Hi, I'm French, I don't think air conditioning will make me sick, I'm just being environmentally friendly. I also prefer having no AC because the watertight windows situation needed for AC makes me claustrophobic. Hate mosquitoes, though!
The coin in the supermarket trolley has existed since the 1980s, before that many people once loaded their shopping into their vehicle leave it there instead of putting it back in the planned location sometimes even just behind the car next to theirs. When the store closed in the evening, employees had to collect the carts. the supermarkets were fed up, they invented this consignment system
As a foreigner living in France I still forget the coin sometimes and get very annoyed, HOWEVER I think this is a great way of making people develop new habits. I grew up in a country where to this day people leave the trolleys anywhere in the parking lot and supermarket employees collect them from time to time and I’m ashamed to say that I only noticed how messed up this is after living abroad…
In the US stores often have specific “corrals” spaced throughout the parking lot For customers to leave their carts. Then periodically a store employee makes a big line of carts and pushes them back to the store. In some cases, where people did use the carts To take the groceries home, governors have been put on the carts so that if you try to move them past a certain point, the wheels lock.
When I first moved to the Washington DC area, they had come up with an even worse solution. They put pylons around the front sidewalk of the store so that trolleys cannot be taken into the parking lot *at all*. This basically forced everyone to leave their full carts near the front door, go to their car, drive it to the front of the store, and load it from there. As you can imagine, when the store is busy, finding a spot to load near the front door was an absolute nightmare and the punchline is that people who never put their carts in the corral in the parking lot also don't return them to the trolley queue in front of the store either so you would have to slalom around loose carts when you left the store also. Fortunately, over the years, enough people have complained that the pylons have since been removed from all the stores that had them, at least in more suburban areas.
The AC thing is accurate though. I’ve travelled several time to the US during summer and the AC there is soooo cold compared to the outside heat that I got sick for a few days every-single-time (Sore throat and running nose). The AC itself (or air draughts) isn’t the problem, it’s the difference of temperature between outside and inside that your body can’t cope with. Especially if you’re not used to it. In France AC isn’t popular and when it’s used, it’s not freezing.
Where I live it's not uncommon for there to be as much as a 17°C (30° F) difference between the outside temp and the inside AC temp. Over 40 years experience with cold AC, and I've never gotten sick from it. Every time I hear people say they get sick from the AC, I wonder if it's just a bug that was picked up from traveling to a new place. I am, however, very sensitive to being too hot. That will make me feel sick, if I cannot cool down.
I remember when I first moved to the US, I had to literally run in and out of the supermarket as fast as possible because the AC gave me goosebumps - I was shivering and my teeth were almost chattering! :D
sometimes it's poor servicing (you need to service AC units once a year). If left without the yearly service check they can be harmful because the recycle pollutants and bacteria back into the air.
I'm American but I set my AC to 82 and turn the ceiling fans on, and I have survived 100F+ temperatures without AC, but did use lots of fans! I hate that so many places like malls, cinemas, and other shops just blast the AC to death! It's a waste of money and bad for the environment, it doesn't need to be lower than 78, our bodies will adjust!
I'm American, and maybe it's because I'm skinny or something, but I've always hated how cold homes and shopping centers are. Now that I live in Japan, the LOWEST I have my AC is 25°C, about 75°F. But that's because the difference in humidity is so shocking. If I had it any lower, I'd probably get sick when leaving my home. My hometown was fairly dry, so having really cold AC was not quite as shocking to my body
hey there, i may add that the french practices around air conditionning and "courants d'air" are based on the somewhat accurate assumption that going from hot places to cold places, several times in the day, or blowing the hot dry air could make you sick from throat infection like angina or rhino-pharyngitis. Same relation to courants d'air in the fall and winter. I think i can say that most french would call this kind of sickness "la crève" (vernacular, familiar word). Welcome back in France, take care ;)
My grandma (French) hated the Aircon or when there were courants d'air and you didn't have something warmer on . She always said "Tu vas attraper la crève!!!"
@@NotEvenFrench Very true! Also: sitting in a closed room with someone with a virus will ENSURE that you will get sick from their germs. If you have courants d'air then their icky virus breath is blown OUT of the room. That goes for any virus I'm not bringing up anything controversial 😬. In my family (I can't speak for all of the USA) you would constantly hear, "It is stuffy in here". "It's very close in here." "Can we open a window or two?" And we HAD to have cross ventilation with a window across from another window, whether in the same room or through the whole house, open so that the air would be freshened by the outside air flowing through the house. Maybe it comes from Paris in the 17th century when the air wasn't very fresh that came in the window? It was all sewer and horse droppings....?
The aversion to air flow is very common in older cultures. In Chinese medicine, “wind” disrupts blood flow and circulation and is believed to cause pain, arthritis, headaches and even mild paralysis ( even in western medical textbooks Bell’s Palsy can be caused by driving in a convertible!). It’s all about balance but as you said, extreme heat also disrupts our health as well! The other part is that in the summer going quickly from heat to cold (AC) is too abrupt for our immune systems. It’s similar to telling your child to wear a hat in winter to avoid getting a “chill”. Ever wondered why we call it a “cold”? The English speaking world used to have similar ideas about temperatures and the effect that it has on our immune systems.
In Chinese cuisine, people ALL dishes even hot weather or climate leng pan ( color dishes or plates) that are 1st cooked,.then refrigerated..This follows basic medical + ontological theories, here, the yin yang theory including cold + hot.
The problem with air conditioning is also that it's very bad for environment. And as for me, I have difficulties to breathe when AC is high. But I love fans, I even sleep with them because the noise relaxes me.
The coin thing for the shopping carts 🛒 is the same here in the USA at stores like Aldi’s. It’s mostly about having people return the carts so they don’t have the pay someone to collect the carts. The stores that have these policies tend to have carts that stay nice.
Aldi's is a German company! So that might explain it. I've grown up in the U.S. and have never seen that "coin-in-the-trolley" -- it seems to be a "Super-U" thing, though. As well, I've lived in Paris for 22 years, and have never seen it, either... only when visiting friends in the countryside.
They've had those trolleycoin things in the UK for years. I think it's to try discouraging idiots from dumping trolleys in canal after they're done with them. Apparently it used to be a surprisingly common practice 🙄.
@@ct196eu I can understand leaving trolleys in the parking lot, but why would people dump them in a canal? Was this happening all over, or just in a particular place where the lot was alongside a canal?
By the way, I don't know if you ever watch Justine Leconte, but she just posted a video about her culture shocks coming back to live in France after living in Germany for years, and one of the things she mentioned was also the food, not just the eating, but the prep, the discussions both before and after, and just how much time people spend talking about it. 😄
I grew up in a Francophile household and remembering how bored to tears I was with all the food talk. I think it helped them relate without ever talking about anything personal. One could have differences, complain and go on and on and on and think it was meaningful. You just reminded me. I remember how amazed I was that other families actually had conversations at dinner. Now that I am moving to France and remembering this I think it’s something I really dread. Does not interest me at all but then maybe I’ll adjust. I hope so!
Strategy : open your windows during the night to bring fresh air and cool your entire appartement, and close them during the day. Avoid air current during the hottest hours because it will bring hot air inside your appartement. You can also partially close your shutters to avoid direct sunlight on your window glasses and greenhouse effect.
Yes, that's pretty much exactly the advice I give to people staying in our Paris apartment when we're away. I had to write a new page to my instructions; the title is: "How to Survive the Heat in Paris -- Use The Shutters!"
I live in England but my family are from Galicia in Spain and I could definitely relate to the issue of air currents/draughts. My grandparents were absolutely convinced that if there was a draught running through the house we would get ill and indeed if we came down with a cold we would be told it was probably because we were sitting in a 'corriente'. Also the peeling of fruit is totally relatable. My whole family eat apples, pears etc with a knife, peeling off the skin then eating the fruit. The door handle thing is something we have here in the UK. Our patio doors (aka french doors) have a handle that has to be pulled up to lock. The trolley thing has been around here for quite a while too for the reasons others in the comments have pointed out. I'm guessing that people in New Zealand are a more considerate lot who return their trolleys when finished, which is really rather lovely.
Not everyone is against fans, daughts, and A/C in France. I live in southern France and have been thinking about getting A/C for a while, but in addition to the cost (installation + extra electricity), I've been told it makes our cities even hotter than they are because of the very hot air they blow outside... Not to mention there is some gaz inside that's not environmentally friendly. So I'm rethinking my idea... I use fans and open the windows at night though, unlike your in-laws LOL edit: ideally, it seems adding trees and plants in cities (instead of having concreate, stones and tar everywhere) would be a better option, but it's not that easy to re-introduce nature in our cities sadly.
Same thing here, AC is terrible for the environment and it's quite ironic to fight heat by making the climate hotter. Fans and open windows are doing fine, in addition to closing all the shutters by day.
Same thing here, AC is terrible for the environment and it's quite ironic to fight heat by making the climate hotter. Fans and open windows are doing fine, in addition to closing all the shutters by day.
C'est pas qu'on "aime" dire Non, c'est souvent une règle du boulot qui nous dit que "faire X" n'est pas autorisé, même si on sait qu'on peut techniquement le faire. Du coup, on est censé dire Non, mais si on voit que la personne est sympa (ou dans une situation désespérée), on peut exceptionnellement contourner les règles. Enfin moi c'est mon quotidien, je dois dire Non à plein de gens dans mon boulot, et pourtant en fonction de la situation, ça peut devenir un Oui. J'entends souvent cette critique de la part d'étrangers venus vivre en France, et ça me laisse un peu perplexe ; du coup ça se passe comment dans le reste du Monde ? Les gens disent Oui à tout ? Il y a forcément des règles qui imposent de refuser parfois, non ? Ou alors la différence c'est qu'un Non est un Non définitif, sans exception possible ?
Bouarf... perso je partage son avis, tout est souvent compliqué et inutilement refusé pour pas grand chose. Mais c'est effectivement pas tant la faute des employés que des patrons en règle générale (quoique certains ne font aucun effort même quand la situation est désespérée comme tu dis, juste parce qu'ils suivent bêtement les règles). Entre Laposte, les opérateurs téléphoniques, les fournisseurs d'énergie et j'en passe, c'est un combat permanent pour TOUT et c'est vraiment fatiguant à force
Ça m'étonne, je ne savais pas que c'était commun! Je viens du Québec et ici (du moins de mon vécu), en général, c'est normal de faire tout en notre possible pour aider/satisfaire la clientèle (c'est d'ailleurs ce que les entreprises encouragent et attendent de leurs employés; on dit oui et on prend la responsabilité pour le problème même s'il ne nous concerne pas directement, sauf si c'est vraiment déraisonnable). En même temps, la culture hiérarchique au travail est relativement lousse, ce qui donne pas mal de liberté dans la prise de décision et la résolution de problème. Je pense que c'est surtout influencé par la culture du >
*I know lots of people who don't like sleeping with a fan but they complain they can't sleep because of the heat... I can't sleep without a fan if it's more than 25°C because I'll wake up all wet ! I love A/C !!!*
Hi, I live in Seattle where we get a lot of cold, gray, and rainy days. I was in the south of France for three months studying French and returned at the end of June. My classroom in Nice was regularly 28 degrees and when I would ask about climatisation the instructor and others would express shock that I was hot. One day the instructor agreed to set the climat to 27 but complained je gele, je gele several times during class and the climat was never turned on again. Because of the climate where I live, I almost never need heat and I was a bit frustrated that no one had any empathy for someone being from a different climate.
Hi there, as a French from the north west of France were the climate is much more great britain alike I suffer too from the legend that you have to endure heat, that it is easy to handle … the city of Nice is not at all reprentative of the French climate and of the french culture, this is a mediteranean city when France is rather of a west/Northen Europe culture and has a very moderate climate where 28 stops or impacts a normal day. In the south with the heat you are used to hide in you houses during hot hours when in the rest of the 3/4 of France are used to get out, work , make some sport at any time of the day outside…
I am a kiwi guy whom has married a French woman. We currently live in New Zealand but will move to France one day soon. I guess I’m gonna find this stuff out for myself pretty soon.
I was shopping in FNAC in Nîmes in the electronics department and had a mixed but relatively good experience with customer service. The negative part was the young salesman didn’t think this old lady knew what she was doing looking for a power bank for her phone. He was very dismissive. My French isn’t good enough to ask technical questions, so I bought the thing he recommended. Then, reading about it, I went to customer service and they were fantastic! Super helpful. Found someone knowledgeable who spoke English. Agreed I had been sold the wrong thing. Told someone what to get me instead and then let me back to the front of the line, processed the exchange and refunded my balance. Took less than 10 minutes and it was really a delightful experience! It can happen, people!
17:43 Hey Rosie, about the coin in the grocery trolley, it has nothing to do with theft. You forgot to specify that to retrieve the trolley you must have it connected to another one and this forces people to bring the trolleys back to reserved spaces to store them in the parking lot of the grocery store, for example. This saves an employee from doing so. I'm old enough to have witnessed the introduction of this mechanism in the 80's. Before that, you had carts wandering all over the parking lots, hitting cars in their path and employees reassembling and pushing dozens of them all nested together to put them back near the grocery store entrance...
@@karima_MK yes but the coin doesn't prevent the use of trolleys to carry the goods of homeless people for example. It's also something we can see in many American movies, like a trick to easily depict poor suburbs while in France it's rarely used in such way.
I live in France and from the UK, I hate air conditioning. In the summer you dress to be cool then you get a massive shock going into a shop with AC. Horrible. I’d rather be hot. I use a fan sometimes, manual or electric. I use a mosquito net around mybed.
That coin for the shopping cart is a thing in the UK too. You need to insert a pound to release the chain. It's not for theft of carts, it's a way to force ppl to return the cart to it's place. The only way to get your pound back is to clip the chain back in. So obviously eveyone want their pound back so the trollies are always back to their line. I think it's a brilliant thing.
Here in Australia we have the trolley coin thing at Aldi and Costco. I think it’s more to encourage the return of the trolley to the bay than a preventative against theft.
Hello ! I'm French and I wanted to be reassuring: for the first part of my life, I was like you. I couldn't eat anything coming from the sea. The smell was not possible for me. And people were curious about it but they got used to it quickly. I slowly started to eat fish when I stopped eating meat. But don't worry, I know at least three persons who don't like fish. You are not alone! ;)
Really interesting video! I'm in England, and our front door handle has to be lifted up before you can turn the key to lock the door. A number of supermarkets (but definitely not all) need a pound or a token to free up a trolley.
Hi Rosie! Bienvenue en France ! Air conditioning is more common in the south of France. I have lived in Marseille for 3 years and the first thing we did when we bought our apartment was to install the air conditioning. I think that beyond the ecological aspect, air conditioning is not necessary in regions where it is very hot only a few weeks in the year. In addition, in many historic towns, there is a town planning regulation that prohibits defacing the exterior appearance of old buildings with air conditioning units. Enjoy your stay in France!
Salut -- we have an apartment in Paris, and another one in Narbonne (Languedoc, maintenant l'Occitanie), and when we purchased our apartments, neither had air-conditioning. In Narbonne also, "there is a town planning regulation that prohibits defacing the exterior appearance of old buildings with air conditioning unit," but luckily the "rebord" (windowsill) of our kitchen window was deep enough that we were able to install the outflow unit there. In Paris, of course, c'est pas possible. We've been known to travel from Paris to Narbonne during a canicule, just so we can sleep at night. (Yes, I have totally observed the French abhorrence of drafts (draughts)! Having grown up in Florida, I LOVE fans, and have never gotten sick from a "courant d'air" ;-)
Bonjour Rosie, The trolley thing, we have that in Australia as well, you have to put in a coin or a token, I don’t think it’s to prevent theft so much as to make people return the trolley to the designated bays, instead of leaving them haphazardly around the carpark, where they can cause damage to people and other vehicles.
Is it recent that you have those in Australia ? I spent 2 years in Oz back in 2015-2017 and I don't remember this but employees collecting the trolleys (or was it New Zealand ? 🤔)
Strange - My experience with French people (well, mostly Parisians) is that they are VERY helpful. Sure, you need to make the effort and speak as much French as you possibly can, and the will certainly complain about it - but they'll help. In the UK, in contrast, they will apologies countless times, but will not lift a finger.
The service people and customer is always wrong. 10 years on and I am still not used to it, not really. "C'est pas possible!" I said it out-loud before you did, knowing what you were going to say in advance. "Si, c'est possible" BECAUSE IT JUST HAPPENED. Endless negotiation and condescension. They've gotten a bit better, but this approach is pretty ingrained, it seems. What a relief to hear you identify these things that we become accustomed to without wanting to, really. I love life in France and have no serious plans to return to the States, but you are absolutely spot on. Thank you!
That's amazing -- I lived in Paris for 20 years before ever setting foot in a Picard. As an American from the "foodie-conscious" San Francisco Bay Area, I of course turned up my nose at the idea of frozen food. But when a French friend interrogated me, I admited that we had did have frozen items from Monoprix (spinach, frozen fish, and a few other items) in our freezer, and so she said, "Tu fais alors Picard-Monoprix !" And then a Parisian friend, a very good cook, explained to me that she didn't make pommes frites from scratch (as I had assumed); she purchased them at Picard. So I finally stepped into our local Picard, and the "French fries" turned out to be very good! They required almost no oil to heat up, either.
I started watching your videos religiously when i first visited paris, and long story short I live here now and im eternally grateful for you and your content! I actually just moved here a week ago and its been great!
Late last year my husband and I booked a last-minute Airbnb in London and it ended up being on the same street where I used to live, just a few doors down. I totally relate to your nostalgia!
On the fruit peeling, most of french people will just eat the fruit with the skin (even potatoes), you met the small percentage who peel 😉 The trolley coins are not against stealing, but so that people do not leave the trolleys anywhere and put them back with the others. And regarding AC, beside the environmental thing (imagine if the whole world was using it all year long as anglo saxons (except the British) do... 😜), it's mostly because we would only need it one or two months per year, so we have no need for it compared to its cost. Most of french houses have electric fans and it does the job.
Who are you referring to as Anglo Saxons out of interest? Because as a British person I can tell you only the large supermarkets and office blocks in the cities have air con. We don’t have air con in most of our homes and we definitely suffered in the heatwave. Pretty similar to the rest of Europe. If you are referring to Americans then maybe saying Anglo Saxons is the wrong word as that would imply large areas of Northern Europe.
@@NotEvenFrench have to be honest I would have killed for some air con last week it was so hot. But there’s no point for a few days a year. I love New Zealand it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been 😍
It’s not because people steal the trolley!!! It’s used to discourage you -- not to leave it in the middle of the road or just in the parking next to where your car was before you loaded the stuff….
Love this video! I'm a retired teacher in Canada who is planning on travelling to France for at least 3 months next year ( or longer, if I can figure that out) so your observations are interesting and helpful. Especially the issue about air conditioning - holy smokes, I had no idea that French people were so adverse to A/C! I've had mine on all summer ( in Canada, no less!) - I'll definitely have to travel there in the winter😉Btw: we have those coin-trolleys here as well in some grocery stores. I always assumed it's because people do take them - I've seen stranded trolleys in areas away from the store.
When i first followed your channel i never thought id get to live in France, but as of October, i will be! And im so excited. Thank you for the videos.
hello rosie, welcome back to france ! I'm also French and I think that for the air conditioning it's like you mentioned because we risk getting sick. but it's also because using it too much is bad for the environment and the planet (global warming etc) the French are trying to impact the planet a little less and we find other solutions to cool down . it's better to think of everyone. :)
So nice to see you are back in France :) The trolley thing is more for bringing it back in place after use, not to leave it somewhere at the parking lot
I’m wondering if the air thing is also a European thing in general. Growing up Mum never liked having air currents through the house either. I was born in Eastern Europe but moved to Australia at the age of 3 and the heat here in summer is intense too. Also, the bread in the milk is common in other European cultures too.
The fruit washing thing may be a new thing? I don’t get the peeling of the fruit thing as being cleaner since the chemicals are absorbed wholly by the entire plant. I do wash my produce in soapy water since contamination is a real thing and I don’t know who or what came in contact with it. A touch of apple cider vinegar in the soapy water is also great.
Hi Rosie! Love your videos ☺️ We’re Kiwis ( hubby was UK!) back in our wee house in SE just up from Spanish border. I don’t speak much French (but hubby does )and apart from “ stuff” like the banque etc taking forever, we find service people to be very friendly….just got a new fridge and they had to take the front door off in the heat, …no problem, picking plants up from the market, parking in the wrong place….police were brisk but amused!! The door handle thing is also in the UK….had trouble locking my cousin’s front door🤣and same with shopping trolleys. The heat has been the undoing of my dignity when in my bid to make conversation with our local patron at the bar, when asked how I was I replied “Je suis chaud” 😱I will never live this down….Lingoda here I come 🤣 Enjoy your time back in your other home. Keep up the good work ☺️
Hi Elizabeth, the "je suis chaude" thing reminded me of one of my former British pupils , a charming expat lady. She was having workmen inside the house she'd just purchased here in the south of France, and when she came in one day from errands exclaiming : "oh, je suis chaude", they were appalled. They said : " Oh, Madame, vous ne devez JAMAIS dire ça !". She was puzzled. She asked me and when I told her she'd been saying :" I'm horny", she blushed all over ! And never forgot to say : j'ai chaud instead.
Hi 😊 Just a small precision regarding the signs about not throwing cigaret butts and reducing speed: it's because of the heat wave - IE higher risks of fires and pollution. It's not all year long, nor everywhere in France! Thanks for your videos, always fun to watch as a french person (and btw I live abroad and I'm sick all summer long because of AC 😅)
So excited to try picards!!! When i worked as a travel agent in oz its was a great tool in helping people be more appreciative of services with management of expectations If you start with really low expectations your always going to be happier when your upgraded, have a shorter travel time, less layover is thats your preference , cheaper, more inclusions, better hotel Thanks Rosie 😊
'Do you know what else makes you sick? HeAtStRoKe!!' I laughed really hard at that. Sooo true. Maybe that's why they say 'no' so much. Their noggins are melting and their social circuits have tripped a breaker.
Great video! 🤗❤️ Although, I’m with the French haha - can’t relate to the seafood part. It’s my biggest guilty pleasure and a reason I can’t fully go veggie yet and stick to being a pesceterian. Days with fish / seafood are such a treat 😋🤪
*18:20** When we paid in Francs, you had to put a 10Fr coin, which represented 1,5€, but in the 90's it represented more than 1,5€. Who would like to let 2 or 3 € in a trolley ??? not 50cts...*
I relate way too much with the door handle story. On my first visa for France, I arrived to the Airbnb after like 18 hours of travel and I was exhausted. I couldn't figure out how to lock the door and I was freaking out. I was frantically messaging the Airbnb host. I finally looked on RUclips and figured out I needed to pull the handle up. It was such a stressful moment. My goodness.
The trolley thing is more so people can bring them back to the right place instead of just leaving them everywhere on the carpark or on the streets.. like we can see often in New Zealand. :)
You can get the clicker thing for itchy bites in NZ too. I think my friend bought one at a DOC office once. They work really well. Apparently, it is a little electric current which gives you a little shock and the current disrupts the protein or something in the bite so it stops being itchy.
Hey Rosie, happy for you that you're back! Yes it has been a very intense month here and not being able to sleep for several weeks, I don't know how I got any work done ... 😓🥵 What you're saying about AC is very surprising to me. Our neighbors blocked half a window to be able to install an A/C, my French acquaintances said they only survived because of the A/C, with everyone who doesn't have one I've just been talking about how we try to survive, at home we always open all the windows at night because otherwise we die ... I've never heard anyone speaking against AC, but maybe people in Haute-Garonne are just suffering enough from the heat 😅 I love Picard as well!
Aldi stores (grocery stores) here in the U.S. lock their carts up and we use a quarter to use them, getting it back when you return it and lock it back up.
Interesting… living in the states (born in Europe) the A/C can be way too cold. I prefer to keep it very light but usually just take the heat. If it’s too hot to handle then I add a fan and take extra showers to cool off. If out, I do like to cool off in shops but hate staying for to long. If I am in the car with someone blasting the AC I always turn it down if it gets too cold (hate it blowing in my face) and balance the airflow by cracking a window open when going slow enough. Of course if there is a meeting or something I prefer not to arrive all sweaty and enjoy the occasional cool down in my own car but generally can live without the Ac. I save money in the summer on my electric bill and it’s high in winter because I cannot stand feeling cold. Though I am also learning to balance my body temperature by wearing sweaters and such like they do on the Nordic countries. To also not change the room temperature too much from the outside temperature.
Interesting video, it makes me miss France. The trolly coin and the lifting door handle up are here in Ireland too. We also have a supermarket called “Iceland” which sells frozen food (but defo not super high quality) and my Danish ex couldn’t wrap his head around it. It was so funny
I don’t get the service thing. Never had a really bad experience. Been to Canada for a few months and the service was on the same level except with a layer of hypocrisy.
I always thought that the coin in the supermarket trolley was to ensure that they would not be scattered around the car park. Here in the US (Michigan) there are cart corrals where you *should* put your shopping cart when you are finished. Many people tend to leave the cart out in the open, where it could be an impedance to a parking space, or worse yet, end up hitting your car. Aldi is, of course, the exception.
I grew up always being told never to sit in a draught (pronounced draft). I guess that would be my translation of courant d’air. Older people tended to be obsessed with draughts.
Same here. Watch you don't get a draught on your neck was a common thing to here. Im in UK, if I have my small fan on for any length of time I get a sore throat, its circulating the air in the room, doesn't really cool it down.
@@tulipwindmill So odd... growing up in Central Florida, our first house (until I was nine) didn't have air conditioning, and I fell asleep with a fan in the room every warm night from basicaly birth to 9 years old. Never had a sore throat as a result. Maybe it depends on how humid and hot the air is?
It's not about trolley's thives, it was about putting your trolley where you found it. Not all over the parking lot as it was before. Incredibly, it works!
Wow wow We make courant d’air all the time when it’s hot! (If you have the luck to have an Appartement on two sides). But beware if the night gets cold… sleeping in a courant d’air might get you sick!
Ice Cubes... From visiting friends in the MidWest in America. Mosquito bite solution, simply ice cubes. Put the cube directly on the bite. You can go out and enjoy the evening and the lightening bugs, you'll pay for it. So... Make sure there's ice in the fridge!
The trolley thieving comment made me laugh because here in Australia it’s still going on and people abandon them in random places 😂. As a French person it reminds me of France when I was a toddler 🤣
Welcome back, Rosie! Loved the vid. I'm French but can totally relate to some of these. I hate cheese (argh!) and after YEARS, my in-laws still seem shocked every time this comes up ("Tu veux du fromage ? Ah, oui c'est vrai. Même pas du comté ??"). Also, yes, A/C isn't in our culture and is bad for the environment - so is heating, though! -, but I admit I'd love for it to be blasted in the subway when it's 34°C+. The Paris metro in a heatwave = pure hell, what with people fainting and causing more issues. ps. Picard is life!
I love that -- même pas du comté ? That must be their favorite cheese, as it is mine. Plus, it's not a runny or "stinky" cheese, and so they're hoping that you'll give in....
I’m swiss and live with a French man! I have to say, I also noticed that they spend a lot of time eating and it’s driving me crazy 😅. Who has time for that? But it’s also beautiful and a lesson on life, time and family ❤️. About the signs, I have to say this is quite new since there have been a lot of fires in these recent years. Before that, you would see messages or “jeux de mots” about texting and driving, about drinking and driving and way before that, it was about the seatbelt. But it’s a good thing they’re reminding people about the effects of cigarettes thrown out the window… I also have to say that heat waves have become more frequent and more intense and I wouldn’t be surprised if those habits were to change in the future. We bought a fan this summer for example. Same with mosquitos, we didn’t use to have so many (even in the south of France where I go frequently to visit family). I love your videos because you notice things very clearly and help me understand why slight differences between Switzerland and France can be unsettling, even if you don’t acknowledge of notice them.
BEST day of my life in Sweden.. . .when the local grocery store got Picard croissants. ahhhhhhhhh so nice. When it comes to the grocery trollies we have that here in Sweden as well and it's not so that people won't steal them, it's so that they put them back where they belong. . ..which was a REAL issue in the States but people would be irate if you implemented the same system there.
I live just south of Paris in an apartment that faces south with almost no obstruction in front of it, and even with the volets rolled down almost all the way and fans on, during the heatwave I was dying, I ended up filling the tub with cold water and periodically taking plunges in it then standing in front of a fan to cool down or putting ice packs on my feet. I couldn't do anything I was so miserable. I told my partner, demanded actually, that we at least get a portable AC unit next year. I don't care about the excuses about why an AC is bad, you don't have to set it very high, and if in the end you can function without turning into a wild animal trying to find relief or you can't get any sleep because you're over heating, I think a little bit is worth it. Plus most French would agree with me that it should be required where elderly or those with comorbidities live.
Also, we ended up going to a friends' place for a weekend afternoon during the heatwave, they live on the too floor of a older building, maybe 150 year old building, that faces south with no obstructions, when my partner asked me if I wanted to go I was like "hell nah, not in this weather", and my partner tried to convince me ghat maybe they'd have fans or something, they didn't, maybe opened only one or 2 windows, my feet and hands swelled up (mixer of heat with salty apero and only one glass of wine), but I held it together and tried not to complain, but when we got home my partner admitted that the weather conditions were not good at all and that he suffered while there too.
I washed my clothes during the heatwave and I tried that technique your friends mentioned, lol, omg, never again, it made the air feel like a swamp, more hot and super muggy and made it difficult to breathe, never again, lol
My partner says he rarely ever has a bad experience with service here in France, and the first time I witnessed it I realized why, he charms the heck out of them before they even have a chance to be rude and it throws them off and they smile right away, lol, it's truly a gift, it's never flirtatious or creepy, I don't know how to describe it, and it works with any gender, I hate talking to people I don't know and am a bit introverted, but man, when he does it it's a sight to behold, lol
In the US a few grocery stores, like ALDI, use the coin system so that people will return the cart to the station. It also keeps employees from constantly going out to collect carts for customers to use. I think that here it’s more so due to laziness, safety, and convenience for the next customer rather than cart theft.
Hello. I'm french and I like to explain about the use of a coin to use a shopping cart. Before we had to use a coin, there were shopping carts left everywhere on the parking lots. When I was little, You couldn't drive around or park whithout having to stop the car, get out of the car, and push the cart out of the way multiple times before finally be able to park. French are not disciplined !!! The coin use was the only way to force people to put the cart back in the cart erea, and at that time you had to use a real coin of 10 francs (which was a lot, the equivalent of 5 euros nowadays ) so everyone wanted to get that coin back. Today it feels natural to put back the cart away even whithout the use of a coin ...By the way, I love your accent when you speak english 😁 even it's sometimes hard for me to understand as I'm more used to americain accent.
Hey, Aussie here, justw anted to say the trolley think is in Australia too. But I think its not to stop them getting stolen - its to encourage people to leave them in the right spot (like back in the trolley bay / inside the shop) so they dont have to spend time racing around collecting trolleys from all over the car park
The coin in the trolley is not because people might steal it. It's so that people will bring the trolley back to the place where they are stored (where you got it) instead of leaving them anywhere and then staff have to spend time collecting trolleys. Welcome back!
Hahah living in Serbia and Croatia and draughts are a real thing. Not more than one window open at a time, if that. At the very least you'll get a bad neck/back, at the worst it will be the flu. Also colds come from having wet hair.
Could you please consider Listing your main points so that a viewer can easily follow the topics/points you are trying to make? Clarity and brevity not absolutely necessary if at least an outline is provided. Thank you.🌹
Medieval thinking. Yes the Germans hate the air currents too. they think the air is going to kill them. but what I have to say about the body temperature differences doesn't make sense because you wear a heavy coat in the winter to go outside when it's cold and everybody keeps their coats on when they're shopping and yet the stores are heated and warm. I take my coat off when I go inside a heated area, even if it's just a grocery store because I feel the difference and it makes me sick. I do the same with the air conditioning. you don't have to set the air conditioning down to 15° you can set it for a nice low 22 or 23 and especially since in Europe the air conditioners are set up high on the walls, it's not really blowing directly on you. so I say get over it. it's all in your head. I remember in Germany as a child we were told if you left your lower back uncovered, you would get sick. everybody runs around in crop tops now; nobody dies.
Canadian here :) My French bf never had ac his whole life until we moved to Spain and had ac in our apartment. He can’t live without it now 🤣 For me coming from Canada I always had ac in our home. Since moving back to the south of France we talked our landlady into buying us a portable ac system this summer. I can’t be hot 24/7. We work from home so impossible to focus while wanting to pass out from heat. Nice to see you back 😊
OMG the courants d'air....my French partner and I recently came across a bird in a cage sitting on a window sill in the street (the owner just put him out to get some fresh air), and he was WORRIED FOR THE BIRD BECAUSE AIR CURRENTS COULD MAKE HIM SICK. A freaking BIRD!!
Hi Rosie! Love your channel! Here in the states, we have the shopping carts with the chain at one of the grocery store chains - aldi. A quarter has to be put in to get the cart. I believe it’s so guests have to put the cart back instead of leaving it in the parking lot which happens so much.
Have you seen the prices at Picard since you arrived? I didn't leave France, but I had the shock of my life, everything shot up. The things I used to buy there are 20% more expensive nowadays.
Hi, I'm French, I don't think air conditioning will make me sick, I'm just being environmentally friendly. I also prefer having no AC because the watertight windows situation needed for AC makes me claustrophobic. Hate mosquitoes, though!
I am french too and that one thing my mother used to tell me :-) about air conditioning
The coin in the supermarket trolley has existed since the 1980s, before that many people once loaded their shopping into their vehicle leave it there instead of putting it back in the planned location sometimes even just behind the car next to theirs. When the store closed in the evening, employees had to collect the carts. the supermarkets were fed up, they invented this consignment system
Laziness
As a foreigner living in France I still forget the coin sometimes and get very annoyed, HOWEVER I think this is a great way of making people develop new habits.
I grew up in a country where to this day people leave the trolleys anywhere in the parking lot and supermarket employees collect them from time to time and I’m ashamed to say that I only noticed how messed up this is after living abroad…
In the US stores often have specific “corrals” spaced throughout the parking lot For customers to leave their carts. Then periodically a store employee makes a big line of carts and pushes them back to the store.
In some cases, where people did use the carts To take the groceries home, governors have been put on the carts so that if you try to move them past a certain point, the wheels lock.
@@NotEvenFrench No, the good question is : "why should I take this trolley back, 40 meters from my car?"
When I first moved to the Washington DC area, they had come up with an even worse solution. They put pylons around the front sidewalk of the store so that trolleys cannot be taken into the parking lot *at all*. This basically forced everyone to leave their full carts near the front door, go to their car, drive it to the front of the store, and load it from there. As you can imagine, when the store is busy, finding a spot to load near the front door was an absolute nightmare and the punchline is that people who never put their carts in the corral in the parking lot also don't return them to the trolley queue in front of the store either so you would have to slalom around loose carts when you left the store also. Fortunately, over the years, enough people have complained that the pylons have since been removed from all the stores that had them, at least in more suburban areas.
The AC thing is accurate though. I’ve travelled several time to the US during summer and the AC there is soooo cold compared to the outside heat that I got sick for a few days every-single-time (Sore throat and running nose). The AC itself (or air draughts) isn’t the problem, it’s the difference of temperature between outside and inside that your body can’t cope with. Especially if you’re not used to it. In France AC isn’t popular and when it’s used, it’s not freezing.
Where I live it's not uncommon for there to be as much as a 17°C (30° F) difference between the outside temp and the inside AC temp. Over 40 years experience with cold AC, and I've never gotten sick from it. Every time I hear people say they get sick from the AC, I wonder if it's just a bug that was picked up from traveling to a new place. I am, however, very sensitive to being too hot. That will make me feel sick, if I cannot cool down.
I remember when I first moved to the US, I had to literally run in and out of the supermarket as fast as possible because the AC gave me goosebumps - I was shivering and my teeth were almost chattering! :D
sometimes it's poor servicing (you need to service AC units once a year). If left without the yearly service check they can be harmful because the recycle pollutants and bacteria back into the air.
I'm American but I set my AC to 82 and turn the ceiling fans on, and I have survived 100F+ temperatures without AC, but did use lots of fans! I hate that so many places like malls, cinemas, and other shops just blast the AC to death! It's a waste of money and bad for the environment, it doesn't need to be lower than 78, our bodies will adjust!
I'm American, and maybe it's because I'm skinny or something, but I've always hated how cold homes and shopping centers are. Now that I live in Japan, the LOWEST I have my AC is 25°C, about 75°F. But that's because the difference in humidity is so shocking. If I had it any lower, I'd probably get sick when leaving my home. My hometown was fairly dry, so having really cold AC was not quite as shocking to my body
hey there, i may add that the french practices around air conditionning and "courants d'air" are based on the somewhat accurate assumption that going from hot places to cold places, several times in the day, or blowing the hot dry air could make you sick from throat infection like angina or rhino-pharyngitis. Same relation to courants d'air in the fall and winter. I think i can say that most french would call this kind of sickness "la crève" (vernacular, familiar word). Welcome back in France, take care ;)
Sure…..🥵
My grandma (French) hated the Aircon or when there were courants d'air and you didn't have something warmer on . She always said "Tu vas attraper la crève!!!"
@@NotEvenFrench Very true! Also: sitting in a closed room with someone with a virus will ENSURE that you will get sick from their germs. If you have courants d'air then their icky virus breath is blown OUT of the room. That goes for any virus I'm not bringing up anything controversial 😬. In my family (I can't speak for all of the USA) you would constantly hear, "It is stuffy in here". "It's very close in here." "Can we open a window or two?" And we HAD to have cross ventilation with a window across from another window, whether in the same room or through the whole house, open so that the air would be freshened by the outside air flowing through the house. Maybe it comes from Paris in the 17th century when the air wasn't very fresh that came in the window? It was all sewer and horse droppings....?
The aversion to air flow is very common in older cultures. In Chinese medicine, “wind” disrupts blood flow and circulation and is believed to cause pain, arthritis, headaches and even mild paralysis ( even in western medical textbooks Bell’s Palsy can be caused by driving in a convertible!). It’s all about balance but as you said, extreme heat also disrupts our health as well! The other part is that in the summer going quickly from heat to cold (AC) is too abrupt for our immune systems. It’s similar to telling your child to wear a hat in winter to avoid getting a “chill”. Ever wondered why we call it a “cold”? The English speaking world used to have similar ideas about temperatures and the effect that it has on our immune systems.
In Chinese cuisine, people ALL dishes
even hot weather or climate leng pan
( color dishes or plates) that are 1st cooked,.then refrigerated..This follows
basic medical + ontological theories, here, the yin yang theory including
cold + hot.
The problem with air conditioning is also that it's very bad for environment. And as for me, I have difficulties to breathe when AC is high. But I love fans, I even sleep with them because the noise relaxes me.
The coin thing for the shopping carts 🛒 is the same here in the USA at stores like Aldi’s. It’s mostly about having people return the carts so they don’t have the pay someone to collect the carts. The stores that have these policies tend to have carts that stay nice.
They stay nice? Lol come to Europe, they are def not nice and every market has those carts
Aldi's is a German company! So that might explain it.
I've grown up in the U.S. and have never seen that "coin-in-the-trolley" -- it seems to be a "Super-U" thing, though. As well, I've lived in Paris for 22 years, and have never seen it, either... only when visiting friends in the countryside.
They've had those trolleycoin things in the UK for years. I think it's to try discouraging idiots from dumping trolleys in canal after they're done with them. Apparently it used to be a surprisingly common practice 🙄.
@@ct196eu I can understand leaving trolleys in the parking lot, but why would people dump them in a canal? Was this happening all over, or just in a particular place where the lot was alongside a canal?
@@LauraMorland I have heard trolley are good are for bbq
By the way, I don't know if you ever watch Justine Leconte, but she just posted a video about her culture shocks coming back to live in France after living in Germany for years, and one of the things she mentioned was also the food, not just the eating, but the prep, the discussions both before and after, and just how much time people spend talking about it. 😄
@@NotEvenFrench 😂😂
I grew up in a Francophile household and remembering how bored to tears I was with all the food talk. I think it helped them relate without ever talking about anything personal. One could have differences, complain and go on and on and on and think it was meaningful.
You just reminded me.
I remember how amazed I was that other families actually had conversations at dinner.
Now that I am moving to France and remembering this I think it’s something I really dread. Does not interest me at all but then maybe I’ll adjust. I hope so!
Strategy : open your windows during the night to bring fresh air and cool your entire appartement, and close them during the day. Avoid air current during the hottest hours because it will bring hot air inside your appartement. You can also partially close your shutters to avoid direct sunlight on your window glasses and greenhouse effect.
Yes, that's pretty much exactly the advice I give to people staying in our Paris apartment when we're away. I had to write a new page to my instructions; the title is: "How to Survive the Heat in Paris -- Use The Shutters!"
I live in England but my family are from Galicia in Spain and I could definitely relate to the issue of air currents/draughts. My grandparents were absolutely convinced that if there was a draught running through the house we would get ill and indeed if we came down with a cold we would be told it was probably because we were sitting in a 'corriente'. Also the peeling of fruit is totally relatable. My whole family eat apples, pears etc with a knife, peeling off the skin then eating the fruit.
The door handle thing is something we have here in the UK. Our patio doors (aka french doors) have a handle that has to be pulled up to lock. The trolley thing has been around here for quite a while too for the reasons others in the comments have pointed out. I'm guessing that people in New Zealand are a more considerate lot who return their trolleys when finished, which is really rather lovely.
Not everyone is against fans, daughts, and A/C in France. I live in southern France and have been thinking about getting A/C for a while, but in addition to the cost (installation + extra electricity), I've been told it makes our cities even hotter than they are because of the very hot air they blow outside... Not to mention there is some gaz inside that's not environmentally friendly. So I'm rethinking my idea... I use fans and open the windows at night though, unlike your in-laws LOL
edit: ideally, it seems adding trees and plants in cities (instead of having concreate, stones and tar everywhere) would be a better option, but it's not that easy to re-introduce nature in our cities sadly.
Same thing here, AC is terrible for the environment and it's quite ironic to fight heat by making the climate hotter. Fans and open windows are doing fine, in addition to closing all the shutters by day.
Same thing here, AC is terrible for the environment and it's quite ironic to fight heat by making the climate hotter. Fans and open windows are doing fine, in addition to closing all the shutters by day.
C'est pas qu'on "aime" dire Non, c'est souvent une règle du boulot qui nous dit que "faire X" n'est pas autorisé, même si on sait qu'on peut techniquement le faire. Du coup, on est censé dire Non, mais si on voit que la personne est sympa (ou dans une situation désespérée), on peut exceptionnellement contourner les règles. Enfin moi c'est mon quotidien, je dois dire Non à plein de gens dans mon boulot, et pourtant en fonction de la situation, ça peut devenir un Oui.
J'entends souvent cette critique de la part d'étrangers venus vivre en France, et ça me laisse un peu perplexe ; du coup ça se passe comment dans le reste du Monde ? Les gens disent Oui à tout ? Il y a forcément des règles qui imposent de refuser parfois, non ? Ou alors la différence c'est qu'un Non est un Non définitif, sans exception possible ?
Bouarf... perso je partage son avis, tout est souvent compliqué et inutilement refusé pour pas grand chose. Mais c'est effectivement pas tant la faute des employés que des patrons en règle générale (quoique certains ne font aucun effort même quand la situation est désespérée comme tu dis, juste parce qu'ils suivent bêtement les règles).
Entre Laposte, les opérateurs téléphoniques, les fournisseurs d'énergie et j'en passe, c'est un combat permanent pour TOUT et c'est vraiment fatiguant à force
Ça m'étonne, je ne savais pas que c'était commun! Je viens du Québec et ici (du moins de mon vécu), en général, c'est normal de faire tout en notre possible pour aider/satisfaire la clientèle (c'est d'ailleurs ce que les entreprises encouragent et attendent de leurs employés; on dit oui et on prend la responsabilité pour le problème même s'il ne nous concerne pas directement, sauf si c'est vraiment déraisonnable). En même temps, la culture hiérarchique au travail est relativement lousse, ce qui donne pas mal de liberté dans la prise de décision et la résolution de problème. Je pense que c'est surtout influencé par la culture du >
You seem quite happy to be back in France and sharing your quirky experiences. I loved this video discussion.
*I know lots of people who don't like sleeping with a fan but they complain they can't sleep because of the heat... I can't sleep without a fan if it's more than 25°C because I'll wake up all wet ! I love A/C !!!*
Hi, I live in Seattle where we get a lot of cold, gray, and rainy days. I was in the south of France for three months studying French and returned at the end of June. My classroom in Nice was regularly 28 degrees and when I would ask about climatisation the instructor and others would express shock that I was hot. One day the instructor agreed to set the climat to 27 but complained je gele, je gele several times during class and the climat was never turned on again. Because of the climate where I live, I almost never need heat and I was a bit frustrated that no one had any empathy for someone being from a different climate.
Hi there, as a French from the north west of France were the climate is much more great britain alike I suffer too from the legend that you have to endure heat, that it is easy to handle … the city of Nice is not at all reprentative of the French climate and of the french culture, this is a mediteranean city when France is rather of a west/Northen Europe culture and has a very moderate climate where 28 stops or impacts a normal day. In the south with the heat you are used to hide in you houses during hot hours when in the rest of the 3/4 of France are used to get out, work , make some sport at any time of the day outside…
I am a kiwi guy whom has married a French woman. We currently live in New Zealand but will move to France one day soon. I guess I’m gonna find this stuff out for myself pretty soon.
I was shopping in FNAC in Nîmes in the electronics department and had a mixed but relatively good experience with customer service.
The negative part was the young salesman didn’t think this old lady knew what she was doing looking for a power bank for her phone. He was very dismissive. My French isn’t good enough to ask technical questions, so I bought the thing he recommended.
Then, reading about it, I went to customer service and they were fantastic! Super helpful. Found someone knowledgeable who spoke English. Agreed I had been sold the wrong thing. Told someone what to get me instead and then let me back to the front of the line, processed the exchange and refunded my balance. Took less than 10 minutes and it was really a delightful experience!
It can happen, people!
17:43 Hey Rosie, about the coin in the grocery trolley, it has nothing to do with theft. You forgot to specify that to retrieve the trolley you must have it connected to another one and this forces people to bring the trolleys back to reserved spaces to store them in the parking lot of the grocery store, for example. This saves an employee from doing so. I'm old enough to have witnessed the introduction of this mechanism in the 80's. Before that, you had carts wandering all over the parking lots, hitting cars in their path and employees reassembling and pushing dozens of them all nested together to put them back near the grocery store entrance...
True. Because in Canada I see this trolley everywhere in the streets.
@@karima_MK yes but the coin doesn't prevent the use of trolleys to carry the goods of homeless people for example. It's also something we can see in many American movies, like a trick to easily depict poor suburbs while in France it's rarely used in such way.
@@BertrandNelson-Paris it just spread trash.
@@karima_MKYup! Indeed, scattering trash from errant grocery trolleys 🛒 is a side effect.
@@NotEvenFrench Lazyness. Lack of respect. Pas le temps...
I live in France and from the UK, I hate air conditioning. In the summer you dress to be cool then you get a massive shock going into a shop with AC. Horrible. I’d rather be hot. I use a fan sometimes, manual or electric. I use a mosquito net around mybed.
That coin for the shopping cart is a thing in the UK too. You need to insert a pound to release the chain. It's not for theft of carts, it's a way to force ppl to return the cart to it's place. The only way to get your pound back is to clip the chain back in. So obviously eveyone want their pound back so the trollies are always back to their line. I think it's a brilliant thing.
Here in Australia we have the trolley coin thing at Aldi and Costco. I think it’s more to encourage the return of the trolley to the bay than a preventative against theft.
Hello ! I'm French and I wanted to be reassuring: for the first part of my life, I was like you. I couldn't eat anything coming from the sea. The smell was not possible for me. And people were curious about it but they got used to it quickly. I slowly started to eat fish when I stopped eating meat. But don't worry, I know at least three persons who don't like fish. You are not alone! ;)
Really interesting video! I'm in England, and our front door handle has to be lifted up before you can turn the key to lock the door. A number of supermarkets (but definitely not all) need a pound or a token to free up a trolley.
PS Is the right-hand side of the screen a fixed photograph? I noticed your hand disappearing every now and then 😆!
Hi Rosie! Bienvenue en France !
Air conditioning is more common in the south of France. I have lived in Marseille for 3 years and the first thing we did when we bought our apartment was to install the air conditioning. I think that beyond the ecological aspect, air conditioning is not necessary in regions where it is very hot only a few weeks in the year. In addition, in many historic towns, there is a town planning regulation that prohibits defacing the exterior appearance of old buildings with air conditioning units.
Enjoy your stay in France!
Salut -- we have an apartment in Paris, and another one in Narbonne (Languedoc, maintenant l'Occitanie), and when we purchased our apartments, neither had air-conditioning. In Narbonne also, "there is a town planning regulation that prohibits defacing the exterior appearance of old buildings with air conditioning unit," but luckily the "rebord" (windowsill) of our kitchen window was deep enough that we were able to install the outflow unit there.
In Paris, of course, c'est pas possible. We've been known to travel from Paris to Narbonne during a canicule, just so we can sleep at night.
(Yes, I have totally observed the French abhorrence of drafts (draughts)! Having grown up in Florida, I LOVE fans, and have never gotten sick from a "courant d'air" ;-)
great vid, the trolly coin is to encourage people to return it and not leave it in the street. not so much steal
Bonjour Rosie,
The trolley thing, we have that in Australia as well, you have to put in a coin or a token, I don’t think it’s to prevent theft so much as to make people return the trolley to the designated bays, instead of leaving them haphazardly around the carpark, where they can cause damage to people and other vehicles.
Is it recent that you have those in Australia ? I spent 2 years in Oz back in 2015-2017 and I don't remember this but employees collecting the trolleys (or was it New Zealand ? 🤔)
Strange -
My experience with French people (well, mostly Parisians) is that they are VERY helpful. Sure, you need to make the effort and speak as much French as you possibly can, and the will certainly complain about it - but they'll help.
In the UK, in contrast, they will apologies countless times, but will not lift a finger.
The service people and customer is always wrong. 10 years on and I am still not used to it, not really. "C'est pas possible!" I said it out-loud before you did, knowing what you were going to say in advance. "Si, c'est possible" BECAUSE IT JUST HAPPENED. Endless negotiation and condescension. They've gotten a bit better, but this approach is pretty ingrained, it seems. What a relief to hear you identify these things that we become accustomed to without wanting to, really. I love life in France and have no serious plans to return to the States, but you are absolutely spot on. Thank you!
As an American living in France for 13 years I agree with all of this! Picard is amazing 🙌
And in the same area, you have Thiriet too. They made excellent products too 👍🏻😉
That's amazing -- I lived in Paris for 20 years before ever setting foot in a Picard. As an American from the "foodie-conscious" San Francisco Bay Area, I of course turned up my nose at the idea of frozen food. But when a French friend interrogated me, I admited that we had did have frozen items from Monoprix (spinach, frozen fish, and a few other items) in our freezer, and so she said, "Tu fais alors Picard-Monoprix !"
And then a Parisian friend, a very good cook, explained to me that she didn't make pommes frites from scratch (as I had assumed); she purchased them at Picard. So I finally stepped into our local Picard, and the "French fries" turned out to be very good! They required almost no oil to heat up, either.
I started watching your videos religiously when i first visited paris, and long story short I live here now and im eternally grateful for you and your content! I actually just moved here a week ago and its been great!
Late last year my husband and I booked a last-minute Airbnb in London and it ended up being on the same street where I used to live, just a few doors down. I totally relate to your nostalgia!
On the fruit peeling, most of french people will just eat the fruit with the skin (even potatoes), you met the small percentage who peel 😉
The trolley coins are not against stealing, but so that people do not leave the trolleys anywhere and put them back with the others.
And regarding AC, beside the environmental thing (imagine if the whole world was using it all year long as anglo saxons (except the British) do... 😜), it's mostly because we would only need it one or two months per year, so we have no need for it compared to its cost. Most of french houses have electric fans and it does the job.
Who are you referring to as Anglo Saxons out of interest? Because as a British person I can tell you only the large supermarkets and office blocks in the cities have air con. We don’t have air con in most of our homes and we definitely suffered in the heatwave. Pretty similar to the rest of Europe. If you are referring to Americans then maybe saying Anglo Saxons is the wrong word as that would imply large areas of Northern Europe.
@@victorialarkman6606 yes you're right, I mean Americans/Australians/New Zealanders, not British. I will change my comment :)
@@Nasdil 😂
@@NotEvenFrench have to be honest I would have killed for some air con last week it was so hot. But there’s no point for a few days a year.
I love New Zealand it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been 😍
It’s not because people steal the trolley!!! It’s used to discourage you -- not to leave it in the middle of the road or just in the parking next to where your car was before you loaded the stuff….
Love this video! I'm a retired teacher in Canada who is planning on travelling to France for at least 3 months next year ( or longer, if I can figure that out) so your observations are interesting and helpful. Especially the issue about air conditioning - holy smokes, I had no idea that French people were so adverse to A/C! I've had mine on all summer ( in Canada, no less!) - I'll definitely have to travel there in the winter😉Btw: we have those coin-trolleys here as well in some grocery stores. I always assumed it's because people do take them - I've seen stranded trolleys in areas away from the store.
But ac is so bad for the environment :(
It’s also because it is so bad for the environment! And it’s noisy, and make the outside warmer!
When i first followed your channel i never thought id get to live in France, but as of October, i will be! And im so excited. Thank you for the videos.
Bienvenue bientôt en France ! Dans quelle ville ?
AC makes me sick. I hate it on top of not being environnementale friendly. 50 years ago no AC, people were fine.
Salut Rosie ! I am so happy that you are enjoying your time in France. Fun video!
hello rosie, welcome back to france ! I'm also French and I think that for the air conditioning it's like you mentioned because we risk getting sick. but it's also because using it too much is bad for the environment and the planet (global warming etc) the French are trying to impact the planet a little less and we find other solutions to cool down . it's better to think of everyone. :)
AC was not available even before the climate crisis
So nice to see you are back in France :) The trolley thing is more for bringing it back in place after use, not to leave it somewhere at the parking lot
I’m wondering if the air thing is also a European thing in general. Growing up Mum never liked having air currents through the house either. I was born in Eastern Europe but moved to Australia at the age of 3 and the heat here in summer is intense too. Also, the bread in the milk is common in other European cultures too.
The fruit washing thing may be a new thing? I don’t get the peeling of the fruit thing as being cleaner since the chemicals are absorbed wholly by the entire plant. I do wash my produce in soapy water since contamination is a real thing and I don’t know who or what came in contact with it. A touch of apple cider vinegar in the soapy water is also great.
Hi Rosie! Love your videos ☺️ We’re Kiwis ( hubby was UK!) back in our wee house in SE just up from Spanish border. I don’t speak much French (but hubby does )and apart from “ stuff” like the banque etc taking forever, we find service people to be very friendly….just got a new fridge and they had to take the front door off in the heat, …no problem, picking plants up from the market, parking in the wrong place….police were brisk but amused!! The door handle thing is also in the UK….had trouble locking my cousin’s front door🤣and same with shopping trolleys. The heat has been the undoing of my dignity when in my bid to make conversation with our local patron at the bar, when asked how I was I replied “Je suis chaud” 😱I will never live this down….Lingoda here I come 🤣
Enjoy your time back in your other home. Keep up the good work ☺️
Hi Elizabeth, the "je suis chaude" thing reminded me of one of my former British pupils , a charming expat lady. She was having workmen inside the house she'd just purchased here in the south of France, and when she came in one day from errands exclaiming : "oh, je suis chaude", they were appalled. They said : " Oh, Madame, vous ne devez JAMAIS dire ça !". She was puzzled. She asked me and when I told her she'd been saying :" I'm horny", she blushed all over ! And never forgot to say : j'ai chaud instead.
Hi 😊 Just a small precision regarding the signs about not throwing cigaret butts and reducing speed: it's because of the heat wave - IE higher risks of fires and pollution. It's not all year long, nor everywhere in France! Thanks for your videos, always fun to watch as a french person (and btw I live abroad and I'm sick all summer long because of AC 😅)
So excited to try picards!!!
When i worked as a travel agent in oz its was a great tool in helping people be more appreciative of services with management of expectations
If you start with really low expectations your always going to be happier when your upgraded, have a shorter travel time, less layover is thats your preference , cheaper, more inclusions, better hotel
Thanks Rosie 😊
So great to watch you in France again! Super! Thank you!
I just love the faces you make when describing these experiences.
Welcome back Rosie, j’ai beaucoup aimé ta vidéo, c’est super intéressant d’avoir le point de vue des autres sur nos habitudes françaises ! Bisous
'Do you know what else makes you sick? HeAtStRoKe!!' I laughed really hard at that. Sooo true. Maybe that's why they say 'no' so much. Their noggins are melting and their social circuits have tripped a breaker.
Great video! 🤗❤️ Although, I’m with the French haha - can’t relate to the seafood part. It’s my biggest guilty pleasure and a reason I can’t fully go veggie yet and stick to being a pesceterian. Days with fish / seafood are such a treat 😋🤪
*18:20** When we paid in Francs, you had to put a 10Fr coin, which represented 1,5€, but in the 90's it represented more than 1,5€. Who would like to let 2 or 3 € in a trolley ??? not 50cts...*
I relate way too much with the door handle story. On my first visa for France, I arrived to the Airbnb after like 18 hours of travel and I was exhausted. I couldn't figure out how to lock the door and I was freaking out. I was frantically messaging the Airbnb host. I finally looked on RUclips and figured out I needed to pull the handle up. It was such a stressful moment. My goodness.
We’ve had those mosquito clickers in Australia for like 15-20 years. Brilliant invention 😊 it’s from Italy.
" I don't know what the hell it is or where it came from." 🤣🤣👍
The trolley thing is more so people can bring them back to the right place instead of just leaving them everywhere on the carpark or on the streets.. like we can see often in New Zealand. :)
I reallllly need a photo of people sitting around eating berries - but only after a dip in the community wash bowl! :-0
Honestly, this is not so commun... I know some people does but... 😉
You can get the clicker thing for itchy bites in NZ too. I think my friend bought one at a DOC office once. They work really well. Apparently, it is a little electric current which gives you a little shock and the current disrupts the protein or something in the bite so it stops being itchy.
Hey Rosie, happy for you that you're back! Yes it has been a very intense month here and not being able to sleep for several weeks, I don't know how I got any work done ... 😓🥵
What you're saying about AC is very surprising to me. Our neighbors blocked half a window to be able to install an A/C, my French acquaintances said they only survived because of the A/C, with everyone who doesn't have one I've just been talking about how we try to survive, at home we always open all the windows at night because otherwise we die ... I've never heard anyone speaking against AC, but maybe people in Haute-Garonne are just suffering enough from the heat 😅
I love Picard as well!
Aldi stores (grocery stores) here in the U.S. lock their carts up and we use a quarter to use them, getting it back when you return it and lock it back up.
Interesting… living in the states (born in Europe) the A/C can be way too cold. I prefer to keep it very light but usually just take the heat. If it’s too hot to handle then I add a fan and take extra showers to cool off. If out, I do like to cool off in shops but hate staying for to long. If I am in the car with someone blasting the AC I always turn it down if it gets too cold (hate it blowing in my face) and balance the airflow by cracking a window open when going slow enough. Of course if there is a meeting or something I prefer not to arrive all sweaty and enjoy the occasional cool down in my own car but generally can live without the Ac. I save money in the summer on my electric bill and it’s high in winter because I cannot stand feeling cold. Though I am also learning to balance my body temperature by wearing sweaters and such like they do on the Nordic countries. To also not change the room temperature too much from the outside temperature.
Interesting video, it makes me miss France. The trolly coin and the lifting door handle up are here in Ireland too. We also have a supermarket called “Iceland” which sells frozen food (but defo not super high quality) and my Danish ex couldn’t wrap his head around it. It was so funny
I don’t get the service thing. Never had a really bad experience. Been to Canada for a few months and the service was on the same level except with a layer of hypocrisy.
There is a Picard at 150 m. from my home, I'll have to check it now.
Nice to see you again. Thanks
I always thought that the coin in the supermarket trolley was to ensure that they would not be scattered around the car park. Here in the US (Michigan) there are cart corrals where you *should* put your shopping cart when you are finished. Many people tend to leave the cart out in the open, where it could be an impedance to a parking space, or worse yet, end up hitting your car. Aldi is, of course, the exception.
I grew up always being told never to sit in a draught (pronounced draft). I guess that would be my translation of courant d’air. Older people tended to be obsessed with draughts.
Where are you from? (Your name doesn't look French!) Are you perhaps English?
Same here. Watch you don't get a draught on your neck was a common thing to here. Im in UK, if I have my small fan on for any length of time I get a sore throat, its circulating the air in the room, doesn't really cool it down.
@@tulipwindmill So odd... growing up in Central Florida, our first house (until I was nine) didn't have air conditioning, and I fell asleep with a fan in the room every warm night from basicaly birth to 9 years old. Never had a sore throat as a result.
Maybe it depends on how humid and hot the air is?
@@LauraMorland I have no idea why. I know people here who sleep with a fan on every night and it doesnt bother them.
It's not about trolley's thives, it was about putting your trolley where you found it. Not all over the parking lot as it was before. Incredibly, it works!
Wow wow We make courant d’air all the time when it’s hot! (If you have the luck to have an Appartement on two sides). But beware if the night gets cold… sleeping in a courant d’air might get you sick!
Ice Cubes... From visiting friends in the MidWest in America. Mosquito bite solution, simply ice cubes. Put the cube directly on the bite. You can go out and enjoy the evening and the lightening bugs, you'll pay for it. So... Make sure there's ice in the fridge!
The trolley thieving comment made me laugh because here in Australia it’s still going on and people abandon them in random places 😂. As a French person it reminds me of France when I was a toddler 🤣
I’m very happy you have returned to France 🇫🇷. I’m going to Paris for the first time! 🤗
Welcome back, Rosie! Loved the vid.
I'm French but can totally relate to some of these. I hate cheese (argh!) and after YEARS, my in-laws still seem shocked every time this comes up ("Tu veux du fromage ? Ah, oui c'est vrai. Même pas du comté ??"). Also, yes, A/C isn't in our culture and is bad for the environment - so is heating, though! -, but I admit I'd love for it to be blasted in the subway when it's 34°C+. The Paris metro in a heatwave = pure hell, what with people fainting and causing more issues.
ps. Picard is life!
I love that -- même pas du comté ? That must be their favorite cheese, as it is mine. Plus, it's not a runny or "stinky" cheese, and so they're hoping that you'll give in....
Trolley coin is designed to get people to return the trolleys to the front.
Can you ask Neils if he interprets customer service in France differently than foreigners?
IMHO, you could turn these experiences into a comedy routine for your French audience. Especially when you make the faces.
I’m swiss and live with a French man! I have to say, I also noticed that they spend a lot of time eating and it’s driving me crazy 😅. Who has time for that? But it’s also beautiful and a lesson on life, time and family ❤️.
About the signs, I have to say this is quite new since there have been a lot of fires in these recent years. Before that, you would see messages or “jeux de mots” about texting and driving, about drinking and driving and way before that, it was about the seatbelt.
But it’s a good thing they’re reminding people about the effects of cigarettes thrown out the window…
I also have to say that heat waves have become more frequent and more intense and I wouldn’t be surprised if those habits were to change in the future. We bought a fan this summer for example. Same with mosquitos, we didn’t use to have so many (even in the south of France where I go frequently to visit family).
I love your videos because you notice things very clearly and help me understand why slight differences between Switzerland and France can be unsettling, even if you don’t acknowledge of notice them.
BEST day of my life in Sweden.. . .when the local grocery store got Picard croissants. ahhhhhhhhh so nice. When it comes to the grocery trollies we have that here in Sweden as well and it's not so that people won't steal them, it's so that they put them back where they belong. . ..which was a REAL issue in the States but people would be irate if you implemented the same system there.
I live just south of Paris in an apartment that faces south with almost no obstruction in front of it, and even with the volets rolled down almost all the way and fans on, during the heatwave I was dying, I ended up filling the tub with cold water and periodically taking plunges in it then standing in front of a fan to cool down or putting ice packs on my feet. I couldn't do anything I was so miserable. I told my partner, demanded actually, that we at least get a portable AC unit next year. I don't care about the excuses about why an AC is bad, you don't have to set it very high, and if in the end you can function without turning into a wild animal trying to find relief or you can't get any sleep because you're over heating, I think a little bit is worth it. Plus most French would agree with me that it should be required where elderly or those with comorbidities live.
Also, we ended up going to a friends' place for a weekend afternoon during the heatwave, they live on the too floor of a older building, maybe 150 year old building, that faces south with no obstructions, when my partner asked me if I wanted to go I was like "hell nah, not in this weather", and my partner tried to convince me ghat maybe they'd have fans or something, they didn't, maybe opened only one or 2 windows, my feet and hands swelled up (mixer of heat with salty apero and only one glass of wine), but I held it together and tried not to complain, but when we got home my partner admitted that the weather conditions were not good at all and that he suffered while there too.
I washed my clothes during the heatwave and I tried that technique your friends mentioned, lol, omg, never again, it made the air feel like a swamp, more hot and super muggy and made it difficult to breathe, never again, lol
My partner says he rarely ever has a bad experience with service here in France, and the first time I witnessed it I realized why, he charms the heck out of them before they even have a chance to be rude and it throws them off and they smile right away, lol, it's truly a gift, it's never flirtatious or creepy, I don't know how to describe it, and it works with any gender, I hate talking to people I don't know and am a bit introverted, but man, when he does it it's a sight to behold, lol
In the US a few grocery stores, like ALDI, use the coin system so that people will return the cart to the station. It also keeps employees from constantly going out to collect carts for customers to use. I think that here it’s more so due to laziness, safety, and convenience for the next customer rather than cart theft.
You're back!
The trolly thing is so people take them back to the trolly bay and not leave them in the car park so you don’t have to pay a trolly collector
Hello. I'm french and I like to explain about the use of a coin to use a shopping cart. Before we had to use a coin, there were shopping carts left everywhere on the parking lots. When I was little, You couldn't drive around or park whithout having to stop the car, get out of the car, and push the cart out of the way multiple times before finally be able to park. French are not disciplined !!! The coin use was the only way to force people to put the cart back in the cart erea, and at that time you had to use a real coin of 10 francs (which was a lot, the equivalent of 5 euros nowadays ) so everyone wanted to get that coin back. Today it feels natural to put back the cart away even whithout the use of a coin ...By the way, I love your accent when you speak english 😁 even it's sometimes hard for me to understand as I'm more used to americain accent.
Hey, Aussie here, justw anted to say the trolley think is in Australia too. But I think its not to stop them getting stolen - its to encourage people to leave them in the right spot (like back in the trolley bay / inside the shop) so they dont have to spend time racing around collecting trolleys from all over the car park
The coin in the trolley is not because people might steal it. It's so that people will bring the trolley back to the place where they are stored (where you got it) instead of leaving them anywhere and then staff have to spend time collecting trolleys. Welcome back!
Personnellement, j’épluche très très peu mes fruits et les gens autour de moi non plus donc ce que tu dis m’étonne
I can't live without a fan or AC during summer. I don't eat seafood nor a lot of fish. And I don't drink alcohol. But I'm french or so I think xD
hello Rosie,,, the "door handle" for me! 🤣I am a south african living in france. Its crazy!
17:24 In Normandie, we call that way of clossing a door with the slang verb "Clancher".
Hahah living in Serbia and Croatia and draughts are a real thing. Not more than one window open at a time, if that. At the very least you'll get a bad neck/back, at the worst it will be the flu. Also colds come from having wet hair.
*You don't need to scratch them. They itch, you scratch.
Could you please consider
Listing your main points so that a viewer can easily follow the topics/points you are trying to make?
Clarity and brevity not absolutely necessary if
at least
an outline is provided.
Thank you.🌹
Medieval thinking. Yes the Germans hate the air currents too. they think the air is going to kill them. but what I have to say about the body temperature differences doesn't make sense because you wear a heavy coat in the winter to go outside when it's cold and everybody keeps their coats on when they're shopping and yet the stores are heated and warm. I take my coat off when I go inside a heated area, even if it's just a grocery store because I feel the difference and it makes me sick. I do the same with the air conditioning. you don't have to set the air conditioning down to 15° you can set it for a nice low 22 or 23 and especially since in Europe the air conditioners are set up high
on the walls, it's not really blowing directly on you. so I say get over it. it's all in your head. I remember in Germany as a child we were told if you left your lower back uncovered, you would get sick. everybody runs around in crop tops now; nobody dies.
Canadian here :)
My French bf never had ac his whole life until we moved to Spain and had ac in our apartment. He can’t live without it now 🤣
For me coming from Canada I always had ac in our home. Since moving back to the south of France we talked our landlady into buying us a portable ac system this summer. I can’t be hot 24/7. We work from home so impossible to focus while wanting to pass out from heat.
Nice to see you back 😊
OMG the courants d'air....my French partner and I recently came across a bird in a cage sitting on a window sill in the street (the owner just put him out to get some fresh air), and he was WORRIED FOR THE BIRD BECAUSE AIR CURRENTS COULD MAKE HIM SICK. A freaking BIRD!!
😂
We have door handles like that in UK too and tokens for shopping trollies. Bonnes vacances!
Hi Rosie! Love your channel! Here in the states, we have the shopping carts with the chain at one of the grocery store chains - aldi. A quarter has to be put in to get the cart. I believe it’s so guests have to put the cart back instead of leaving it in the parking lot which happens so much.
Aldi is European! I think it's a European thing....
@@LauraMorland I experienced those carts before Aldi.
@@Toywins Where?
It’s about people putting the trolley back, saving costly manpower. Also it’s a safety hazard on the parking area.
I checked today if you had given a French update. Yay! You look amazing Rosie!
The fish thing is interesting - I have French friends in Normandy and they don't eat a lot of seafood, they don't eat clams or oysters at all...
I am french and this is unfortunately so true Rosy about people working in services 😆
Have you seen the prices at Picard since you arrived? I didn't leave France, but I had the shock of my life, everything shot up. The things I used to buy there are 20% more expensive nowadays.