, soft music, delicious fragrance, fresh flowers on the desk, and the feeling you are in an elegant boutique, even if you are buying wart remover! Last time, the pharmacien was wearing black leather pants and red clogs. I wanted to give him a "bise"!
Funny thing, we often call bank cards "carte de crédit" while they actually are "carte de débit" indeed
I call them "carte bleue"
Indeed. Many French in people come unstuck when they rent a car and cannot be pay the deposit as their card is a direct debit card and not a "credit" card. For that, you need a "deferred debit card", (carte à débit différé). To get that, your are likely to have to demonstrate a regular monthly income, otherwise the default card will be the direct debit card. On the subject of "credit cards", France is nowhere nearly into revolving credit facilities as in North America and the UK. Revolving permanent credit lines with cards to make payments do exist in France. They are horrendously expensive though. To the French, the idea of paying for ordinary shopping by credit is not so big culturally as in the US and the UK. The average amount of household debt in France compared to the US and the UK is a lot lower.
I just discover your channel and I love the fact that you explain how things work in France *and* how things work in USA for us French viewers as well
Love your channel - I moved to Bordeaux (from California) in 2015 and absolutely love the life here, however it does take some adjustment. The pharmacies are all different so I have fun checking them out....although only 2 pharmacies in town are open on Sundays, so it’s always good to stock up on what you need in advance!
Janice-I am about an hour away from Bordeaux...and we love our life here too!
Wow, from Cali to rainy Bordeaux
Talk about some weather shock!
Glad to know other people agree that Bordeaux is really a special place :)
Yeah and this makes for a very tough time to get COVID test if your flight is on a monday, ask me how I know lol
@Diane, regarding public urination, keep in mind that free rest rooms are not necessarily as common in France as in the United States or Canada. Either one has to pay one or two Euros, or hit a lock door with a sign saying it is for patrons only. I also saw many restaurants with combination locks on their restroom doors that can be unlocked with a time limited code printed on the receipt.
certes, cependant les femmes se débrouillent pour ne pas pisser dehors, les hommes peuvent donc le faire aussi.
And why aren't woman peeing in tbe strees? The problem is not the free restroom please, is just male feeling entitled to get their dick put and pee all over the street because they own it
in a french pharmacy the owner has almost the same study than a doctor. They are very competent.
Same in the U.S. a pharmacist license requires a multi year degree.
Even though a large pharmacy may have many employees, it cannot issue prescription drugs without a pharmacist on site.
If only one pharmacist is available, drug sales stop when they are gone for lunch.
If France is known for something, then it has to be the bakery (food). It is a great
attraction and african-american people enjoy this. You need to also need to check out the cafe and the French people are so outgoing.
As a frequent visitor to France, I am always surprised that a small village will have a florist. On further investigation I found it was much more common than the UK to take a floral tribute to the cemetery or have flowers as a table decoration.
That's because we like to bring flowers to our parents when we visit them, or when we're invited at the house of people we love. It's also a nice gesture for your lover.
Good detailed information and tips for everyday living in France! I’ve recently started my research for planning to move to France from the US. Some Expat sites are entertaining,, but yours is both entertaining and informative
Thank You For Sharing 😊
Thanks so much!
Veterinary care. I can only agree with you. I experienced the vet care in Alberta and it's nothing in comparison to France. Prices are horrible in Alberta, care and attention to the animal is really not that great. I am traveling with my cat and we needed to go to the vet in France. It was awesome. Totally liked the way they handled the situation. Bottom line, I was worrying for nothing but they checked all angles. Handle my cat with such care I almost believe she was in china. Even my cat barely noticed she was examined, no rough flip. They let her a few minutes to explore the room... Delightful.
I love your video. I was born in the USA but both my parents were born in Mexico and I see the cultural similarities between France and Mexico. I love the bakeries, pharmacies, late night meals and veterinary care in both countries. Unfortunately, I have to say that in Mexico, it is also common to see men urinating openly in public and I find it absolutely disgusting. When I visited Mexico I even saw men urinating on churches and other public buildings and monuments, which I thought was terribly disrespectful. I'm glad I did not see that in France.
I lived in Mexico for many years and don't recall men urinating in public to be a common sight. See it more here in San Diego. Here, downtown smells like urine, but despite the huge homeless problem I think it's from all the dogs being walked.
Superbe chaîne ! Le nom de la chaîne « Oui in France » je ne sais pas si on te l’a dit mais ouiin en Francais c’est une onomatopée qui représente le bruit d’un bébé qui pleure 😀 Un beau contraste avec ton énergie positive qui se dégage de tes vidéos ! Bravo joyeux Noël et bonnes fêtes !
Everything that is said in this video perfectly applies also to Italy, like literally everything. Who knew France was so similar to Italy!!!
You can actually apply it to whole Europe.
Is there beckery everywhere in italy ?
@@johnrambo5407 Plutôt, oui. Vous n'y êtes jamais allé ? Il y a quelques petites différences avec la France, évidemment, mais on trouve énormément de boulangerie (panificcio, paneterria), qui fabriquent également tout ce qui est foccacia, etc ; bref, énormément de nourriture à base de pain, excellente, et qui fait que l'Italie a résisté à la malbouffe, contrairement à la France, qui compte en Europe le plus de Mc Donald's… Dommage pour nous :-)
@@heliedecastanet1882 You are still well up in the mcdo thing haha i think you are 5 in the thing with mcdo? aha
I’ve been to Italy so many times, (actually studied there) but I haven’t seen public urination as common as in France. Maybe once or twice late weekend nights some drunk men would relieve themselves behind a wall or something , but no..it’s not typical in Italy.
UK & Ireland we also use credit cards as debit card like in France. Very few use credit card like the USA do.
I live in the south of France since right before COVID (wow that sounds like a translation from French). I love your vids. So helpful, and I can sooo relate to a lot of it.
I just visited France from the UK and, arriving at Gare du Nord the first thing that struck me was the the smell of actual smoke from actual cigarettes (and it continued from there). Vaping is common in the UK (and France), but I'd almost forgotten about smoking.
Just a little precision : 'la bise' is not a kiss on the check. Actually, the cheeks are touching side by side and the lips are "kissing the air". When people actually kiss the cheek and are not from your close family, they are seen as perverts.
or making a move. but kissing on the cheek is real as with family. the whole side by side was made by bourgeois to give themself contenance. also popularise by les inconnus. "salut! TU ! VAS! BIENNN!"
Very old people are the only ones doing it these days.
@@ultima3542 thank god..I dont want anybody to feel my oily ass face 😫
My family members who did college in the US used la bise until covid started
@@glossyncap careful...american may come for you then.
Hii!! I wanted to add-on the smoking in France. As part of the mandatory military training back when it existed ( My father did it ) France mass-distributed cigarettes to the soldiers. Men got addicted in mass and brought home their nicotine addiction, thus creating a need for 'Tabac' ( which are usually also a bar/cafe targeted for men to hang around the beginning of the workday, or relax at the end ). Also smoking was considered classy and elegant, a sign of riches before the whole cancer scandal. It was part of the rich people aesthetic. That was the generation of my parents. Then the whole cancer scandal happened, but by then (from the top of my head) i think are half the population smoked. We have nicotine babies nowadays ( me! ) with mom allowed to smoke a few cigarettes during pregnancy ( the stress to stop was judge worse for the pregnancy than a few cigarettes a day ), and growing up around smoking parents, plus the fact it is very easy to meet a smoker who is going to politely offer you a cigarette, and then BOOM! You are a smoker.
My estimates are two to three generations down the line we will have this epidemic controlled, but yeah. Great idea French government!!
I've had a medical condition which caused me to urinate in public....it's called "being drunk."
@@LoganRaven WTF?
@Matricx700 explain ?
@@LoganRaven Yes, in your dream France, no White French people urinate in public. Never. It's a sight you just never see. LOL
@@LoganRaven Mec... tous le monde a déjà pissé dans la rue, je compte plus le nombre de fois que je l'ai fait.
@@-Zakhiel- *tous les hommes
Hey, nice video! As a French living in the US, I can mirror your experience. I'm quite lost with the credit history system and I basically stick to the debit card provided by an international online bank. I miss for sure my baguette and I slowly switched diner time earlier to fit the schedule. The pharmacy in the US is indeed quite different and we have to acknowledge that medication in France is perhaps more relying on physician's prescriptions since most of the medicine purchase happens over the counter. For the pissing thing, well... I think you'll find it mostly in Paris and other big cities (Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier..). Be sure it annoys everyone. Could be either people that do not have the choice because they live in the street and sadly they are many in the capital. Otherwise it would be some drunk or disrespectful folks but I would definitely not bring this in among the 'cultural specificities of France' ;)
Joliment dis, chere
Au tout début les français appelaient : cartes de crédits ; mais c'était une fausse appellation ? maintenant ,depuis plus de vingt ans nous les appelons : cartes bancaires ; le paiement est débité immédiatement de votre compte .
I don't understand why people would eat dinner at 8pm or so when you're going to bed at 10 or 11.
Because usually in france, people mostly get off work around 6pm ?
@@Malanu00 It could be their dinner is VERY light. That I could understand.
Bank checks were common for in-store/grocery payment in the US until the late 1980s when point of sale terminals had a wide enough availability.
There are less and less checks used in France. 3,1 billions in 2009, 1,9 billions in 2017. I remember my mother using checks for groceries in late 80's, start of 90's but debit card use was not as massive as today. Today, almost nobody pays with a check in supermarkets, and it's always an elder person. More and more places do not accept checks because of frauds. Banks wants to stop the usage of checks, because their processing is expensive for them.
I have a check book. I use it maybe once or twice a year. Sometimes, you have to because you need a bank record and you can't pay with a card. I had to pay my rent of my appartement by check every month, the owner did not want a transfer.
I love the French Pharmacies, myself. The Pharmacists were exceptional, caring and very competent. Many a time I was saved by a Pharmacist who had more experience and expertise than even the doctors I saw. We need more professionals like this. I was prescribed a cough medicine made of pine tree bark (yes…tasted terrible) that worked better than anything that I have had before or since. He was a “compounding pharmacist”, which are in very short supply in the US…usually a person in an old-fashioned and very expensive pharmacy in large cities in the US, and not at your local CVS or Walgreen’s.
There are private pharmacies in America that are only pharmacies and not drug stores. They are usually small and sometimes expensive or if not, have discount, generic drugs. They are usually open to the public, but have deals with certain local care groups, home nursing, hospice, etc., for most of their business.
Hello.
It is illegal in France to write a cheque without sufficient funds in your bank account to back it up and there can be quite serious consequences for doing so.
We used to call it 'floating' a check. It's always been illegal in the US. I was surprised at the blasé way this was mentioned, and wondered about the French laws regarding this practice. Thank you for this clarification. 😉
Wonderful video! I live in Germany, the peeing in public happens here but usually they are standing beside a road/car.
I'm from Belgium and Spain, where peeing is very much ok in a park or other grassy area where you can turn away from people who are looking for an opportunity to be offended.
My favourite anecdote is, when my friend visited her doctor to confirm her third pregnancy (the first two were in UK) he admonished her to 'abstain from all alcohol, and to only drink one glass of wine with each meal'. Wine is considered a staple food, not an alcoholic beverage!
Wow, that must have surprised her!
My father was in hospital in a small town in the south of France (we're Dutch but speak French). He was served a quarter of wine with lunch and dinner.
bizarre ; une femme enceinte responsable ne boit pas d'alcool pendant sa grossesse , même les française ? elles ne sont pas plus débiles que les anglo-saxonnes . non , le vin n'est pas considérer comme une boisson de base , la boisson de base est l'eau . le très bon vin est réserver pour les repas de familles ou de fêtes .même a ce moment là les femmes enceintes n'en boivent pas
@@ybreton6593 honnêtement si tu es dans une région avec une tradition viticole plutôt forte, le vin est considéré comme boisson de base et beaucoup de gens en boivent à au moins un repas par jour, c'est courant. Ceci dit oui, les femmes enceintes n'en boivent pas
Even my 15 year old daughter has noticed that in the States they drink to get drunk but in France and Europe you drink wine to enjoy and cherish the moment …
When a kid in the USA, 6PM (5:30-6PM) was considered late, normally it was 4:30 to 5PM fo dinner . In the countryside and Sunday 2-4PM. So it is funny to hear 6PM as being early. We would have a supper between 7-8PM (9PM for late people).
Urinate in the streets are gross also for us, people who do that are people with bad/no manners. The only time when people don't really judge you is when you pee on the side of a country road, hidden by you car or bushes.
French here... regarding the pharmacies, to open a pharmacy, you need a diploma (PharmD) and a licence, there are attributed depending the number of inhabitants, so it prevents the installation of pharmacy chains (but some exists, they are not as big as cvs or walgreens though). So if you have just graduated and want to open your own pharmacy, you have to buy it from a retiring pharmacists for example, it is a relatively regulated job, it is not a business like others...
"pharmacy chains (but some exists, they are not as big as cvs or walgreens though)" = you are confusing of "ParaPharmacy Chains" in France !
@@youpihat the examples I had in mind : Pharmacie Lafayette or Gifar are pharmacies, not only parapharmacies, are organised in chains but operate differently from CVS
My daughter just got her PharmD, 6 years at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (University of the Sciences) and is doing a one year residence in Oncology pharmacy. She has little desire to work in a pharmacy and prefers hospital pharmacy. And yes she has taken and passed her boards and licensed in Pennsylvania she going to take the New Jersey Pharmacy law test to get her licence in her home state. Each US state licences their pharmacists, the main pharmacy boards are the same and transferable at this time. She went to her University right out of high school. When she graduated, NJ and Pa. removed her pharmacy tech licence which she got at 18.
@@larabelle78 Tiens, tiens, c'est nouveau ! Depuis quand la loi a changé ?
Accepte elle La CMU en ligne ?
Merci beaucoup "Iarabelle78" !
Très bonne journée !
It is strictly forbidden to piss on walls of buildings in France, you risk to be fined if you are caught of course.
English grammar- gotta love it. Caught not catched. ;)
RUN!
@@noneofurbusiness5223 Yes and more the worst, I know it
As a Canadian I would lose it if someone pissed in public and I find it shocking bc I thought that the French where shy and not that open but I’m going to assume that that’s more of a pairs thing. I see it as a uncivil thing to do and that if you do it that you should be ashamed and yelled at
Wow. So much of this reminds me of my childhood in the sixties. The hands on pharmacy, no credit cards (debt), smoking, even the cuts of meat. It would be strange to visit, and enjoyable.
Awesome video. Informative and well paced!
Glad you liked it! Merci
In France we generally finish school at 5 or 6 o’clock so we eat later because we come back from school then do homework and then eat
But it's founded on an old tradition from the Gauls. Light breakfast, normal lunch , late and big dinner
I remember going to my first big Saturday market in Rennes and seeing the meat display. Quite shocking! I loved my pharmacy there but I also love my pharmacy here in Gensac too. They are super sweet and helpful. As far as eating late, I noticed this when my friend visited. She has children and they have to be in bed by 7. So...no going out for dinner since the restaurants near me don’t start serving until 7! Thanks again for another lovely video. Much love from Gensac!
I absolutely love the meat markets in France. Seeing poultry,fish or game with the head and feet still on is a sign that the meat is fresh as the head will be the first part to start going bad. The vendors are showing you that their meat is fresh. The butcher will remove and dress your purchase before you take it home.
You could easily solve the urination problem by simply putting an electrified mesh around the base of bushes and every time somebody lets loose they get a 240 volt surprise
No. You would go to jail.
The peeing on the street thing is common in Spain too. It’s not a matter of laziness or illness. I’ve seen parents with boys around 5 to 7 years old, walk them over to the bushes at a busy urban corner to have them pee, if they have to “go” on the way home from school. No one takes any notice or cares. I think that the boys, having grown up with the habit, don’t think anything of it as adults either.
Hi Diane, I moved here to France from Ireland a couple of years ago and lots of what you talked about are very familiar to us in our home country. But two things stand out as radically different , peeing in public and the poor quality of meat compared to Irish butchers. My wife and I were driving on the outskirts of Carcassonne about a year ago when a military Jeep in front of us suddenly stopped, the passenger soldier jumped out with a full toilet roll in his hand and sprinted across a busy road narrowly missing cars and dived into a bush, a bit gross but really funny to watch.
In Georgia restaurants are open till 11pm, 12-1am or till early morning. So if you want, you can have your dinner at 3am, why not? Usually dinnertime is between 8-10pm and lunchtime 1-4pm.
French don't have dinner at 6pm because most of them are still at work at this time. The normal time for the beginning of the dinner in France is between 7.30pm and 8.30 pm, depending if you have young children or not. Later in restaurants in city centers.
Thank you for all the videos about my country. You have choosen an original way to compare our both countries. It's interresting ang sometimes very funny.
Hello!
I am French.
Well, some start to eat at 7pm. Generally, I have dinner between 5 pm and 6 pm. But most of French people are not like me.
@nicolas_-_-_ wow tu manges à 17h moi je goûte à cette heure là ( oui je goûte encore même si je suis un adulte)
Im french and im trying do be a pharmacist and just to clarify they have to do 1 year of PACES (premiere année commune aux études de santé) with all the students who wants to be doctor, psychotherapist, midwife,dentist and other job related to the field of health… which lead to a contest where we compose and then get a ranking according to our result. The better you rank and the more choice you have to choose in which sector you want to go (I want pharmacy) and places are limited (in my university 250 out of 1400 people will have the chance to continue their studies in the field of their choice). Its a very difficult year bc every one want to succed and the place for each field can be very little (in my university there are only 20 places in dentistry out of 1400 for example, and even less in midwives) so after that to be an office pharmacist you have to do 6 year so yes they are not inexperienced salespeople at all 😂
I'm from the UK and have been living in France for decades! I don't like hugging as a greeting so la bise suits me better! I know what you mean about men peeing in public, 'beurk' as the French would say. I love French pharmacies and baguettes too.
« Beurk » c’est exactement cela 😉
I live in Montreal Québec Canada and the things that you said about France explain a lot about what I see here!
Yes!
Very well explained and with a lot of respect! Great video
Great video thank you for sharing. Would you do a video on what type of music is popular in France and what what TV shows of music may be common.
When I went in a pharmacist in US, I was shocked to be able to buy sodas, candies and CIGARETS ! It's suppose to be a place where you buy cure !
I have never urinated in public. It's OK in nature, not in a town. I barely never see men peeing in the street. And it's "pissotière" (a familiar word) or "urinoir" not "pissoire" (unless pissoire is a local term) 😁
Most pharmacies make their profits by selling all of the non-medical products. If the only sold medicines they oils not be able to stay in business. One major pharmacy chain, CVS, made the decision to stop selling tobacco products in 2014.
Vous ne pouvez pas acheter de cigarettes en pharmacie, ici au Canada. Eh bien, peut-être dans une province - en Colombie-Britannique - mais nulle part ailleurs.
I am a French native and I find the urinating thing absolutely revolting .
Thanks for your videos by the way ☺️
I am Dutch and I live for nearly thirty years half time in France, I have never ever seen somebody peeing in the street.
Consider yourself lucky! ;-)
I'm french and i Can tell you that it's a cliché
u should see an ophthalmologist
@@im-pn3ug Difference might be that you live in the gutter and I don’t.
@@abrahamcusters2987 perfect clarification
I am a Brit living in France....Calvados, Normandie....and I frequently see men peeing beside the road in broad daylight. In the UK men do pee outdoors but is generally under cover of darkness and behind a bush. lol
I have had three occasions where workmen have actually been caught 'tackle out' peeing in our garden. The telephone man, water supply man, and an electrician. All they had to do was to ask to use the toilet....but no. They do not wash their hands and i remember the electrician who I'd almost walked into while he was peeing in a rosebush then proffered his had to shake when he left. I just looked at it, aghast. The one thing I bless Covid for is the end of feeling pressured to shake hands with random people.
A ces français , ils ont tous les défauts ,! les britanniques sont parfaits ?sauf , quand ils sont en vacances en France ou Espagne ; ils boivent comme des trous , pissent n'importes insultes les forces de l'ordres ou la Guardia civil , ont des comportements , qu'ils n'auraient jamais sur leurs îles
A French living in France, and seriously, I've never seen this in my life, never heard about anyone experiencing it or doing it. I don't know if you think this is a cultural thing, but it definitely isn't. It is gross, and literally everyone thinks this way in France. I hope I brought you a little relief regarding the mental status of the average French lmao. Stay safe.
I think that's disgusting, sorry but there it is
As a french myself the thing that shocked me when I visited Paris was this strong odor of urine, and the trash everywhere.
I laughed a lot over the urination in public. Good presentation of shock culture. One more subscribed.
Doesn’t all this urination publicly cause bad smells that the public has to put up with.
Bonne vidéo ! J'ai appris beaucoup de nouvelles choses.
public urination?!? this one really took me by surprise. I never really experience this issue unless it s saturday evening and party people get drunk. But since alcohol is not known to make you smart, I guess that this can happen not only in france but wherever you can find drunk people.
Even Pharmacies in the US are privately owned, except that most of it are chain.
There are also independent/stand-alone Pharmacies.
In terms of patient counseling, it is the same here in the US.
US Pharmacists are even more all-around because they do vaccinations and Comprehensive Medical Review.
So European Pharmacists have limited scope in terms of hands-on practice.
Juste une petite précision concernant le fait d'uriner en public, surtout ne jamais dire au touristes que c'est quelque chose qui est faisable en France ils risquent d'avoir une "mauvaise surprise" si l'on peux dire. En fait c'est quelque chose d'interdit en réalité si la police vous prends sur le fait d'uriner sur la voie publique vous risquez une amande assez salé. Mais le fait est que les Français sont assez réfractaire aux règles. Sinon à titre personnel je trouve ça dégoûtant de voir quelqu'un pisser en public surtout que les villes on généralement des urinoirs gratuit. Mais le problème est que dans les grandes villes comme Paris elles sont souvent délabrée ou utilisée pour les gens qui veulent se drogué et c'est une des raisons pour lesquelles les Parisiens ont tendance à ne pas les utiliser.
135€ fine
Sympa la vidéo, on se rend pas tjr compte que ce qui est normal chez nous l'est pas pour les autres
Good video ! We don't always understand that things normal here are not for strangers
PS : the pharmacy you show as an example is near my house in Lille xD
Dismayed to hear the statistic on increased smoking in France. Unfortunately it seems that younger Europeans (not just the French) still fall for the outdated idea that smoking is cool or sophisticated, a 1950's or 1960's concept which the anglophone countries have largely moved on from.
imho that has nothing to do with being sophisticated (on the contrary) and maybe some young kids find it cool, but i personnaly just find it enjoyable. It's just like drinking, everybody knows that it's bad for your health but they usually just don't care. In fact, almost every smokers i know that are trying to stop just try because of how expensive it is now, especially for heavy smokers.
Really enjoy your videos here in serious lockdown in London , thanks !
Debit cards are common and popular in Canada as well in addition to credit cards. An increasing number of businesses accept debit cards as the sole method of payment.
Debit cards very common.
Thank you, I'm enjoying the comments add much as I enjoyed the video! Bisous from another American woman living in the Loire Valley!
Hi Diane! On the subject of credit/debit cards in Europe, I like to point out that the extreme situation is in Germany, where so many people prefer to pay in cash due to the private life question. Indeed, nowadays, the bank, the police, the tax administration aso know, or at least could find out, how much you earn, how much you spend and where. Historically, it seems fully justified in Germany and in countries of the ex-communist countries. Due to Covid-19, many stores invite the customers to pay with a card instead of cash. I wish to congratulate you for your clear and precise presentations. Take care and stay healthy, with greetings from Luxembourg.
I'm pretty sure the use of debit/credit cards for everyday shopping skyrocketd all over the world with Covid. I honestly haven't returned to the ATM since. Before Covid I used to feel "guilty" of paying anything below 10€ with the card, but now I just don't care anymore.
My first experience in Europe was visiting Paris and literally in less than 5 minutes of arriving in town a man walked into the street directly facing my bus and began peeing in the middle of the street, again facing us. What level of 'middle ages depravity' is France operating on that this is a thing? While it left a lasting impression of France, I had choked up it to being unlucky timing and that he must be a drunk or mentally unwell but, no its just the culture, so much so that it gets a mention here. Come on France, civilization moved on from this sort of behavior centuries ago.
was he a real french or a "french" :)
I'm American and I'll take a piss outside but only if I can get where nobody can see me. Cause when you gotta go , you gotta go.
It's especially bad for those of us with bladder and prostate issues. Ever since my prostate was removed my urge comes suddenly and forcefully. Any trip outside the house takes planning so I can stop somewhere and go discreetly. As quickly as I find a place I still have some leakage. I also have issues with my bowels because a foot of my large intestine was remove due to diverticulitis. That's difficult to deal with but it's not as bad as the urination problem.
Don't get caught pissing outside. My Uncle did after foing in some bushes off of a highway going to Long Island. He got a heavy fine and was listed as a sex offender for exposing himself in public.
Same with English people.
Same with French people, if you see someone peeing in broad daylight, he's probably drunk. No sober-minded French would expose itself peeing without any cover.
I'm new to your channel.
Love your videos.❤️
Thank you!
Thanks for subbing & welcome!
Hello,
We don't use credit card in France, we don't like generally be in debt. I think it's a catholic inheritance because the Roman Church used to forbid loan. Loan was considered to act like God, only God has the possibility to have action/ bet on future.
The use of checks is common because there are free, there is no charges. It's a legal obligation for banks to offer free checks.
As people already mention the french pharmacies work like the other european pharmacies. I try it in Greece, Germany, Spain and Italy and it was almost the same way.
Meal at 18h00, it's an "apero".
The ever first veterinarian school in the world was created in the 1761 in Lyon by Claude Bourgelat as he also created the job of veterinarian. And the four french veterinarian schools are members of "grandes écoles". There is a really difficult competition/contest ("concours") to get in these schools.
Tabacco is a bad habit but it decrease a little bit, but the french lobby of bars and restaurants is really powerful so it is not possible for the moment to forbid tabacco outside the restaurants. I remenber Korea where tabacco is allowed only in few places, little hide. It was great.
Peeing outside...it's a bad men habits because their physiology allowed them to do so. In France it lacks public restroom in the cities and clean especially.
J'aurais dit 1763, je n'etais pas si loin (par contre j'aurais dit 6 ecoles, sans compte l'ULg, qui est la plus grande école vétérinaire de france)
@@osez111 4 seulement ecoles: lyon la plus ancienne (site Marcy-l'étoile), Maison-alfort la 2ème crée, Toulouse et nantes, source maison! 🤗
@@annouchka63kim ah mais j'vous crois, je voulais simplement dire que je pensais, à tort, 6 (mais j'aurais été bien incapables de les citer, seuls Lyon et MA me sont venus en tête)
@@osez111 c'était uniquement pour clarifier! 😊
I love❤ your fun and very informative RUclips videos. You mentioned living in Loire Valley. Could you profile what your life is like in Loire Valley? The history is remarkable, but the guide books are all about wine, wine caves and chateaux. I’ve read about the Grand hiking trails and wondered how to find them, where to park and how challenging they are to hike. Maybe you have discovered a place in the Valley that is somewhat off the tourist trails? Thank you for sharing ❤
If only the whole World didn't have a credit culture.
You can of course pay them off every month like a debit card, check, or cash. But it's painless to use and people go nuts.
@@emjayay en France ce ne sont pas des cartes de crédits , mais des cartes bancaires le paiement est pris directement sur votre compte en banque . si vous n'avez pas suffisamment d'argent sur votre compte bancaire le paiement sera refuser .
How about you imagine the whole world acting responsible with credit.
@@johnlafever3162 but why do you absolutly need to "pay later" even for small things? Why not use the money you have when you have it?
I can understand credit for a house a car or something expensive but for clothes or food I don't get it. It makes no sense to me.
I would pee outside if I've really no choice BUT never on the pavement; only on some bushes and soil and I would of course do it somewhere a least a little bit discreet. and of course in the countryside it's perfectly acceptable. I think people have took it too far and peeing on the sidewalk is gross (although I almost never see it). Sometimes homeless people also don't really have a choice as public toilettes are not super common depending on where you are.
Along with hair salons, I noticed a lot more optical shops in France than here in the US. Have you noticed this as well?
Yes!
Oui ! And once they get your address, they will send you "publicité" forever. At least the one near us has done so... about once a month, after my husband walked in 17 years ago to get a screw for his frames. That's about 150 envelopes that I've had to drop right into the recycle bin.
yes because it's basically free ( or very cheap) and we can cheat and have chanel or dior sunglasses for free
but chuuutttt it's a secret🤫
For the dinner, we eat the lunch like 14h or 2-3pm so eat dinner like 4 or 3 hours after is not really possible
my lunch time is 14h30 (2:30pm) and my dinner is 22h (10pm)
What a cute little dog! Adorable :-)
Two things I see one this great book A Year in the Merde is a comic novel by Stephen Clarke about what dogs so on the street of the city! Two I hear this happens mostly in southerner France, some stores can have a two-hour lunch or can be fours hours, and you never who is doing their lunch and when and sometimes no lunch at all it is like playing dice you throw the dice, and sometimes you win, and sometimes you don't! Some stores can be open for 24 hours can be closed for lunch or at times closed for an employee meeting with no notice and in small village open half a day or open two or three days a week can happen; sometimes Mondays many stores are closed and sometimes many stores are closed on Sunday because it was illegal to be open on Sunday by French law!
I am French, lives in France, and the last time I have seen someone pissing in public was several decades ago. I think this is not something specific to France but something specific to Paris or some areas of Paris. To be fair, Brussels is even worse: there, public urination is a tourist attraction! ;-)
I see it all the time in an around a park where I live in the Pays de la Loire unfortunately. But certainly not JUST a French thing by any means.
Really? I’ve lived here 17 years and I see someone pissing on the side of the road every time I leave the house.
Me too, I see it a lot in the Loire Valley - one man in a Mercedes stepped out of his car and peed next to it, even though he was parked at a rest stop with a toilet!
I've seen it in Denmark.
I see it very often too ! And I live in Finistère. When I lived in Rennes it was the same, and wherever I go I think I can see men piss on the bushes or a wall.
As an Australian I have to say I don't see too many people using credit cards day to day here in Australia. For big purchases yes, but for day to day living- no. We have debit cards that directly withdraw money from a personal bank account.
As a frenchman, I'm shocked about this peeing outside kind of thing.
Always been taught and seen it as rude and can definitely confirm it's not just me but all people around me.
Like it's fine in the woods, or being hidden from view if the urge is pressing, but heck.
that's gross, I rarely ever saw that too, both in paris and most of france wherever I went across the country.
Side note, very interesting video and quite a few different and interesting perspective that changes from what you usually read or hear about between US and France, I'd be very interested in seeing a part 2 :)
I'm a french woman and public urination just makes me crazy. For men it's like "public space is our urinal", not caring one bit for the other people sharing this space. There is not excuse, sometimes men pee in the bushes near a restaurant ! French men are so entitled on this matter. In the summer when you are wearing summer shoes you never know when you are going to walk into urine. Yes public toilets are nasty. But how is a wall better ? If there is the opportunity, if I see one idiot urinating in public I try to make him fall into his own piss or wetting his pants.
Would love to see you do a review of Netflix’s Emily in Paris in terms of how they depict her experience of an American women moving to Paris.
For me (as a french person) it had some funny moments but was mostly annoying because she was kind of a mary sue. Even when she did mistakes or bad things (like having sex whith a teenager!!!) there where almost no bad consequences. And I felt like it depicted the american way as being the good way for a lot of things. Like she was some kind of hero here to teach french people how to do things...
Then you should watch Friendly Space Ninja's video about Emily in Paris! He is French but his video is in English
thank you for the video! your dog is so sweet
Pharmacy story
In the late 1980s I was in Dubrovnik in November and acquired a serious sinus infection. I found a pharmacy and had looked up some pertinent words in a Serbo-Croat dictionary to ask for meds. The lady pharmacist struggled for a minute, and then asked if I spoke French, which I did passably. She had been trained in France and worked there for years to save up money to open a pharmacy in her home town.
She asked many questions (some of which I had to guess at), took my temperature, felt my pulse, and even looked in my eyes and ears. She gave me some meds with very specific instructions and told me to return the next day. The little bag full of meds cost perhaps $3US. My sinuses did get better, and I went back a couple times and got even more meds.
When I got back I happened to show the meds to my brother-in-law, who's a physician. He said that the antibiotics were fine, for curing a massive infection in a horse.
Oh boy!!!
In France, Pharmacist can't give you antibiotics without a medical prescription. Some other medicine too.
simone Sims nope
They are pill happy in the Balkans.