With the Eiffel Tower in the background
The laws of France, like French etiquette, can be extravagant. However, failure to comply with any rules of behavior by tourists can play a cruel joke on them. A number of French customs have evolved over centuries, which cannot be said about some modern laws and traditions. Let's try to figure out what things you shouldn't do in France, and what consequences for a tourist can follow for not following the basic rules.
Taking pictures of police officers
This rule, which is not new to many countries in the world, is monitored particularly zealously in France. In any city, local law enforcement officers are so nervous about camera lenses aimed at them that it can result in several hours of arrest with a complete search of personal belongings. Under official state law The gendarmes themselves, police station buildings and even patrol cars are caught.
Violate store rules
In France, there has long been an established form of behavior in places of trade, which is extremely undesirable to violate. Firstly, when entering a store you should always say hello to the staff, if not first, then in response, and at the exit say goodbye. This rule is an identifier for Russian tourists who, according to the French, do not like to greet anyone. Secondly, never Do not touch the product with your hands, especially clothes - the seller himself is obliged to show it to the buyer, or bring the desired size of clothing for fitting.
Cheese shop
Be inattentive on the roads
On any French road the driver has an advantage. Always. Therefore, it is extremely undesirable to cross the road where there is no traffic light - you can easily get run over by even the most careful and attentive driver. In turn, the French police are not asleep either, actively fining careless pedestrians and tourists with particular zeal. In some provinces, fines for jaywalking can exceed 100 euros. As for railways, then in France you can only cross them via an overpass or underground passage.
Be rude to the service staff
The stereotypical opinion that “the customer is always right” does not work at all in France. Jokes about waiters spitting on restaurant patrons' plates are an unfunny reality here. European values are especially strongly defended in France, so a person, outside of his position, has every right to mutual politeness and courtesy. It is also undesirable to argue with waiters about anything.
At the restaurant
Create a language barrier
The French say only in French- this old stereotype has become a very real credo for representatives of the titular nation. They don’t understand English here, and even less so Russian, with the exception of national restaurants in Paris and Marseille. Even broken French from the lips of a tourist will receive several times more responsiveness on city streets and in rural areas than perfect English pronunciation.
Throwing away subway tickets
It is not necessary to keep all purchased tickets for a long time; the main thing is to keep the ticket purchased for the trip with you before leaving the station. The police officers acting as controllers in the French subway have the authority to fine free riders. The check is carried out at the exit from the station, that is, no longer underground - you just need to attach the ticket to the scanner next to the controller. If there is no ticket, the “hare” will face a fixed fine of 35 euros.
Abuse bad habits
Since 2008, France has had a fairly strict law regulating smoking areas. You can now smoke within the city limits only in places specially designated for this purpose, and nowhere else. The same rules apply to drinking alcoholic beverages - you cannot appear with a bottle of even the most expensive cognac outside the areas of restaurants and open terraces of bars.
Important: The French authorities also monitor drug trafficking. Today, blatant measures are being taken to check trains and intercity buses. Any passenger's luggage may be subject to a detailed search with a specially trained dog - you need to be prepared for this.
React negatively to etiquette rules
Many tourists from Russia very often do not accept traditional kiss on the cheek in France, as a sign of greeting. There is nothing particularly negative about this, but this ritual has been developing among the French for centuries, and in each region it has its own variations. In the north of France, including Paris, people kiss twice when they meet, in villages - three times. The indigenous population of the Côte d'Azur always kiss each other four times when they meet and the same number of times when they say goodbye. Refusing a kiss will not cause any particular condemnation from a friendly Frenchman, but this gesture can offend a person.
Kiss on the cheek as a sign of greeting
Trying to buy goods that have restrictions on sale
Basically, this rule applies to medications. For example, the familiar aspirin in France is not sold in every pharmacy, but where it is sold - prescription required. The same applies to many painkillers, which are best brought “from home”. Also, since 2014, by personal order of French President Francois Hollande, it is impossible to sell such a delicate product, which is needed by many tourists, without a prescription. condoms. To buy contraception you will now have to obtain a certificate from a doctor with a French license.
React indifferently to street incidents
Whether it's a car accident or a street robbery - in France, any passerby is obliged to help the victim or call the police or ambulance. Otherwise, the person in trouble may point to you as a witness. According to French law, a witness who fails to assist a person in a critical situation commits a criminal offense.
Disturb public order
The French love of fun has long been limited by law. For example, in residential areas No noise allowed after 22:00. Strict beach laws have surprised even the residents of France in recent years, but nevertheless, a huge fine is issued for topless tanning outside nudist beaches. On some beaches, too revealing bikini swimsuits are considered “nudity” - you need to carefully read the signs before entering the recreation area.
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2. The minimum salary is set at about 1000e. Of course, there are salaries that are less, but this is more likely for part-time work (waiters, janitors, etc.). Most professions have this minimum payment, and about 80% of the population receives it. Most of them, of course, are young people and immigrants.3. There is practically no corruption in the country. Bribing a cop (I wanted to try)) or any department is strictly not recommended. He won’t take it and even rat you out.
4. In France you will only be served frogs in rare gourmet restaurants.
5. There are tons of cafes there. Most often, the owners of these cafes are bartenders and hire waiters as assistants only for the evening. In the evening from 6 to 11 o'clock it is almost impossible to find a place in a cafe. At lunch it’s also difficult, but still a little easier.
6. They smoke in cafes, that’s it, that’s it. Beautiful cafe in the city center ruined my date due to the fact that the girl was hard to see due to the smoke. Few people bother with ventilation there.
7. A lot of people smoke there, especially young people. Which is strange considering that a pack of the cheapest cigarettes there costs about 220 rubles in terms of wooden ones.
8. There are many Arabs. So many. Especially young people. It seemed to me that there were more of them than the French. But this is not even Marseille.
9. Arabs, mostly young, behave quite aggressively there. They are very reminiscent of Caucasians in Moscow, only their faces are slightly different. In the same way, they can run into you in the evening, they are very greedy for beautiful girls. But for some reason they’re not scary. Maybe it was my brave Russian blood that was boiling so much in me, but in the evening walking past a group of drunken young Arabs waking up the whole area was not at all scary). 
10. The style of the French is difficult for us. 99% of young people there wear watches and chains (the more the better) over all their clothes, even if it's a down jacket. Dressing in different colored shoes, socks, doing completely freaky hairstyles is the norm and no one is surprised by this. A hairstyle a la “short potty”, more like a Jewish cap, is worn by 99% of young Arabs. Europeans are more like people.
11. Girls in France are NOT VERY beautiful. Small, fat, scary looking. ALL (!!!) beautiful girls that caught my eye turned out to be immigrants. Well, except for one thing - the lady was stunning (and what was she doing in such a suit on the subway?), but I didn’t dare find out her nationality.
12. Children in France are also scary, especially girls. Then they grow up to be scary French girls.
13. Public transport cool. The trams are similar to lunar rovers, the buses are clean and comfortable, the metro is quiet and comfortable (there are wheels with tires), but it travels much slower than in Moscow. But. The metro there runs every 10–15 minutes, and on some lines there are automatic trains without a driver. They consist of 2-3 cars (some of 5-6), and it’s quite cool to sit in the very front and feel like a driver)). Tickets for all types of public transport are the same, that is, by buying 1 ticket for 1.5e (now it may be more expensive), which is valid for 1 hour, you can go through as many turnstiles as you like different types transport. Very convenient for short trips.
14. Transport inspectors come from time to time. They go look at the tickets and read whether you have used a card for a free trip, if you have one (for example, students and schoolchildren have them). I don't know why, but you have to punch even cards like this. 
15. Fines for traveling without a ticket are unrealistic. For a beautiful pirouette through the turnstile in the metro (by the way, there are also a lot of people jumping there, mostly Arabs), I was given a fine of 200 rubles)) And taking into account the fact that I didn’t carry my foreign passport with me, they also called the police and waited a long time for them to arrive.
16. The police arrived in 10–15 minutes. Which is strange, considering that they were traveling by car, and the site turned out to be 1 km from the station. The cops turned out to be polite, French, and never brutal. The brains didn’t float for a long time, they clarified my name (by the way, they are not able to write it down by ear)), and sent me on my way.
17. It is customary to make money there from tourists. The prices for souvenirs are enormous. Like probably everywhere else.
18. Houses and apartments are low and luxurious. In the center there are usually buildings of 5–6 storey buildings. Less often 7. In the entire city I counted only a few houses above 10 floors. The entrances to all houses, without exception, are crystal clean, well-groomed, in general, paradise. The apartments are large. 3-4 rooms everywhere. Often - with decorative elements. Living there is a pleasure. Although there are cheaper and worse options, mostly in the outskirts and other cities. In Saint-Etienne, I visited the hut of a Lithuanian, which was located in some garages. It was possible to get there only through a tricky route, all the walls were painted on, the hut was small and uncomfortable, in the style of a studio.
19. A lot of houses have tricky metal shutters on the outside windows, essentially just metal shutters that can be closed. You can't do anything with them, neither paint nor remove ANYTHING. Even if they really bother you. Will you tear it off? Fine. 
20. Fines in France are generally enormous for anything and everything. Especially traffic rules.
21. The embankments are very similar to those in Moscow.
22. There are a lot of women driving. But they drive like all women - not very well.
23. In France they are very partial to fire. If you emotionally want to harm your neighbor, you will put a pile on him, shit on the rug, etc., then they will burn your rug, your car, your mailbox, whatever. Everyone insures their cars against arson. For example, the ex-husband of my friend’s mother burned their car out of jealousy; the stain probably still hasn’t been washed off in the parking lot) But in the end it turned out to be profitable because the insurance paid out more than the car was actually worth.
24. The French love their auto industry very much. I personally observed the superiority in the number of Citroens over Renault and Peugeot, but there are also many of them. In fact, even if he has money, a Frenchman will most likely take a Citroen rather than a Mercedes or a Japanese one.
25. The French are very polite. In case of minor accidents (the same friend’s mother deftly kissed the jeep while parking), they don’t tense up at all and disperse. 
26. The French are VERY polite. I will describe an incident that plunged me into culture shock. I was traveling on a bus, a woman was sitting at the wheel (about half of them were there), a man clearly not caring about anything ran in front of her, causing a sharp braking, everyone almost got hit. I was expecting an obscene tirade right now, but instead the man waved to the lady, and she smiled and waved back and drove on.
27. Wine is very cheap in France. Before leaving, I bought 3 bottles on the 2nd, and the quality was better than many of ours.
28. Bottled beer is bad in France. It costs about a third more than ours (like all products), but the taste of their mediocre beer is at the level of Zhigulevsky. I brought them bottles of Bochkarev and Siberian Crown to try, and compared them myself for a change. Ours is much better. Of our beers, only Baltika can be found in their stores.
29. There is a problem with Russian shops there, they are there, but not many. And their prices are great. Then (3 years ago) Ochakovskaya tit there cost 3-4 times more expensive than what I drank a couple of days before in Moscow)). The owners of Russian restaurants also buy food there. 
30. The French are very sociable. So they strive to sit down with you and chat. Even if you're with a girl. Even if you say you don't understand French. Sometimes it’s very infuriating, you want to take it and fuck it.
31. The French are assholes. There are a couple of big guys with a bisukha in the whole city. A gyms more like a pasta shop. But sports are in perfect order. The most popular games are football, basketball and rugby. If you are a rugby player, you rise in their eyes by 100,500 points, because you are most likely a healthy guy and unique. Everyone plays football there. Basketball too, but less.
32. There are not so many blacks in France as it might seem from the performance of their national football team. Approximately 15% of the total. And they are pretty normal guys, polite, sociable, not aggressive.
33. There is no swearing in their language. There is only the word Mierde which can be translated as devil, or as gamno. Depending on the turnover. There is also no sound X, they told me that they can’t even pronounce it, but I don’t believe it.
34. Social assistance to the “poor” there is at such a level that in our country middle class should feel hurt. Help comes primarily with food. Using coupons, once every 2-4 weeks all the “poor” people in the area (mostly immigrants) gather for distribution. They give out everything there - blue cheese (blue cheese, we don’t have that), chocolates (very tasty), yoghurts, bread, vegetables, milk, cereal, well, in short, everything. The quality of the products is the same as in the store and the goods are not basement, but branded. 
35. The standard of living there is extremely high. I lived at one time in a family of such “poor” people. They have a 3-room apartment on the 5th floor with crystal clear light yellow entrances and glass doors. Excellent renovation, half-wall plasma, audio system, computer with internet, full refrigerator…. In general, in Russia I live much worse. The Internet, by the way, is good there anywhere in the country, and without glitches.
36. Education there is at a very high level. At school, by the 10th–11th grade, they go through a program equal to the 2nd year of our university. I checked. They take it very seriously - you won’t be able to freeload, the program is very complex, you have to study inside and out. But if you received a diploma, consider life a success and good job is waiting for you. But it is also possible to quit school, many immigrants do this and then go to work as builders and auto mechanics.
37. If there had been a temperature of -20 for at least a couple of days, France would have died. It’s cold there even at +10, especially near the cottages...
38. There are a lot of old houses in France. In Lyon there is an entire block consisting of houses that are 300–400 years old. They look good, like Soviet houses from the 60s and 70s...
39. The French are obsessed with discounts, like probably all Europeans. They go around trying on clothes for 2-3 months, and then during the discount season (if I’m not mistaken there are 2 of them - winter and summer) they storm stores all over the country. This is difficult to explain scientifically). 
40. There are markets, but in hidden places in the city, so that they are not visible. They sell all sorts of bad clothes, vegetables and fruits and some furniture and plants. The sellers are Arabs. The quality is poor, prices are lower than in the store.
41. After 9, not a single store is open, not even pharmacies. The only exceptions are Arab shops and all sorts of kebab houses. There are no 24-hour stores.
42. Kebab is a very common food, especially among young people. By God, how is our shawarma. It is prepared exclusively by Arabs. All the ingredients are the same as in shawarma, only they are cut a little differently and instead of lavash there is a piece of pita bread. There is still more convenient shawarma) It costs 3-4 euros.
43. The French cook so-so. Even in cafes and restaurants. And their coffee tastes like it contains cigarette butts. But this whole thing costs a lot. For 2 lasagnas and 2 cups of coffee in the center, be prepared to pay 30-35 euros.
44. They don’t really like Russians, but they don’t despise them either.
45. There are a lot of Ukrainian prostitutes in France. Almost everything) The guys told me)) I haven’t checked it myself. But they seem to be in demand, considering that the French. All girls are scary.
Pantyhose were invented in France. Women's tights are the most ingenious invention of the 20th century, because they can also be used as an excellent medical tourniquet to stop bleeding, and in the garden against pests, etc. :)
France is home to the world's most visited attractions: the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral and the Mont Saint-Michel Monastery.
France is the birthplace of cinema, the birthplace of aeronautics, the birthplace of the bicycle, the birthplace of ballet.
In France, there are several types of fire-resistant trees. They were chosen for amazing wooden fireplaces (one of these fireplaces can be found in the Amboise Castle). The most famous non-burning trees are juniper and cedar. Accordingly, pine nuts are actually a panacea for all diseases. Unlike Russian Siberian and even Far Eastern pine nuts, they are not just large, but sometimes unusually gigantic. And very inexpensive. That is, expensive, of course, but much cheaper than Siberian ones in Siberia itself. In Arab markets you can find a 200-gram bag of shelled nuts for 5 euros.
In France, the smelliest and most expensive mushrooms in the world grow - truffles. There are even truffle auctions. This is the only product for which there is no official price. Truffle sellers only accept cash! They cost an average of six hundred euros per kilogram - and that includes the soil and the uncleaned ones. Season - from November to March.
All escargot in France (grape snails baked in garlic sauce) are called Bourgogne. This is because they are considered the largest and tastiest. On the menu they will be called Bourgogne, even if they are collected in the square in front of Notre Dame de Paris.
Buckwheat is not in short supply in France. Buckwheat fields in Brittany are considered primordial, although they appeared there only around the eighth century. Buckwheat flour for Breton pancakes and galettes is a common, everyday product. The French do not use buckwheat as a grain for porridge. But for those yearning for buckwheat porridge, you can buy it in bird food stores, at a more expensive price - in Bio stores, from the Greeks, Turks and Arabs. And if you want it to be expensive, then in Russian stores.
France is the largest country in Western Europe.
In France, the terms “dry” and “brut” refer only to champagne. The concept of “dry wine” does not exist, because by definition it is all real natural wine. Fortified wines definitely move into the class of liqueurs and are no longer considered wines.
France got its name from the name of the Germanic tribes who lived in Northern Europe and known as the Franks.
France has the world's third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
France is the third largest country in Europe after Russia and Ukraine.
France is a member of the UN, as well as one of 5 countries with veto power.
Paris is the capital of France and is considered the fashion capital of the world.
France has the largest wine production. About 8 million bottles are produced every day in France.
France and England are connected by an underground tunnel.
The famous Tour de France cycling race is held in France, with participants covering a distance of about 3,600 km. The races last three weeks.
The Champs Elysees is considered the most beautiful street in France.
It is believed that April Fool's Day, the first of April, appeared in France.
France is one of the most attractive countries for tourists. About 81,900 thousand people come here every year, which is more than the entire population of the country.
The French army ranks 6th in size.
France's seven mountain ranges include: Vosges, Jura, Le Massif Central, Northern Alps, Southern Alps, Pyrenees, and Corsica.
France is one of the largest wine-producing countries in the world, with the second largest vineyard area after Spain. The best wineries are located in provinces such as Alsace, Champagne, Loire, and Burgundy.
Concorde, the famous supersonic passenger airliner, made its first flight from Toulouse in 1969. The aircraft began to be used for transportation from 1979 to 2003.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was named the tallest man-made structure in the world, and it remained in first place for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York was built in 1930.
France is second in the list of aid donors to third world countries after the United States.
France ranks 12th in terms of army strength, which includes the French army, French navy, the French Air Force, auxiliary paramilitary forces and the national gendarmerie.
France has the sixth largest fleet, consisting of 42,550 professional sailors and 15,000 reservists.
France is a member of the G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, and the Latin Union.
France is the leading exporter of agricultural products in Europe and the third largest in the world. The main agricultural products are wheat, poultry, dairy products, beef and pork.
France has one of the lowest employment rates in age group 15-64 years old.
France ranked 24th in terms of corruption, and 20th in terms of human development.
The Canal du Midi, in the south of France, is the oldest functional canal in Europe, consisting of 63 locks, 55 aqueducts, 6 dams, 7 canals, 126 bridges, 1 tunnel.
After the population of Luxembourg (per capita), the population of France is the largest consumer medicines in Europe.
France is in second place in the production of electricity using nuclear energy after the United States, while in Europe it is in first place. The amount of electricity produced in France is higher than in Germany, Great Britain, and Spain combined.
France is home to the first mass producer of ballpoint pens in the world.
With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, in the Parisian forts and in the ditches of the Vincennes fortress, the French government carried out mass executions of thieves, murderers, criminals and other declassed elements.
Under King Louis XIV, the French army always formed an "L" formation in parades in his honor.
In French The numbers 70, 80 and 90 are called, respectively, “sixty and ten”, “four times twenty” and “four times twenty and ten”. The same applies to derivatives of these numbers. But in Belgian French everything is like in humans.
After the French Revolution in 1793, the National Convention reformed the calendar and units of time. The year was divided into 12 months of strictly 30 days each, and the month consisted of 3 decades of 10 days, of which only one day was a day off for civil servants. The remaining 5 or 6 days of the year, the so-called sansculottes, did not belong to any month. According to the new rules, a day was divided into 10 hours, an hour into 100 minutes, and a minute into 100 seconds, and thus each new second corresponded to 0.864 of the old second. On January 1, 1806, Napoleon abolished this system and returned the calendar we were familiar with.
Speed electric current almost equal to the speed of light. In 1746, when this was not yet known, the French priest and physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet wanted to measure the speed of current experimentally. He placed 200 monks, connected to each other by iron wires, in a circle over one and a half kilometers long, and then discharged a battery of Leyden jars, invented a year earlier, into this circuit. All the monks reacted to the current in an instant, which convinced Nolle of the very high value of the desired value.
The Principality of Andorra is governed jointly by Spain and France. The princes are, respectively, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Urgell and the President of France. Thus, the French president is the only democratically elected monarch in the world.
Throughout continental Europe, roads drive on the right. An exception to this rule is one Parisian street 350 meters long - Avenue General Lemonnier. Here, traffic is organized on the left side. There are areas with partial left-hand traffic in Odessa - in Vysoky Lane and on Italian Boulevard, which was done to relieve traffic jams on the adjacent streets.
In many countries, metal monuments with exposed genitals suffer from the fact that people rub these very organs until they shine - supposedly, this brings sexual luck. And even if the genital organ is clearly not visible, this does not save individual monuments. In the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris there is a monument to the journalist Victor Noir, who lived in the 19th century and was killed in a duel. The monument depicts Noir lying on the ground after receiving a bullet, but the most noticeable detail is the bump in the fly area. According to legend, if a woman has problems in her sex life or cannot give birth, she needs to kiss this bump, which has been shining brightly for a long time, and then put flowers in Noir's overturned hat.
Dog Waltz in different countries called differently. In Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands - the flea waltz. In Bulgaria there is a cat march, and in Finland there is a cat polka. In Hungary it is a donkey march, and in France for some reason it is called a chop cutlet.
Alexandre Dumas, when writing his works, used the services of many assistants - the so-called “literary blacks”. Among them, the most famous is Auguste Macquet, who, according to the writer's most famous biographer, Claude Schoppe, conceived the basis of the plot of The Count of Monte Cristo and made a significant contribution to The Three Musketeers. Although it should be noted that it was thanks to Dumas’ talent that his novels, even if they grew from the rough notes of his assistants, were saturated with vivid details and lively dialogues.
In the Middle Ages, many gypsies lived on the territory of the modern Czech Republic in the region of Bohemia, and the gypsies who came to France began to be called Bohemians. Their way of life became the basis for comparison with the gypsies of the creative elite, who led an equally chaotic and eccentric life. That is why this layer of society was called “bohemia”.
Until the mid-19th century, restaurants served all ordered dishes at once - this method of service is called “service à la française” (“French system”). At the beginning of the 19th century, Russian Prince Alexander Kurakin visited France and taught restaurateurs a different way - to serve dishes gradually, in the order they appear on the menu. In modern restaurants, this system is most popular and is called “service à la russe”.
The original recipe for the Olivier salad, invented in the 19th century by the French chef Lucien Olivier who lived in Moscow, has been lost. In 1904, the salad recipe was roughly reproduced: 2 hazel grouse, veal tongue, a quarter pound of pressed caviar, half a pound of fresh lettuce, 25 pieces of boiled crayfish, half a can of pickles, half a can of kabul soybeans, two fresh cucumbers, a quarter of a pound of capers, 5 hard-boiled eggs.
By order of Napoleon III, aluminum cutlery was made, which was served at ceremonial dinners for the emperor and the most honored guests. Other guests used traditional utensils precious metals- gold and silver.
The main flower of France is the lily. According to legend, the founder of the Frankish state, King Clovis I, defeated the Germans in the 5th century on the banks of the Li River, where lilies grew. Since then, three lilies have been on the banners and coat of arms of France, personifying compassion, justice and mercy.
There are beehives in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. The tradition of keeping beehives in city parks dates back more than 150 years. You can buy a jar of Parisian honey in the souvenir shop of the Luxembourg Gardens.
The French prefer pink toilet paper, sometimes with flowers. It is bought most often in France.
In 2010, a record price for one gram of dried truffle was recorded - $17, which is approximately one and a half times higher than the cost of one gram of gold on the world market. Outstanding specimens are not sold anyhow, but at auction, which specially attracts restaurateurs from almost all over the world. At Castello Grinzane Cavour, near the Piedmontese town of Alba, four kilograms of giant white truffles were sold to several Chinese buyers for £30,000.
The words “soufflé” and “prompter” have little in common in meaning, but both come from the French “souffle” (exhale, blow). The soufflé is so named because it is light and airy, and the prompter is so named because it must prompt the actors very quietly.
France has a huge number of national cuisines - 22 (according to the number of regions), which depend on what products are produced and grown where. The French, as you know, not only know how, but love to cook correctly and tasty dishes that are quite simple, at first glance. So, if you eat exclusively potatoes every day, you will still have a fairly varied and exotic menu. In France this is large number There are so many varieties of potatoes and dishes made from them that it is almost impossible to try them all.
talks about housing in French, debunks the main stereotypes about the French and gives useful recommendations.About the move
In my case, everything is very banal - I married a Frenchman. The decision to move was made on a whim, and I was sure that everything would go easily. Although I had no experience of moving to another country, as a student, I constantly moved from one place to another. And, in general, I got used to nomadic life. In addition, I wanted to quickly be close to my loved one, because I am from Khabarovsk, and it is very difficult to maintain a relationship at such a distance. But when I started packing my things, I realized that everything was not as fun and simple as I had expected. I packed boxes and shed crocodile tears. After all, I was leaving from everything that was dear to me, close, to which I had become accustomed and had been building for a long time. For the last ten years I have lived in Khabarovsk. After studying, I stayed to work there, gained connections, friends, and bought an apartment. And just finished the renovation and hung the curtains when... I had to leave. In general, expectations from the move and reality did not coincide a little.
About the stages of emigration
There are four classic stages of emigration. Relations with the country in this sense are very similar to relations between people. The first stage is the candy-bouquet period: you are in love, you don’t see any flaws, everything is fine with you - the birds are singing, the roads are clean and smooth, the flowers are blooming, the bread in the bakery is delicious. In general, absolute delight and love.
And then, after a few months, the second stage begins - the stage of dramatization. Suddenly your eyes open to reality and you begin to see the flaws. And very often there are only shortcomings. Adaptation in emigration is psychologically very difficult: it’s hard for you because you are being cut off from your roots. It bloomed like a delicate violet in the southern fields of Provence, and suddenly you were transplanted to the North Pole. And this is such a shock! You don’t know what to do, you don’t see your place here, everything around you is alien, incomprehensible. This is the worst period.
At the third stage, everything begins to slowly improve. You understand where to move, “pull up” your language, and determine a plan of action. That is, it’s not that no one needs you at all, because you can do this, look here and do this.
And the fourth stage is complete adaptation, when you feel at home.
I'm somewhere between third and fourth now. But very often emigrants get stuck on the second one: they can’t return to their homeland and they can’t settle down here.
About adaptation
In my experience, those who move to another country for work or study adapt much faster and easier. They do not have these four stages of emigration. And people who move for other reasons, for example, or some life circumstances, as a rule, go through all of them.
About bureaucracy
France is the birthplace of three “b”s: baguette, beret and bureaucracy. This is especially obvious when you get married and you need to collect a stack of documents in order to finally get a residence permit. I’m not saying this from the perspective of an emigrant - the French themselves encounter bureaucracy everywhere. Everything takes months: to get one piece of paper, you need to sign up for a rendezvous two months in advance, then wait two months for the piece of paper to arrive, and then its validity will expire.
About the famous French slowness
The French are not the slowest nation, because there are Spaniards and Greeks. The French are just not the most efficient. It’s not particularly customary to rush here, and “I need everything urgently and yesterday” does not exist. For short terms in France they will not provide a service or issue a paper, since the planning horizon here is much longer than, say, in Russia. You even need to buy groceries in advance, because stores are closed on Sundays. It would simply never occur to a Frenchman to buy chocolate on a Sunday night. Why does he need this? And if necessary, he will think about it on Saturday or Friday and buy it in advance.
About rental housing
To rent a house in France, the first thing you need is a permanent work contract. All work contracts are divided into three types: permanent, temporary and seasonal. And what is needed is a permanent one. Essentially, it guarantees that it is almost impossible for you to get fired. If there is no permanent contract, dancing with a tambourine begins, because then a guarantor is needed. The system in France is such that, even if you have a lot of money in your account, you still need a French guarantor - money does not carry as much weight as a person who guarantees with his name that he will pay for you if something happens.
In France, as in other European countries, most rental transactions are carried out. As a rule, the tenant communicates with the landlord only through an intermediary. But there are sites like leboncoin.fr, where you can directly find the owners. cost money (about a month's rent), and the agent will do almost nothing. They just wait for the weather by the sea and offer options that are completely unsuitable.
Homeowners always have several potential landlords, and a file is collected on each one. For what? The fact is that French legislation is on the side of the tenant. If one day he cannot pay, it is almost impossible to kick him out of the apartment. That's why the French are so meticulous about the dossier. They want to be as sure as possible that the person is reliable, will not stop paying in a year and will not live in someone else’s apartment on a bird’s license.
About the old housing stock
In France no, all houses are different from each other. Before we moved into our apartment, my husband lived in the very center of the city, in the so-called “old building”. This 100-square-meter apartment in an 18th-century building had a fireplace, giant cracks in the old windows, and antique parquet flooring that cannot be changed because it is a historical heritage. The apartment was not very good good condition, and I insisted that we move. But in historical buildings there are also magnificent apartments, completely renovated and with plastic windows. True, putting them in order costs a lot of money, since in France any services, from manicures to wallpapering, cost an order of magnitude more than in Russia.
About the apartment in French
A French apartment always has white walls (paintable wallpaper or decorative plaster) and no colored wallpaper. The French don’t like flowers and petals at all; they say it’s kitsch. They prefer to paint the walls in one tone: in rented apartments - white, as a base and suitable for everything; They can paint their apartments dark gray, blue or any other, the main thing is one color.
You won’t see any European-quality renovations, and you won’t see chandeliers in typical French apartments. Not all apartments have ceiling lighting; the French are fans of spot lighting. You won't see any curtains here either. Most, especially in rented apartments, are limited to roller shutters or regular shutters.
The French like to have more rooms. When my husband and I moved, I thought: there are two of us, no children yet, two rooms for two people by Russian standards - generally excellent, we could get by with one. And he says: “What are you talking about, we need at least three rooms!” Previously, this seemed like excess to me, but now I can’t imagine how two people can live in less than three rooms. The French, if they can afford it, will always prefer larger housing, and this is one of the reasons why many continue to rent apartments: the mortgage for a large apartment in a good area costs much more than . Therefore, when children appear, the French often move away from the center.
Apartment in Parisian style
A lot of people and very few square meters. And this greatly affects the cost of housing. So you understand, 8 m², and it will cost more than 100 thousand euros. The price per m² in expensive areas reaches 20 thousand. Few can afford mansions. Let's say two people can live in a studio of 16-20 m², and 50 m² in Paris is already a good, large apartment. It is impossible to buy an apartment there if you have an average French salary.
About the dislike of provincials for Parisians
The French are very ordinary people. They don’t like all sorts of frills and luxury - it’s not customary to show it here. And according to the French, Parisians are show-offs. Is this true? Partly. The capital changes people a lot. Even if you were born in the French province, but went to Paris, you become a “parigo”, and metropolitan thinking is always different from provincial thinking. But if we talk about many Parisians, then most of them are also ordinary people who have no time for exhibitions of super fashionable designers or quinoa smoothies. Every day they live their lives in the rhythm of “metro, boulot, dodo” - metro, work, sleep.
On the superiority of the French language
There is an opinion that the French consider their language the best in the world and, in principle, do not speak any others. This is not true. The fact is that the French speak very little English. foreign languages, unlike their neighbors and northern European countries, where English is a second language after their native language.
For example, how many Russians speak foreign languages? I talked to French people living in Russia, and they all said: guys, you don’t know English in Russia, we can’t really come to an agreement with you here either. And all because in Russia they teach English according to the classical, outdated system of “London - from the Capital of Great Britain” and “Where is the frog?”. Since childhood, we have been given unnecessary phrases instead of useful ones. The French have the same thing. Therefore, in a restaurant, the waiter may understand that you are asking to order, but will continue to answer in French. If you've ever learned a language, you know that you often get stuck at the “like a dog” stage: I understand, but I can’t say it. But this is exactly how the stereotype developed that the French tyrannize everyone with their grazing language.
My first year in France I didn't speak French at all. I tried to start a conversation in English, but everything is really bad here. And this also did not help my integration in any way - with my excellent English, I felt like a complete fool. But not once in a year has anyone stood up and said: “You’re in France, speak French!” Another thing is that a lot depends on how you behave. How many people are used to it? “Hey, you garcon!” So why should the French roll out the red carpet if they are treated inappropriately?
What you must try in France
- Bread. Don't go to Paul, which is in Moscow, don't go to La Mie Caline , which is everywhere. Start with a good French breakfast and stop by a French bakery that says Artisanale. This means that the bread dough is made in this bakery. In chain stores, frozen dough is baked.
- Salted butter. Since I live in Brittany, and our gastronomic specialty is salted butter, I will definitely recommend it. In any unclear situation between regular and salty, choose the latter.
- Charcuterie. This is translated into Russian by the completely idiotic phrase “ sausage product”, immediately sending it somewhere. But charcuterie is anything made from pork: various sausages and ham. Be sure to try it, because in France sausage is made from meat.
- Cheese. It doesn’t matter which one, the main thing is French. Be sure to visit the wine bar. Chances are good that they will serve you a “mixed” plate with wine - assiette mixte - with cheese, bread and charcuterie.
- Wine. Here you can choose to your taste. When people ask me for advice, I say that any French wine is good. Remember that white wines in France are dry and sweet, but there are no sweet red wines. Rose wines can be sweeter and drier. Rosé from Anjou is sweeter, and rosé from Provence is drier.
About how much the French drink?
In Russia, a glass of wine with dinner is called household alcoholism, and in France it is called an ordinary French dinner. Of course, in France they drink much more wine than in Russia, many times over, but here the culture is different. This is a wine country, all the wine is good, why not drink it? Often a glass of wine is drunk at lunch with colleagues, and this is completely normal, no one will look askance. There is even a joke that is not a joke at all, but the truth. The doctor at the appointment asks: “Do you drink alcohol?” - “Well, wine, beer sometimes.” - “That’s understandable. Do you drink alcohol?” That is, wine and beer are not even considered alcohol here. Alcohol is whiskey, rum, cognac, fruit vodkas, for example, Calvados. Therefore, no, the French drink a little.
About neighbors
In France there is a holiday called “Neighbors Day”. We celebrate it in the private sector: they block the street, roll out a large table, bring their signature dishes, children run around, adults chat and drink wine. But in apartment buildings they fold up not so warmly, because the walls here are also thin. The French are a polite nation; you won’t see open neighborly war here. They will quietly creak on the sidelines: “Here, this Jean from apartment 35 has turned on the music loudly again.” But they are unlikely to call the police.
About heating
In winter, of all the expense items for housing and communal services, the most money is spent on heating. The first winter I honestly tried to turn the heaters on and off to save money, but then I told my husband: no, I can’t live like this, I’m a normal Russian woman, I want warmth. So for the second winter we don’t turn off the heaters at all. And, of course, our account has grown significantly.
About the “communal apartment”
We pay 70 euros per month for garbage collection, entrance maintenance (the owner vacuums it once a month), light in the hallway, cold water and TV tax. - for the light, hot water and heating (we don't have gas, so the heating and heater are electric) are about 160 euros per month. This is a lot; usually the French pay less for electricity in their apartment.
About places of power
I was in a huge number departments of France, but Brittany is the region to which my heart is given. If we talk about a place of power, then for me it is a citySaint-Brieuc(Sainte-Brieuc) in northern Brittany is a bay with some of the strongest tides in the world. Twice a day, a huge giant drinks water from the entire bay, and people walk along the bottom of the sea, collecting shells. In French this is called “walk fishing”. In general, the ebb and flow of the tides in the Atlantic is simply amazing - how much water can go and come and change landscapes. Strong place! In general, you can land me on any coast of Brittany, and I will be fine. But the weather there is quite harsh: the northern sea is windy, it can be rainy and cold - in general, for lovers of harsh port romance.
Another place of my power in France -department store roof Printemps in Paris. I love look at the city from above. There is a free observation deck there that offers a cool view of the Parisian rooftops. Unlike the roof of the GalleryGaleries Lafayette, which also has a great view,The panorama here is much wider; you can also look at the other side of Paris, and not just at the “grand boulevards”.
We also have it in NantesNantes island. Previously, Nantes was located on a huge number of islands, but today only one of them remains, the rest have fallen asleep. And there is a part of the island where large shipbuilding yards used to be. Just 30 years ago, huge ships were built there (now construction has been moved to Saint-Nazaire), and today modern urbanism has rethought this space: part of the landscape that belonged to shipyards was left, and part was modernized. This is such an industrial, creative part of Nantes - my favorite part of the city where I live.
We recently returned from a trip to two departments - Lot and Dordogne, and there I was struck by a village calledSaint-Cirq-Lapopie. It’s just cut into a rock, and I felt like Belle there in the movie “Beauty and the Beast.” This is that good old France that no longer exists - about which we read in fairy tales, novels, in “The Three Musketeers”; which everyone imagines, but which, of course, has nothing in common with modern France. We were there in a very low season, there was practically no one, and all these streets belonged to me. Absolutely incredible landscape!
And let's go back to Brittany again. There is such a wonderful place there -Fort La Latte. A huge fort made of rock, with the English Channel lapping at it from the side - it’s simply fantastic! When you imagine that people actually lived there, who specifically built a fortress to defend themselves from invaders, it is amazing.
About other stereotypes
Before moving, I had a strong feeling that the French were terrible snobs. And so, it seems, the whole world thinks. Why? I'll explain now.
France has great cuisine, great produce and great wine. For the French, this is the norm of life - they were born with this and it has always been so. For them, it is absolutely normal to buy a certain cheese only in a certain store; know what wine you like and know what wine you will not drink under any circumstances; understand that this wine with this product is good, but with that product it is bad. For them, all this is absolutely natural, and there is nothing arrogant about it. But when you grew up in a completely different culture, their reasoning is like “Are you crazy to translate the product and spread foie gras on bread?” or “I’ll wait for the full moon, go to my butcher and buy this piece of beef from him” seem like terrible snobbery. You think: how can you be so arrogant and nasty? But our cultures are simply too different. Probably, many now consider me a snob. But when you get used to the fact that it’s easy to choose food to pair with wine and that you need to go for cheese on Tuesdays, you quickly forget that for some it can be wild. But the French don’t suspect anything about it at all. They don’t know that this is not the case anywhere else. Therefore, the whole world believes that they always turn up their noses and look from the heights of their rich French cultural and gastronomic experience. But let's be honest - they have good reason!
Prepared by: Yulia Isaeva
Photo: from the personal archive of Lesya Koscinskaya
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