Every morning, Bill and I look at a variety of news and information sources online from both sides of the Atlantic. Often I’m simply scanning the headlines but whenever the words Les Américains pop up in a French story then that requires more investigation. Such was the case with the website StarsInsider that generally highlights topics including health, food, and travel. What in the world could be the “30 strange things in Europe according to Americans”? This was going to be a fun article to read.

To compile their list, StarsInsider consulted several websites such as Ranker and Insider that collected opinions from readers to come up with their own rankings. Not everything applied to France (apparently in Denmark it’s not unusual to leave your baby in a stroller outside a restaurant while you’re dining indoors) but these are the points with which we have some experience:

Cheek-to-cheek greetings—This long held tradition among friends fell out of favor during Covid but la bise is definitely back.

Storing eggs outside the refrigerator—same goes for unopened liters of UHT milk which are sold side by side with eggs on open shelves in our neighborhood grocery store.

The age of buildings—the houses on our street are 100 years old, the buildings downtown date from the 1700 and 1800s, and the walls that surround the medieval part of Carcassonne sit on Roman foundations from 2000 years ago.

Washing machines in the kitchen—that’s where ours was until we had a second bathroom installed which is where it now sits.

The lack of air conditioning, window screens, and ice cubes—we put screens on our bedroom windows in hopes of not having to install air conditioning but we bought a portable unit just in case. We used to bring empty ice cube trays with us on vacation from the US but now that we live here in the middle of wine country our beverage of choice doesn’t need them.

Lots of cigarette smoking—According to the website Global Affairs Explained, 26% of the French smoke while for Americans that number is 9%.

Everybody walks—Although we think that the French love their cars as much as Americans do, once those are parked at home, people do take to the city sidewalks to go shopping, see friends, or go out to dinner.

Public transport works—Perhaps not perfectly in remote rural areas, but cities and towns have easy to use links with rail, bus, tram, and subway systems.

The legal age to buy alcohol—You have to be at least 18 to purchase wine, beer, or spirits but your parent can pour you a glass of wine at a restaurant table if you are at least 16. It’s not specifically prohibited to imbibe in public although local authorities can issue some restrictions for public safety. We’ve certainly enjoyed plenty of outdoor picnics with products from the local sandwich and wine shops wherever we’ve been vacationing.

Wine can be cheaper than water—or soft drinks, for that matter. In our experience, a restaurant’s house wine is usually fine and always a bargain. We request an accompanying carafe d’eau and this free pitcher of tap water works for us.

Dinner times—Happy Hour at our house starts at 5 PM with dinner sometime before 7 PM. Go next door or across the street to any neighbor’s house and you’ll be on a 2-hour delay or maybe even 3 hours later if it’s a weekend.

Staying so long at a restaurant—In line with the above, restaurants often don’t open until 7 PM and that table is yours for the rest of the evening. No one will rush you and you will have to ask for the check when you’re ready to leave. It’s all about enjoying your meal and your dinner mates. That might be different in a hectic tourist restaurant in the height of the season, but even in those circumstances we’ve never been told to “hurry up”.

Stores that are closed on Sunday and/or Monday and not open 24 hours—Even in big cities we have found this to be somewhat true and definitely the case in Carcassonne. You adapt by planning ahead to do your shopping outside of those days. Many supermarkets are at least open on Sunday morning in case you get a last minute invitation for dinner.

Speaking multiple languages—Almost everyone that a tourist is likely to encounter speaks more than just French, sometimes reluctantly because their English may not be perfect, but they are still willing to help you. When we first arrived in town our favorite restaurateur happily conversed in French, English, Spanish, and German. 

Sales tax is included—The price you see on the shelf is what you pay at the register. There’s no last-minute fumbling with foreign coins as you try to find that 1 centime the cashier has asked you for, not to mention understanding the request!

The number of days of vacation—Most French workers earn 5 weeks of vacation each year. In 2023 it was/is possible to combine weekends, the 11 public holidays, and 26 days of vacation into 64 days off from work. 

These are all items that visitors, including us when we came to France on vacation, noticed as being different from the US. Living here you see other things like people opening their bedroom windows each morning to air out the room even if it’s below freezing outside; later you might see that duvet that kept them warm all night dangling out the open window for the same reason. Toilets are usually in a separate room from the tub/shower and sink; when people move out of an apartment or house they will probably take all of the light fixtures from the walls and ceilings and maybe even the kitchen sink. People really do dunk their baguette in their coffee which is why those cups are so wide. We have still seen salad come out after the main course, followed by the cheese plate, and then dessert. Now, none of that seems strange at all!

Photo notes: Across the top are downspouts on rue Trivalle and the croissant photo is from Darya Gryazeva, thank you.