We lived in Toulouse, France for 9 months. Starting August 2018 and ending June 2019. During those 9 months, we lived in Toulouse, France in a downtown 4 bedroom apartment. We sampled as much French culture, cuisine, and lifestyle as we could. At the time I photographed extensively and wrote in my journal. I’m revisiting my old writings and see it all more clearly than before. I wrote this post in the first few weeks of our arrival to Toulouse. I’m publishing it here as it was written.

Seeing the cultural differences was one of the most interesting parts of our time in France. Here is a quick list of some of the differences I noticed during that time.

NOTE – These are of course, my opinions that may or may not be true. Every person, French or not, is unique and there are a lot of exceptions to these items. This list is only meant to entertain and highlight my observations.

1. The French are subdued.

The French talk much more quietly than Americans. They wear more subdued colors. They drive smaller cars and eat smaller portions. They own fewer things and smile at strangers less. Overall, they are generally more reserved than Americans.

When I ride in the metro train, there might be 30 people in the train car. It is perfectly quiet.

2. They’re stylin’.

They wear subdued but very stylish clothing, even the older people. They wear skinny jeans, fancy shoes, and well-tailored clothing. They also have way more color in their clothing. Although, it is all very tasteful. Their clothing tends to be well fitted and stylish.  There doesn’t seem to be anything too stylish for anyone. Scarves are very popular. Even in the fall when it’s rather warm.

You should see the women’s glasses who cut my hair, black rimmed glasses covered in diamonds.

3. They’re very friendly.

Every single French person I have associated with has been courteous and friendly. Not a single boisterous, rough, short tempered or snooty one amongst them so far, contrary to their reputation in America. And, I don’t speak the language at all, so that’s got to be annoying for them.

4. They’re don’t do a ton of maintenance.

The French are OK with tape to fix things, water spilled on the floor in grocery stores, people peeing in the streets, weeds in the parks, dog poop in the streets, old scratched stuff, and other unkempt things.

The ceiling in our bathroom is peeling and the paint is about to fall to the ground. When they installed the internet in our apartment they drilled a hole in through the moulding in the wall about 4 feet up and patched it sloppily with white caulk. In this respect it reminds me a little of Mexico. This was really contrasted with the experience I had in Switzerland where they are very concerned about maintenance. The Swiss streets are perfectly clean and nothing is out of place or broken. Not in France, the fringes show more here.

5. They’re not morning people.

The stores are all closed until at least 10am and they close early. When I walk the streets taking photos in the morning it is still and quiet until 11. They slowly get going in the morning. Most good restaurants don’t open until 8PM and there are very few stores that are open past 8.  So that’s been an adjustment.

6. They use 24 hour time.

I mean 2PM is 14:00, 10PM is 22:00 and so forth. I like it because it’s more precise. It’s also cool at midnight when the clock reads 00:00.

7. They love paperwork.

When you buy something at the store, you get your credit card receipt. You also receive a list of what you bought and your “Ticket,” which is kind of like a receipt, I guess. A lot of paperwork. When I got my bank account the banker took about 2 hours asking questions, filling out forms. Then she gave me about 50 pieces of paper in a folder to read later.

8. They love Foie Gras. (pronounced Fwa Gra)

Foie Gras is puree of goose or duck liver. It’s basically everywhere.

9. They actually eat raw beef.

Steak tartar, they call it. I saw a couple eating a pile of raw hamburger and some french fries recently. Yowzers. It’s on the menu at Flunch, a popular lunch place in France. Bon Apetite!

10. The internet is lightning fast.

I don’t know what’s going on but the internet is lightning fast here. I can get speeds up to 250Mbps from my regular internet connection at home. Contrast that with 15-20Mbps back in the US. My cell phone can do 160bps or better, on 4G. That’s in Boise, Idaho though.

11. Telecom is cheap.

My cell phone is $35 a month with unlimited calling pretty much all around the world and 70 gigs of data. I am trying to use all that data but I can’t do it. And I went with the expensive plan. I have a friend here who pays $3 per month.

12. Not a lot of Air Conditioning.

Actually very little. Most places don’t use it. Even some nicer hotels we’ve stayed in haven’t had A/C. I heard that they think it’s unhealthy for you. In the summer they stay hot unless they’re swimming I guess. We got here in August and met with the banker in her nice office. It was about 85 degrees in there and perfectly still. I was sweltering and the banker smiled politely as her forehead beaded with sweat. I guess they just don’t mind being hot.