As a counterpoint to liberals' frequent refrains about leaving the country if Donald Trump gets reelected, we have a story about one older couple who decamped to France last year and haven't really been loving it.
I live here, as a foreigner, and sure the bureaucracy is wild as is the language but I haven’t felt what you’re conveying, especially in Paris where no one gives a damn if you speak english or anything, you could dress up in toilet paper and people wouldn’t care.
Gotta go look at some impressionist paintings and then go to the movies, after eating some good stuff, all on my modern bicycle.
On the countryside people are more like the common clay, but they are like that for everyone.
It didn’t seem like stress, it seemed like they genuinely enjoyed being superior entitled assholes.
And as an American, I thought I had a high threshold for that.
The rest of Europe was incredible, the Nordic countries are my vision of heaven on earth. Mostly moved to Sweden, yesterday basically cut my last ties.
Note: I was an exchange student in the US, and hosted some US student in return, back in France. So I was able to live the culture shock first hand. 😆
It is true that there is a sharp contrast between the French way of life and other, more easy going countries, like the US.
Politeness is key, especially between strangers. But without knowing any of the rules, a foreigner has a good chance of being rude without even realizing it.
But once you got past that hard outer shell, we can be quite friendly. Of course, there are exceptions, and I personally experienced some pretty rude waiter in Paris… once.
Yeah, France is the exception, but only because they’re narcissistic pricks with nothing to be narcissistic about, particularly their pricks.
I speak French and was an outcast, though it wasn’t nearly as bad outside of Paris, other cities just ignore you mostly.
Maybe it’s you, not the french?
I live here, as a foreigner, and sure the bureaucracy is wild as is the language but I haven’t felt what you’re conveying, especially in Paris where no one gives a damn if you speak english or anything, you could dress up in toilet paper and people wouldn’t care.
Gotta go look at some impressionist paintings and then go to the movies, after eating some good stuff, all on my modern bicycle.
On the countryside people are more like the common clay, but they are like that for everyone.
Again, every other country, every other city in France were lovely.
The louvre was gorgeous.
As I said, Paris would be great if it wasn’t for all the fucking people.
Ok, yes that’s known, in paris people are stressed and rudish, but they are that to everyone without discrimination.
It didn’t seem like stress, it seemed like they genuinely enjoyed being superior entitled assholes.
And as an American, I thought I had a high threshold for that.
The rest of Europe was incredible, the Nordic countries are my vision of heaven on earth. Mostly moved to Sweden, yesterday basically cut my last ties.
Note: I was an exchange student in the US, and hosted some US student in return, back in France. So I was able to live the culture shock first hand. 😆
It is true that there is a sharp contrast between the French way of life and other, more easy going countries, like the US.
Politeness is key, especially between strangers. But without knowing any of the rules, a foreigner has a good chance of being rude without even realizing it.
But once you got past that hard outer shell, we can be quite friendly. Of course, there are exceptions, and I personally experienced some pretty rude waiter in Paris… once.
It’s not that.
Sweden is probably more polite, and it’s fine. The rest of France is also lovely.
Paris just seems to breed assholes somehow.