Discover 14 things you should never do when visiting France! From cultural faux pas to etiquette mistakes, this guide will help you enjoy your trip and avoid embarrassing situations. 🇫🇷✋
#TravelTips #FranceTravel #CulturalEtiquette #TravelAdvice #ExploreFrance #TravelSmart #Shorts
#TravelTips #FranceTravel #CulturalEtiquette #TravelAdvice #ExploreFrance #TravelSmart #Shorts
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00:00i'm french and i'm gonna tell you 14 things you shouldn't do if you're coming to france
00:04the first one is spending all your time in paris and you know i get it paris is amazing i've
00:11been
00:11living here for a while i agree that there's so many awesome things to do and you could just spend
00:17a lifetime exploring the city however a mistake i see people make is skipping the rest of france
00:23because they think it's gonna be just like paris and this mistake is totally understandable because
00:28most of the movies about france are also about paris you know we've all watched emily in paris
00:34not emeline marseille and emeline bordeaux but if you're only visiting paris in france you are
00:40seriously missing out and that's because each region of france has its strong original culture
00:45so for example myself i grew up in toulouse in the southwest of france and when i go to lille
00:51for
00:51example or to brittany i find the culture so different like they have different architecture
00:56different food and the local traditions are also different and here i'll tell you all about my
01:02favorite places to visit in france in a bit but one thing you need to know is depending on the
01:07type
01:07of trip you're planning driving is not always the best way to get around france so for example if
01:13you're gonna hit up major cities like paris bordeaux toulouse which you absolutely should go to
01:19well these cities have a policy to keep cars outside of the city so it's very hard to drive there
01:25there's
01:25absolutely no parking space there is a lot of traffic jams one-way streets and so on it's not
01:32a place for cars however we do have great public transport which is absolutely the best way to move
01:39around like trust me you do not want to drive in a big french city also our train network is
01:45really
01:45amazing like for example if i want to go to my hometown in toulouse i can take the bullet train
01:50that
01:51takes between four to five hours the train from paris to lille only takes an hour and 15 minutes
01:56and the bullet train to marseille is three hours and 20 minutes but one thing you might not know is
02:02that this also applies to smaller towns like we have a regional train network called ter which is
02:09really awesome and gets you to very small towns that kind of are in the middle of nowhere so in
02:14general
02:15if you want to go somewhere you should always check if there's a train station i personally have never
02:20felt the need to rent a car when i'm vacationing in france but i admit that you might need one
02:26if
02:26you choose to go in the deep countryside like for example my parents spend a lot of time in arriège
02:31which is one of the most underrated and least densely populated regions of france and while there
02:37are still buses over there i personally wouldn't go there without a car also driving is pretty different
02:43in france if you're renting a random car chances are you'll have to drive a manual car which if you
02:48haven't done so before it's quite a change from an automatic one and also you have to be the king
02:53or queen of parallel parking like seriously our parking spots are so tiny it is so hard to park
02:59here in france and obviously driving is not the only thing that's different in france and another
03:05very common mistake people make is actually underestimating the cultural differences between
03:11france and their home country often france is one of the first countries that people visit when they go
03:17abroad and i've talked a lot about it on the channel but there's an idealized image that's
03:22mostly about paris that comes from movies and real life in france is not as aesthetic or romantic
03:28obviously and one thing that i find interesting and that often makes tourists clash a bit with locals
03:34is that touristy areas and local or business areas often are near each other and have to coexist like
03:41in another life i was working a corporate job and i often had client meetings and their offices
03:47right here on champs-elysees which is one of the most famous avenues in paris and i have to say
03:53that it was a bit annoying because there were always so many people and obviously those people
03:57were on vacation so we didn't have exactly the same vibe and you know sometimes it feels that some
04:03people have a consumeristic approach to travel where they're just here to take things off their list
04:09and then just leave and they don't really take the time to appreciate or even respect the local culture
04:14and you know it is absolutely okay to not like cultural discovery or even adventure but if you
04:21come to any foreign country you will need to adapt at least a bit to the local culture you'll also
04:26need
04:26to keep an open mind because if you expect things to be exactly like in your home country it will
04:32lead
04:32to so much frustration otherwise let me be honest with you the only place where you can experience the
04:37beautiful french vibes without actually having to adapt to us and our culture is the french pavilion
04:44at epcot at disney and this is no shade at all i personally really like disney world and epcot but
04:50it's the only place in the world where you'll find french people who actually cater to your every need
04:55and that leads me to another big mistake people make when coming to france is having this customer
05:00is king mentality and i often have comments on my channel by people who feel this way so i feel
05:06it's a point i really need to address like for example this person says the french seem to make
05:11it perfectly clear that they don't like us so i have absolutely no desire to travel to france and
05:17spend my hard-earned free time and money on their country we also have this person who says sorry
05:23i'm not gonna spend my hard-earned money on a place that doesn't respect me and this type of comments
05:28often comes from people who have the wrong expectations in france and often in the rest
05:33of europe we have a different approach to the service industry if you're used to american style
05:38service where people are very smiley or asking you how you are at every point of your meal
05:43you will be disappointed when you come to france it's not that people don't like you or they don't
05:48respect you it's just the attitudes toward what is good service actually changes from country to country
05:54like i feel for example in france we value more not being disturbed by the waiter than having
05:59someone who constantly asks you how you're doing and also we have a different approach to money in
06:05france it's not because you paid for something that you have every right and overall i said that
06:10in france money can't buy everything and that's why if you want to complain to a business or to a
06:16service person please do not yell or treat people like your servants this doesn't work in france
06:23it's actually very disrespectful and you'll often find managers siding with the workers and this
06:28might get you kicked out of the establishment i've seen it happen the right way to complain is to be
06:34polite and always treat the other person like a human being this will get you so much further both
06:40in france and in other countries also really keep in mind that it's not personal people are not
06:45personally trying to victimize you like my boyfriend bobby is american he's very polite always smiling so he
06:51never gets in trouble with service people which leads me to my next mistake people make which is
06:56accidentally being rude all right i've made a full video breakdown about this one but basically what's
07:02considered polite varies from country to country and even if you have the best intentions you might
07:07still be considered rude by french standards and if you're a regular here you know that i'm saying
07:11this in almost every video but in france being polite starts with saying hello or bonjour every time
07:18you start a new interaction this is super important it just means you're acknowledging the other person
07:23as a human being just like you and if you don't do it people will not be happy about it
07:28also obviously
07:29depending on where you are in france people will be more or less friendly i feel for example in toulouse
07:35people are more open to small talk and if you go to the french countryside people love to talk to
07:39each other but another thing that will make your experience less frustrating in france is not thinking that
07:45you can get anything at any time all right this one is really important especially if you come from
07:50a culture that's really big on convenience so for example a lot of restaurants only open during the
07:56official french dining times which are between 12 and 2 pm for lunch and starting at 7 30 pm for
08:04dinner
08:04and often if you come outside of those times you'll either see the restaurant being fully closed or they
08:10might turn you down also a lot of shops close on sundays especially outside of big cities and there's
08:16also special holidays like for example a lot of bakeries like to take one month off in the summer
08:22because the owners need to relax a bit too and obviously you're probably aware that france is the land of
08:27strikes it's almost a national pastime so sometimes things will be closed and you have no control over it
08:33and here let me tell you it's just something you need to accept you cannot fight it and i know
08:39it can be
08:39frustrating but that's just how things are and by the way with shops not being open all the time you're
08:45gonna want to make sure you don't forget anything when packing because if you do you won't always be
08:50able to pick it up at a local store and one thing you definitely do not want to forget is
08:55an international
08:56travel adapter because power outlets are different around the world in the us they look like this and
09:03in france they look like this and that's where today's sponsor tessence universal travel adapter comes in
09:08their adapter works with every main type of outlet so you only need one adapter for all your travels
09:15also with a regular adapter you only get one outlet so it's a bit complicated if you want to charge
09:21all your devices at once with this adapter you can charge everything because it has two usb-c
09:27and two usb-a ports at the moment tessence has just announced a collaboration with musician rachel
09:33yagamata themed what's your next journey so comment below with your next destination and click the link
09:38in the description to try tessence universal travel adapter one other mistake i see people make is staying
09:44on the tourist trail and only checking the main sites i feel if you're doing this you're massively
09:50missing out on the french culture obviously if it's your first time in france and you've always
09:55dreamt of seeing mont saint michel or the french rivera by all means go for it but know that there's
10:02so much more to france and to generalize massively i feel that you'll find culture great food beautiful
10:08old things and nice landscapes pretty much everywhere in france instead of just hitting up the main sites
10:15my advice to you is to think instead about what you like to do like for example if you like
10:20hiking go to
10:21the pyrenees or the alps if you like drinking wine you're obviously in luck just think about your
10:26favorite french wines and just go there so you could go to champagne to bourgogne to bordeaux then
10:32i also feel there's so much culture and history in france not only in the main cities like paris but
10:38also there's so many cool historical sites all around the country a few of my favorite in the south
10:43of france are carcassonne and also the little village of collure which inspired so many painters
10:48and it's absolutely gorgeous and speaking of villages france has so many of them and every
10:54year there's like an official ranking of the cutest villages of france i personally really like the lot
10:59region for that but you just can't go wrong with this also i often feel people just go to the
11:04same
11:04places on the french rivera but if you like going to the beach there's so many other cooler places in
11:10my opinion like biarritz for example is so beautiful and you can also surf there because it's on the atlantic
11:16ocean although personally i just like watching people surf because i can't surf at all there's
11:21also brittany which is super beautiful and if you've been wanting to try sailing that's really
11:26the place to do so also i do feel the north and east of france are very underrated like lille
11:31is such
11:31a fun and vibrant city and you also have strasbourg which is very beautiful and has a very distinct
11:36culture obviously here i'm just scratching the surface but especially if you're going out of the beaten
11:41path do not make the next mistake and be impatient with people if they don't speak english perfectly
11:47so first of all although things are changing and more and more people can at least say a few words
11:52or have a basic conversation in english a lot of people still don't speak english and you know that
11:58is to be expected we are in france after all especially in smaller cities or villages people have no
12:03reason to speak english like for example around toulouse we have a lot of spanish people and spanish tourists
12:09so a lot of people will speak a better spanish than they speak english also if you're a native english
12:14speaker just know that sometimes your accent is too good like people can't understand your accent so
12:20speak slowly in simple terms to make sure you're being understood but also there's a lot of people
12:26who speak a very good english so don't get offended if you start a conversation in french and then we
12:31switch to english i do that all the time and it's not because i think your french sucks it's just
12:37because
12:37i'm more comfortable in english and i want to make the interaction easier if you want to practice
12:41your french just say so and most of us will be happy to continue the conversation in french but
12:46in any case as long as you're polite no one will be angry at you for not speaking french or
12:52if you try
12:52to speak french and you're not very good at it in general most people will appreciate the effort
12:57however one thing that will make people angry is if you take photos or videos of people without
13:03their consent taking photos or videos of people without their consent is not only rude and a bit
13:08creepy but it's also illegal in france and here the rules are very simple you obviously can take
13:14photos with people in it like let's say in this shot i'm walking in the street i haven't asked every
13:19single person for their authorization and that's because i'm not singling them out but if i were to take
13:25a photo or video of them then that wouldn't be allowed and in general just don't take photos of
13:30people without their consent locals have a right to privacy and to just enjoy their lives another way
13:35you can get in trouble in france is if you get fined and there are many ways you can get
13:40fined in
13:41france the first one is in public transport in public transport you have to keep your ticket with
13:46you at all times if you can't show you have a validated ticket you'll get fined so validate your
13:52ticket and keep it and also in particular in paris there's different zones with different fares so make
13:59sure you have the right ticket that corresponds to the zone you're going to this is like that in a
14:04lot of big cities and a lot of people think it is a scam but it is not you're just
14:09being controlled
14:10to see if you have a ticket do not freak out you're not being victimized i personally have gotten my
14:16ticket wrong in the past and was fined it's like that for everyone the other tickets you can get are
14:21speeding tickets a lot of countries now have the automated speeding ticket machines you can't redo
14:26anything about it so just don't speed and use apps like ways to make sure you know where the machines
14:32are and another thing you should avoid doing is falling for tourist traps and scams i've said it
14:37before there's a lot of youtube channels that really love to exaggerate on this and make people hyper
14:43aware and scared of coming to france but i can promise you french people are not out there to get
14:48you and obviously if you're in a big city like paris you should apply big city common sense especially when
14:54you're near tourist sites or in the metro keep your valuables in close pockets on your body and just
15:00don't look like you have anything to steal i personally have only been pickpocketed once and
15:04none of my friends who have visited paris from abroad have either gotten pickpocketed or scammed so i
15:09really feel this content is not really truthful and is exaggerated obviously still read up about the
15:14most common scams like the friendship bracelets or the clear cup guys and just don't engage that's all
15:20however france being a very touristy country you sometimes encounter some tourist traps and
15:26obviously overpriced restaurants and souvenirs are not scams they're just you know not very good
15:31and a bit expensive and in general i recommend to never buy anything or go to the restaurant in touristy
15:37areas but you know sometimes you just want to eat by the beach in the middle of august or grab
15:41a coffee
15:42with a view on a beautiful monument and as long as you know that it's gonna be expensive it's totally
15:46fine to
15:47do so and this leads me to my next recommendation which is to not come during the wrong time for
15:53you
15:53in my opinion i'd say there's only one wrong time to come to france which is between the 15th of
15:58july
15:58to the 15th of august because everyone is on vacation during this time so cities will be empty
16:04and a bit lifeless shops will be closed and all the touristy areas will be super packed also it's very
16:10hot and we often don't have ac if you come during the summer months be prepared to sweat a lot
16:16if you still want to enjoy your summer weather and take a beach or hiking vacation i'd recommend
16:21june or september things tend to be less crowded and also cheaper fall and spring tend to be pretty
16:26good in france but if you come during winter be prepared for a lot of rain in some places like
16:32we
16:32usually don't have a lot of snow but it rains constantly in some places however i love going to
16:38the south of france in winter especially around the mediterranean because it's so sunny and the weather
16:43is just a tiny bit cold but also very beautiful in any case don't make the next mistake and pack
16:48the wrong clothes here as well i've made a full video about it but here are my tips think about
16:53what you're planning to do think about the weather and dress accordingly it's that simple a lot of
16:58people tend to stress out about getting dressed for france and that's again because of the paris
17:03movies that portray us as a very stylish bunch that will also judge you but the reality is that people
17:09do not really care about what you're wearing unless it's really inappropriate like you're wearing a
17:14swimsuit to a religious site or flip-flops to a black tie event but you know i feel that's just
17:20common sense in any case if you want to enjoy your trip to france try to not do too much
17:25i feel the
17:26french culture can be a bit complicated to understand at times and the best way to do so is to
17:30really go with
17:31the flow of everyday life see what other people are doing around you and also follow what you like to
17:37do
17:37so if your schedule is really packed you're not going to get to enjoy the french culture
17:41and all the moments that make it special like having a good meal taking a leisurely walk in
17:46our cute villages or just hitting up a farmer's market and by the way if you're planning on hitting
17:51up paris during your trip i've made a full video about the things to not do when you're in paris
17:56and you'll see these are pretty different so i recommend you click here and go watch it
18:00and i'll see you there bye for now
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