Three Months in France March 31 – June 28, 2007

Milk
When you purchase milk in France it comes in bottles that look similar to bottles of bleach in Canada and these bottles are kept at room temperature in a regular aisle (ie not refridgerated). The expiry date on these bottles is a couple of months from when you purchase them.

Washrooms
All of the homes that I’ve seen so far have the toilet in a seperate room from the rest of the bathroom. There’s no sink or anything else in the ‘toilet’ room except for the toilet and the toilet paper. I’m told that this is common in France though in the new construction they will typically include a sink now inside the toilet room. We’ve found most public washrooms to be extremely unpleasant. Missing toilet paper and lack of cleanliness are our biggest complaints.

Wine
Wine and other alcoholic beverages are very affordable in France and are available in grocery stores. Bottles of wine can be purchased for as little as 0.75 Euros which equates to about $1.20 CA

Dogs
It is very important to watch where you walk in France because finding dog pooh on the sidewalk is not uncommon. There is a recent law that is supposed to prevent this from occuring but it seems that this new law is being ignored or not sufficiently enforced.

Tylenol
In North America, the generic name for Tylenol is acetaminophen while in France and the rest of Europe it is known as paracetamol.

Utilities
Water and electricity are very expensive here. In the house where we are staying the monthly utility bill is at minimum 600 Euros (about $930 CA). So people here tend to be very careful to make sure lights are left off when not needed. And my aunt mentioned that she will rarely wash her car because the cost of water is too much.

Bug Screens
Bug screens on windows don’t seem to exist here in France. I have yet to find a home or building that has them. The other day we left the patio door open to get some fresh air and we were rewarded with several hundred flies inside the house. Update It turns out we were wrong about this. There are screens here at the house on some of the windows but we didn’t notice them because they roll up and out of the way when not in use.

Driving
There aren’t as many traffic lights here in France. Instead the French often use roundabouts. Most of the roundabouts are two lanes but some in the larger cities are apparently up to 4 lanes. They take some getting used-to but they seem to work very well and I’m beginning to prefer them over waiting at a traffic light. You can learn more about roundabouts on Wikipedia. The speed limit on the big highways here in France is 130 KM/hr which is very reasonable given their great condition.

Chicken
We’ve noticed that chicken sold here is more yellow in colour rather than the more pale colour that one typically sees in Canada. I believe that this yellow colour is due to the fact that the chickens are corn fed but I’m not entirely positive of this fact. So if any of you know about this please let me know.

Coffee
When you order a coffee here in France you will receive a shot of expresso. I think I need to order a Café Americain to get something similar to what I’m accustomed to drinking.

Life in General
My impression thus far is that people in France tend to strive for and achieve a more balanced life (between work and play) than most North Americans. Lunch times are typically 2 hours long and the annual vacation time that most people have is 5 weeks or more. According to Wikipedia, “France has the most significant vacation time of any country in the world”.

Pharmacies

Pharmacies in France are very easy to spot as they all have a distinctive bright green cross in the shape of the Red Cross logo. In any town you just have to look around and you can usually spot one. Prices for medicines seem very reasonable.

Business Hours
Many businesses in France are closed between noon and 2pm and some until 3pm. This even includes many museums. Restaurants, on the other hand, often close down in the afternoon, after 2pm, and then re-open at dinner time. Just about everything is closed on Sundays except for some restaurants.

Scooters
Scooters are very popular here among all age groups. Given the high price of gas, scooters seem to be a very practical and cost effective way to commute. And here in France people park their scooters right up on the sidewalk. It is apparently illegal to do so but the gendarmes rarely do anything about it. Also, scooter riders (and motorcycle riders) are very brave here…they spend most of their time weaving in between cars. I see this occasionally in Canada but here it is so common that its considered the “normal” way to ride.

Smoking
Smoking seems extremely popular here. Most cafes that I enter are smoke filled and everywhere you go people are lighting up. There is some hope though. According to a BBC article, smoking will be banned from cafes, nightclubs and restaurants in 2008. But ultimately, I suspect that the French will enforce their upcoming smoking laws in the same completely non-effective way that they enforce their dog pooh laws and their no-parking-your-scooter-on-the-sidewalk-laws. Well.. I will hope that either I’m wrong or that smoke free Starbucks continues their expansion in France.