Last night, me and some of my friends had what we decided to call "French Stereotype Night." We took wine, cheese, Le Petit Ecolier cookies, and bread to the Eiffel Tower and sat there for a few hours. We also took along a beret and a French flag and posed for some goofy pictures. Here's one of my pictures, featuring the beret, wine, and me pretending to smoke...
So, I think it's about time for some observations about French culture. First of all, fashion...skinny jeans are the ONLY jeans that the French wear, and they are just about always a very dark rinse. I am very glad I brought one of my pairs, because I've been wearing them a lot. As far as shoes go, the only tennis shoes they wear are black Chucks (and I brought mine, so another check for me). Other than that, it's ballet flats or heels. Their shirts are almost always one solid color, usually something neutral (but occasionally you'll see some color). A lot of people wear scarves; hardly anyone wears hats. Most everyone wears a black coat everywhere, even if it isn't cold.
Next, food. French people love to sit and eat. Their dinners are an hour long at minimum (which I know I've touched on before in here). They barely eat anything for breakfast, just bread or a croissant and coffee or tea. Then, they have a baguette sandwich or a big salad or something for lunch (and they always have dessert). Some people do the whole afternoon tea (gouter) thing, but it doesn't look like too many people do. Dinner is the big occasion...everything closes early so people can eat with their families. Dinner consists of the entree (not the main course like in the US...actually the appetizer), the plat (the main course), a fromage (cheese) course, and dessert (usually fruit and a cake or tart or something). French people DO NOT snack. Ever. They think it's really really bad for you, apparently. They also never drink anything. My old host family didn't even pour anything in their glasses until they got to the fromage course, and then it was half wine, half water. They would drink one glass, and c'est tout(that's all). Most people drink wine with their lunch and dinner here, but it's just a glass, and they don't have anything else to drink with it.
Lastly (for today at least), the shops. EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday, and most everything is closed on Monday, too. On Sunday, the only places you can find open are tourist shops. Like a few stores on the Champs-Elysees (but not any of the clothing stores except for the designer ones) and all the tourist traps around the Eiffel Tower...and that's it. We went to Laduree for gouter (tea) yesterday because it's one of the few places open at all on Sundays (because it is geared towards tourists). Grocery stores, boulangeries, cafes...all closed on Sundays. On Mondays, most grocery stores and most clothing stores are closed, save for the ones in the bigger shopping centers like Forum des Halles. On rue Daguerre, where my school is, there are like six small grocery stores...one was open today. None of the specialty food places are open, either...on rue Daguerre, that includes the fromagerie (cheese shop), several boulangeries, the poissonerie (fish store), all the butcher shops, the chocolate shops (yes, plural...there are chocolate stores EVERYWHERE), and basically any other specialty grocery-type thing you can think of. It's quite frustrating.
I don't think I am ever going to take 24-hour stores for granted ever again after this. Nor do I think I will ever complain about food being expensive.
Off to dinner with the host family!
Riley =)
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