{"id":419840,"date":"2025-11-03T08:19:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T07:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/?p=419840"},"modified":"2025-11-03T15:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T14:43:15","slug":"france-explained-by-french-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/france-explained-by-french-people\/","title":{"rendered":"France explained by 3 French people (why they eat late, smoke, complain\u2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>France is one of the most visited countries in the world and Emily in Paris is one of the most watched series on Netflix. Naturally, there are countless clich\u00e9s and stereotypes about this country and its people. As foreigners, many of us want to better understand these mysteries but often we are too shy to ask all the questions we have in mind. <strong>But if we don\u2019t ask we won\u2019t ever know. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I invited my Canadian and American friends to send me their top questions regarding France and French people. I then asked these very questions to three of my French friends to start to understand the truth. Here are the results of this little investigation.<\/p>\n<p>It should go without saying that these answers do not represent the opinions of all French people, but I still hope that they can inspire more conversations and less prejudice. <strong>A huge <em>merci<\/em> to Vincent, Alexandre, and Cassandra<\/strong> for agreeing to be interviewed. Let\u2019s dive in!<\/p>\n<p>The below text is a transcription and translation of interviews conducted orally in French. <\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info-wrap\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAlso read: <a href=\"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/reasons-canadians-whv-france\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top reasons to choose France as your working holiday destination<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<h2>Can you please introduce yourself?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> My name is Vincent. I\u2019m 35 years old and I\u2019m French. I\u2019m originally from the south of France and I\u2019ve been living in Paris for 5 years. I work in the car rental tech space.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> My name is Alexandre. I\u2019m 35 years old. I was born in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. I work as a project manager in the pharmaceutical industry.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> I\u2019m Cassandra. I was born in France and live in the Parisian region. Currently I work as a tech consultant.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why do the French eat dinner so late? (i.e. 8pm or even later)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s because we have well defined meals. There are three: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they are never skipped. Everyone eats lunch between noon and 2pm. If you eat at noon, that means at 5pm you\u2019re just not hungry yet. I think that\u2019s why when people get out from work at 5-6pm, they\u2019ll go play some sports first, or pick up their kids from school. So then that pushes back the dinner time to 7pm or later, but not earlier than that. Basically between 5pm and 7pm either you\u2019re not hungry or you\u2019re busy doing other stuff.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s a question of habit. I\u2019m Asian, so I tend to eat earlier around 6-7pm. But my brother is very French, he eats around 8:30-9pm. Maybe it\u2019s also because of work. People finish late, around 6-6:30pm in Paris, and then they have to take care of their kids. It takes time to cook and stuff. As for young people, I think they like to go out. They\u2019ll meet first for <em>ap\u00e9ro<\/em> (sausages, cheese, snacks, drinks) and then dinner just happens later.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> What is considered late? I don\u2019t feel like I eat very late. We end work at 6pm, we\u2019ve got stuff to do, sports clubs, meeting up with friends for an <em>ap\u00e9ro.<\/em> 8-9pm is when we eat dinner, but at 4pm we have <em>go\u00fbter<\/em> (snack time), maybe some cake or pastry, fruits, or other snacks between lunch and dinner.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why do so many French people smoke cigarettes?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> Good question. Maybe it\u2019s because the price for a pack used to be very cheap in France, around 2-3 euros. Also there might be an association with the fashion and style of the 1920s and 30s, when, not to be pretentious, but the French were quite well dressed. And so cigarettes kind of evoke that cool image of <em>patron<\/em> or <em>s\u00e9ducteur.<\/em> Maybe that persists even today.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> The people whom I know that smoke, I think it\u2019s because they\u2019re stressed out. They\u2019re stressed by their routine, by transportation, by work. When I ask them, they say smoking is a moment of relaxation for them.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> Because Parisians, for example, are stressed. Stressed by the metro, by other people\u2026 I personally don\u2019t smoke so I\u2019m not sure but people do like to smoke.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>French people have a reputation for being cold and mean to outsiders. What do you think about this?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> Actually I only first learned about this clich\u00e9 when I went to Canada, where people said the French are rude. But I don\u2019t think we\u2019re rude, we\u2019re just honest. If a French person doesn\u2019t like you, he\u2019s not going to say \u201cOh I appreciate you so much, let&#8217;s grab a drink\u201d or whatever. He&#8217;ll be honest and frank. I\u2019m not sure if there is an etymological link between frank and France, but in any case I think French people are honest much more than mean.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> I don\u2019t agree with that. I find that people are quite warm\u2026 well maybe it\u2019s different in Paris. People here are in a rush, they don\u2019t have time to reply nicely to others. But when I lived in Normandy, people were nice. When people got on the bus to go to work, they would say hello to the driver and the driver would say it back. In the countryside too, people are nicer than Parisians. I think it\u2019s because of life here in Paris, people are in such a rush.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> I would say that it depends on where you are. In some places, people are curious towards foreigners while in others people are indifferent. Paris gets a lot of tourists so we see a lot of foreigners. The lifestyle here is quite intense, when you take the metro you know exactly where you\u2019re going. And so when you\u2019re in a rush to catch the train and you see a foreigner fumbling around, you kind of think \u201ccome on, move a little\u201d haha. It\u2019s also because we don\u2019t speak foreign languages well and so people don\u2019t want to make the effort. That\u2019s just my guess, but I\u2019m not cold towards foreigners, I\u2019m pretty open and curious.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Is it true that the French complain a lot?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> Well yeah haha. I think it\u2019s a French trademark, and as you can see, going on strike is a national sport. It\u2019s our right to strike, so why deprive ourselves of it? That\u2019s probably why we\u2019re always fighting for a yes or no with the government. Especially if they promise us something but then don\u2019t deliver, we will not go down without a fight. It\u2019s also been in our DNA since the French Revolution of 1789, and so I think we have the spirit of complaint and rebellion that is inscribed into our genes.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> Yes I think it\u2019s a part of the culture. The moment something doesn\u2019t go right, we complain. Even with colleagues, we\u2019ll talk about the smallest of things that we don\u2019t like. France is quite fortunate compared to other countries. We have subsidies, government aid, and social security programs. It\u2019s only when we go abroad that we realize how lucky we are. But even then, we still like to complain anyway.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> Yes, especially in Paris. Transportation is often a headache. There\u2019s always something to say about work. There\u2019s always something to say about your family. We just like to complain about anything and everything, I don\u2019t know why. But for me, everyone complains, so it\u2019s weird that you\u2019re telling me that the French complain more. It\u2019s normal to complain isn\u2019t it? Do we really do it more than others?\n<\/li>\n<h2>Why do the French often respond in English when foreigners approach them in French?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> Good question. I think French people don\u2019t like to speak French with people who don\u2019t speak French well. Maybe they\u2019re worried that they won\u2019t be understood. That\u2019s why they switch to English, or rather a language that they think is English haha.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> When I used to work at the Chateau de Versailles, I would reply to American and Japanese tourists in French when they tried to speak in French, and they appreciated it. Otherwise I normally switch to English because I know that the French language is difficult. And especially when the person makes too many mistakes in French, my ears cry haha.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> Maybe it\u2019s because we know it\u2019s hard to speak French and so we respond in English to facilitate the exchange. Or maybe it&#8217;s also because people want to practice their English. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s meant to be mean.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info-wrap\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\nAlso read: <a href=\"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/french-people-switch-english\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why people switch to English when you speak to them in French<\/a><br \/>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<h2>Deep down, are the French jealous of English speakers?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> Wow! Well maybe yes, because anglophones can travel anywhere in the world and everyone speaks English but not French. We have to learn English even for the smallest of jobs, while anglophones can very well speak only English without it ever hindering their career or their desire to travel the world. So yes, I would say there is some jealousy.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> There\u2019s no jealousy\u2026 Well it\u2019s true that French people would love for everyone to speak French, that\u2019s for sure. In Europe, French is still quite spoken. If you go to the European Parliament, you\u2019ll see that. And for the Olympics, there\u2019s always something in French because it\u2019s the official language. But yes it\u2019s a shame that we can\u2019t speak French everywhere. In school we learn English so we can get by, but maybe for the generation of our parents or grandparents it\u2019s more difficult to. The younger generation starts learning English from a very young age.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> From my point of view, it\u2019s true that people have a lot more access to information in English. I wouldn\u2019t say jealous but maybe envious in that regard. Too bad French isn\u2019t the universal language.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What do you really think about Americans?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> It\u2019s always been El Dorado for the French, the country where everything is possible. But for a few years now it\u2019s also become the country where people can\u2019t even place a country on the map, which for us is so easy. Among Americans there\u2019s such a mix. There are people who have incredible success because their country gave them the possibility to explore without limits. But there are also many Americans who have been left behind and are viewed as the idiots of the world.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> They\u2019re always happy. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s just fake\u2026 When I went to the US, everyone always looked happy. On the one hand it\u2019s nice, but at the same time I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s really genuine.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> I would love to visit to have a real opinion. It seems to be a country of freedom, where the American dream can be dreamt and realized from nothing. But I also have quite a negative perception of the country. Food wise, I\u2019m not interested; I can\u2019t imagine what I would want to eat there. However, they do seem to have very beautiful landscapes. Americans are open minded too. They seem to be more welcoming towards foreigners, even though their customs agents are scary.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is your favourite place outside of France?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> It would be Canada, specifically Vancouver. I have an exceptional girlfriend from Canada whom I met there.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> I really like Greece, it\u2019s a beautiful country. There are lots of islands and archeological sites to see. I went to Rhodes and it was a very nice city. Their food is healthy too. Their Mediterranean recipes have a lot of vegetables. The weather is great and winters are mild. It\u2019s a nice place to visit.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> I like Taiwan. It\u2019s a country where women can feel safe. I love the ocean, the onsens, everything that is water and nature. I also quite like India. Their food is delicious, it\u2019s lively and colorful. These are my top two, if I had to choose.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What do you like most about France?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> Its culture and history. Though it may be tainted with lots of wars, it\u2019s such a rich history that at school it\u2019s a real struggle to learn and memorize everything. Not all countries can claim to have this. The country promotes and preserves art and cinema at all costs. You see all the cultural heritage just by walking in the streets, with Paris being one of the most beautiful cities in the world if for nothing else than its architecture. This is what I\u2019m most proud of.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> Food. We have excellent gastronomic traditions and there are so many Michelin starred chefs in France. We are lucky to have such a diverse local cuisines, including those of Brittany, Normandy, Strasbourg etc. And in terms of pastries we are spoiled too. Everyone likes a good baguette and croissant.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> I love eating pastries and cakes. Paris is pretty too. We have access to lots of activities for not much or even free. For example, before I turned 25 I took advantage of all of the museums that I could visit for free. So cultural experiences in Paris are not too expensive.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>One thing that you would change about France?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> I would change French people. It\u2019s true that our country is one of the most beautiful in the world with an enviably rich history, but the French just don\u2019t have a mentality that is up to par. I think that if we want to sustain our image <em>\u00e0 la fran\u00e7aise<\/em> that once evoked excellence and elegance, the current way of thinking is not enough. Because I think people lack the desire to work and improve upon themselves.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> Hm\u2026 for people to complain less, we were talking about it earlier. I would encourage people to visit other countries because in doing so, they can see that people in Asia, for example, are warm and happy, even those who don\u2019t have much materially. They don\u2019t have social security or state programs, and yet they are happy as they are. In France we have so much and yet we still complain a lot.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> Transportation, for it to be easier and cheaper to travel between cities and within Paris. Also the weather in the winter, I don\u2019t like the cold.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Do you have a message for those reading this who are interested in France?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vincent:<\/strong> Don\u2019t believe everything you see on the surface, nor the clich\u00e9s that France or the French might evoke. Come explore for yourself instead of believing what you see on TV or social media. France remains a beautiful destination to visit. There are many things to do and you won\u2019t be disappointed.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alexandre:<\/strong> Don\u2019t hesitate to visit elsewhere than Paris, there are so many beautiful places. France is rich with diverse landscapes and monuments. There really is more than just Paris. In the South and Normandy, there is the sea. Even when I see documentaries, it makes me want to visit other corners of France.\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cassandra:<\/strong> It\u2019s a very beautiful country to visit, and with great food. But don\u2019t have too high of expectations of the French themselves. If they happen to be nice to you then great. If not, then\u2026 <em><strong>voil\u00e0.<\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info-wrap\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\nAlso read: <a href=\"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/reasons-canadians-whv-france\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top reasons to choose France as your working holiday destination<\/a><br \/>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>France is one of the most visited countries in the world and Emily in Paris is one of the most watched series on Netflix. Naturally, there are countless clich\u00e9s and stereotypes about this country and its people. As foreigners, many of us want to better understand these mysteries but often we are too shy to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":443629,"featured_media":419743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[201,899],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualite","category-cultureactivities","pays-france-en"],"acf":[],"comments_count":1,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/443629"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419840"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":452323,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419840\/revisions\/452323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}