Adapting to the pace of life in France

That’s a nice topic😀 When we arrived in the South of France, I was struck by the strict closing hours. Arriving with money to spend at 11.50 AM in a warehouse and be sent away ‘because they had lunch at 12.00’.

You get used to it and you adapt. Or find another warehouse.

We eat at 8 PM now and are able, most of the time, to remember that most stores are closed on Monday. I don't get angry that no restaurants are open on Sunday. It is a family day!

Does one ever get used to getting to a store and finding a sign "closed today by "exception.".  After 15 years we just laugh.

I guess the most difficult changes have been in customer service. (See note above.) The PNW of the USA our home for 40 years was also the home of REI a coop and Nordstrom, huge, but family operated, which (used to, they may have changed ) have the best customer service in the USA. For example, I assume I will be treated poorly by my syndic (La Combe in Montpelllier) and I have rarely been disappointed. For example, it took us 14 years to get a leak fixed. Perhaps they have now turned a corner? I hope so. Audiologists who use MIV and know Resound are also in short supply, a fact that I did not know unitl the audiologist who sold us Resound retired and, as yet, has not been replaceable.

To be more positive, we shop at smaller French owner-operated stores with stable older staff who can often be like second family, but it is more and more difficult for them to earn a decent living with Macron's policies  and the COVID pause and customer base switch to Amazon.

It was really a good exprimés …I remember everything I come in Paris 2009 December and I know here is full of lights for cris miss and new year …and it’s really new thing for me coz in Pakistan it’s never happened on new year to cold weather ..and I have nothing no place for stay no money in pocket no language and no paper ..nothing but I have a trust on. My self to live here and steblle myself ..it’s just like when new born baby I m like in this city and  country .I contact with some of my Pakistani fellows and solved residence problum .and there I saw many my Pakistani and Indian fellow who come here coz of there financial and political problems ..I apply her asylum thori a Red Cross organization who’s are really very nice people who help my for food and documentation..after apply France give me 350 euro per month for residence and food and it’s really helpful for me to servive here ..then I start a French language school and start also bit work in construction field …and start a new life  …and now about 14 year here .and my life is full of struggle and hard work and now I have everything home my own work paper car and good life …Paris give me everything I love this city ….and French people who give us place in their c ou try and heart ….and I advice everyone who come here respect always law and country and work hard u must succès 😊😊😊😊

Good morning!

There is no typical space of life in France. It all depends whether you are in Paris, in big cities, in small towns and villages and on top of that it will depend upon regions. For instance, living in Lille is different from living in Marseille or from Strasbourg and living a small place in Creuse Dept is different from a small place for instance in Corsica.

Mentality, socializing, hours (shops, meals...), etc.... are different. In Paris, for instance, people have their dinner at generally around 8pm (transportation from work) and in most provinces, it is usually 6pm.

Not to mention language forms - I am talking about French and not other languages such as Breton, Basque, etc and numerous dialects. Not only accents and often vocabulary are different from one area to another and it is not rare that someone French goes to another French region and has a lot of trouble to understand local people.

I am talking about France in Europe only because in overseas territories, it is a different world

Based upon its history (until 1789 Révolution, people outside Paris did not speak French and there were borders between regions and permissions required to move to one region to another) one cannot see France as an homogeneous entity. A lot of countries in Europe are a little bit this way too.

It took me a while, but I learned to go with the flow of the pace of life here.  We live in Thonon-les-Bains, on the shore of Lake Leman, and the pace of life here is much slower than it was in the Washington DC area, where we lived for many years before going the expat route.  My wife and I welcomed the change, we love the slower approach to life.  People here seem to cherish their lives, and their free/leisure time, in a way that folks back in the U.S. don’t.  I dare say that not a single Frenchman leaves a day of vacation on the table.

Again, dealing with shopping, meal and activity times here took some getting used to.  Most every place is closed on Monday, except for major supermarkets and other chains.  If you wanted a faux filet from your favorite boucherie on Monday, better change your plans, they’re closed.  Most restaurants are closed too, so you need to plan in advance.  Fortunately, the boulangeries are open, so I can take something out of the freezer and always have a fresh baguette to accompany the meal.  One thing we haven’t adapted to is how many Frenchmen have a big lunch and a light supper.  We’re still in American mode on that score, with the bigger meal in the evening.  We always used to eat late (for Americans), so having the evening meal at 1930 or 2000 isn’t an issue.

All that said, we’ve been here for nearly two years and have no plans to go back anytime soon.  In fact, we’re working on a redesign on the kitchen in the apartment we’re renting, so I’m looking at a long stay to amortize the funds we’ll sink into a new kitchen.  So our assimilation process will continue and, aside from my butchering of the French language, we’ll do fine.

If anyone has questions or would like more info, please feel free to contact me here.