Where to fly into france
3 Travel tips for Paris tourists always forget when visiting France
in the eight years i've lived in france
i've seen my fair share of bad tourist
behavior and most of the time it's
coming from people who just don't know
any better
so in this video i'm going to share with
you my top three france travel tips that
go a long way
in terms of respecting the culture
fitting in and being perceived
positively by the french so
if you don't want to be a clueless
tourist who's just unaware of what
france is like
keep on watching
[Music]
i'm diane the american behind the living
abroad lifestyle blog
we in france i've lived out in the loire
valley of france since 2012 and here on
this channel we talk about everyday
french life and beyond
so if you're into that sort of thing i'd
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youtube soon so stay tuned in a couple
of weeks
all right let's get into it absolutely
no one expects
tourists to speak great french or to
know all about french culture that would
be absurd
but what is reasonable is to be aware of
cultural norms and then just do your
best to be respectful of them
we're visitors after all so it's just a
learning experience and we all make
mistakes don't worry about it i've made
a ton of them
so on your next trip to france start it
off on the right foot
with my top three french travel tips
based on what i've observed over the
years
even if you're just passing through an
area of france for a day or two
knowing about these three things goes a
long way toward how you're perceived and
treated in france
i feel they're the top overarching paris
travel tips that apply to all areas of
france and pretty much any situation
i think of them as the golden rules and
yes i'm taking a hard stance on this
because they're that important
the good news is that they're super easy
to implement and keep in mind that if
you ignore these three tips
you'll most likely have a subpar
experience in france i could almost
guarantee
that french people will be less than
friendly and accommodating toward you
if you don't take these travel tips into
consideration and guess what that's how
stereotypes are maintained
that's how they're formed uh you know
things like the french being rude or
arrogant so
keep that in mind all right number one
as tourists we forget that bonjour is a
mandatory word
and i actually wrote an entire blog post
on this that i'll link below but bonjour
hello is a magic word in france above
all
in some areas of the world you can get
away with starting off an interaction
without saying hello so where you're
from
maybe greetings are considered polite
but not mandatory
in france they are mandatory beginning
any interaction with the bonjour
is as close to mandatory as you'll get
and that's for foreigners visitors
uh people who live here locals everyone
foregoing the compulsory bonjour or
bonsoir in the evening
it's not only out of touch with french
norms but it'll communicate to the
french
that you're lacking in basic manners and
this is one of those travel tips that's
easy to nail every time once you know it
because
it's easy even if you watch the
pronunciation and say bonjour bonjour
instead of bonjour just make a mental
note to say it so it becomes automatic
now who do you say bonjour to you say it
to everyone you have an exchange with
but
just don't hug them you don't hug to say
hi and friends now
staples europe before you kick off any
interaction so if you're going to be
speaking to another human being
even if it's just a quick question in a
store or you're just ordering uh
something from the bakery
you need to say bonjour yes really it's
that important
now this does not mean shouting across a
restaurant or to a busy bartender with
his back turned to you or
screaming hello to a security guard uh
you know across the supermarket no
but you say hello to a grocery store
employee the person checking out your
groceries a shopkeeper
market vendors ticket collectors uh the
guy you approach on the street for
directions you say hello to
everyone you generally greet in the usa
plus
when you're entering a doctor's office
when you're entering an elevator when
you're in a waiting room
um and all that's in a blog post i
linked below so yeah
so you might be thinking a little
confused like diane of course i say
bonjour i wasn't raised by wolves what
do you think i am
but depending on where and how you were
raised saying hello first and foremost
might seem like common sense i get it
but hear me out the difference here
about how bonjour is used in france is
subtle
and let me give you an example so in the
usa it's commonplace just go up to
someone in the service position
and launch into your request maybe not
the politest thing but it's fine
here's an example i was back home in
florida visiting family behind an older
guy in publix
and he said to the deli counter woman
give me a half pound of ham
and then he was like give me a quarter
pound of atlanta likes american cheese
please then i was in starbucks there was
a girl scrolling through her instagram
feed she's like
uh i'll take a skim vanilla latte she
might have said please right she didn't
even look up
or behind someone at the cbs pharmacy
when it was this guy's turn he's just
like uh
yeah i'm picking up a prescription for
john doe so in all of these cases the
employee didn't blink
and got right to work now none of these
instances i just mentioned would fly in
france
everyone in earshot would think you're
majorly rude
and maybe not say anything to you but
they sure as heck would think it and
in some cases i've seen employees just
stare back at the person repeatedly
saying
well sure well sure until they get a
little bit of a clue and uh realize they
forgot the obligatory bonjour
you know so they start again with the
magic words and it's happened to me a
few times i learned my lesson right
sometimes you know even if you know
you're supposed to say bonjour
it falls by the wayside because you're
so caught up in your head trying to
remember the sentence you're supposed to
say
after the bone sure or you're so
enamored by everything french and
everything new and the sights and smells
in your jet lag that you just forget
it happens it's okay we've all been
there but
the point is you know like any big city
people get away with rudeness
all the time and while it's acceptable
in the us it's not polite but it's
acceptable
it's not acceptable to not say bonjour
and friends so
don't be rude yourself and i feel like
as foreigners sometimes we need to step
up our game
and be better than all the tourists uh
doing the wrong thing so now you know
and sure you could do whatever you want
you could bark orders at people you
could forget your bonjour
you know in paris locals are sadly used
to tourists not knowing the rules but if
you've watched this far
it means you're interested in making a
good impression so good on you you care
about these things and
uh yeah we'll be friends and here's the
thing about that this is one of those
friends travel tips that goes beyond
merely being polite it's not just about
being respectful of french culture
in my opinion it goes toward letting
another human being
know that they're being seen so they're
not just there to serve others because
it's their job or to help you because
you're a tourist
you know so before there's any ask
there's a brief
but necessary acknowledgement of hey i
see you fellow human
i know you don't have to help me but i'm
starting off by being polite so let's
proceed
please in effect that's what you're
saying and one thing to note bonjour
is not an invitation to strike up a
personal conversation and it's not a
come on
it's just a necessary part of how you
communicate in france so
it's something you say and it's expected
at a bare minimum
and delving into small talk is a matter
of discretion
now if you'd like to learn a few more
polite phrases that'll help you make a
good impression i've written about that
as well
so head to the description for that link
with a comprehensive
french travel phrase post with audio
that might also be of interest but let's
move into number two all right
so number two is tourists forget to make
an effort with french
even if you only know three words that
effort goes by the wayside so
beyond number one saying bonjour which
we just mentioned there are a few other
words that
really do make a difference so
that means goodbye if you want to get
fancy merci
mercies thank you and if you didn't
learn them in your middle school
french class learn them and practice
them before you get off the plane it
doesn't matter if you have a horrendous
accent go ahead and say au revoir merci
if you're barely understandable it's the
effort here that counts so
do your best to try even if you think
you sound ridiculous again we've all
been there
and i feel that what's way more
ridiculous than a tourist
uh totally botching pronunciation is if
you don't even try at all
and worse if you just walk up to a
french person and say hello
or please or thank you in english i've
seen that
it's lazy don't do it and i know it
feels weird to bust out your limited
french
especially if the person you're talking
to speaks english but do it anyway
and in the name of all things holy just
do your best to learn at least hello
thanks and please okay hello is bonjour
thanks is merci please is cebu play
and then use them often everyone's
capable of that again forget the accent
don't be embarrassed
otherwise you risk being perceived as
someone who's culturally tone deaf
and don't receive the corresponding
service so my take is if you can do a
few simple things to have a better
experience
why not okay last one number three is
we forget to experience things without
making judgment calls
and this is france it's where things are
done the french way don't i know it
it's not america english is not the
native language and outside of big
cities the french really don't speak
more than basic english if at all
so we need to be respectful of the
people and the country we're visiting
and that means keep cultural judgments
to ourselves and don't
audibly criticize the french or at all
um
you know after just a limited experience
in the country you'd be
surprised what i've heard taurus say you
know someone loudly proclaiming
out in the street hey i don't know the
big bathroom
actually happened or oh this bed is tiny
there's no closets
the french are inconveniencing tourists
with their stupid store hours and
strikes don't they know ah
you know i've heard that and i've also
been an earshot
of tourists complaining about french
waiters and how they're so rude
you know after one restaurant experience
being in paris for a day and guess what
they forgot to say bonjour because
of course they did so really what
someone's saying when they exclaim
the hotel room is tiny it's this hotel
room is smaller than
what i thought my money would get me
back home uh or this restaurant service
is super slow all it means is this
restaurant service is super slow
compared to what i'm used to back home
so
go ahead notice the differences i do it
often but try to resist making judgment
calls
that deem one way of doing something
better or worse than the other and then
getting all bent out of shape about it
it's a vacation right
part of traveling i feel is taking in
the experience for all it is and all
it's not
and the cultural differences they're fun
and no matter how uncomfortable they can
be we learn something and we'll probably
laugh about it later
i hope so it is normal to notice the
differences and talk about them it's a
fun topic of conversation really you see
it all the time on my blog
culture shock is real and i remind
myself not to make these judgment calls
all the time
because you know it's not normal to
expect everything to be like it is at
home and then write off france as being
you know less than or everyone's
arrogant or rude or no one speaks
english well
it's france you know so if you're
looking for a replica of your home
country just with different scenery
well why spend all the time and money to
go to france so just clear your mind be
open about
it live the differences observe learn
and just experience them you know
friends is nothing like the usa in a lot
of ways and i feel like that's a good
thing how boring would it be
if we all experience the same thing
everywhere across the globe and yeah
i'll be the first to say there are
things in france or anywhere
that can be abandoning but just use it
as a lesson to go with the flow it's a
good exercise i've chilled out a lot
since i moved here
and above all enjoy your trip to france
and if you'd like some more tips i've
rounded up a whole bunch crowdsourced
from my facebook readers
about france travel so i'll link that
down below if you'd like to read a few
more
but uh tell me have you committed any
faux pas in france
and if so tell me about them let me know
about any
major tips i might have missed that you
have for tourists visiting france
let me know down below in the comments
if you enjoyed this video um
give me a thumbs up subscribe if you're
into this sort of content
i'd love to see you back here on we in
france soon thank you so much
and salute
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