Im going to France in a month... any advice?

Question

Im going to France in a month... any advice?

Answer 1

Places you want to try to see:

Toulouse: Beautiful city, I live about twenty minutes from there. Lots of history in this city, lots of shopping, and great restaurants.

Marseille: Beautiful port city, it's right on the Mediterranean. The beaches are beautiful, the mountains are beautiful (castles can be seen all over the mountaintops.)

Carcassonne: A fortified city, with a beautiful medieval castle.

And if you get the chance - take a drive in the countryside! It's a beautiful experience you don't want to miss!

The people are wonderful, the food is wonderful, and the culture is wonderful! Have a great time!

Answer 2

Try the local food.  Go for fresh baguettes in the morning.  Shop in patisseries (pastry shops) for some delectable desserts.  When you go into a restaurant ask the server to reccomend a good dish so that they will be proud you asked their opinion and want to help you out.  

Speak as much French as possible.  The French are wonderful people, but they get put off if you go to their country and expect them to speak your language.  Go out on a limb, be humble, try to speak the language and then they will treat you much better.

Don't see just Paris.  Paris is wonderful, but it is like someone going to New York City only and then proclaiming they have "seen" the US.  Pick an outlying region like Normandy, Bretagne or Provence and see that too.  Learn what the region is known for and check those things out.

See if you can get on a few guided tours for a Cathedral or two.  Since the people couldn't read in the middle ages, symbols meant everything to them.  Having someone explain to the significance and positioning of everything will amaze you.  Once you've had one or two tours, you'll be able to go into other Cathedrals and understand the significance of everything.  Don't miss Chartres!

Answer 3

Quote: A little oddity...in Paris one asks for "la note" rather than "l'addition" as one does in most other parts of France and the Francophone world.

In Paris one asks for l'addition=the bill.

Its true what people say about parisians,they are most awful,ignorant,arrogant and impolite people ive ever met.....and i live in Paris. So, dont take the advice of just wander around because you will get lost and the criminals here will see that and.........

My advice is to come here do the tourist stuff then go to somewhere like Normandy where it is a different world....where you will see the true France.

Enjoy!

Answer 4

Generally speaking the French are more formal than most North Americans.

In everyday speech this means appending "s'il vous plâit" to any request. It means saying "je voudrais" and not "donnez moi" when ordering from a menu. It means calling the waiter "Monsieur" and not "Garçon." It means greeting the staff at a shop with "Bonjour" (madam or monsieur as appropriate).

A little oddity...in Paris one asks for "la note" rather than "l'addition" as one does in most other parts of France and the Francophone world.

The French tend to follow the older practice of not calling each other by first names or using the familiar without at least some acquaintance (although this is not so much true of young people).

The easy presumption of friendship or the discussing of personal matters with relative strangers that is common in North America is sometimes seen as boorish or crude by the French.

Americans in particular who will talk about the intimate details of their love lives, the state of their personal finances, and the cost of everything they own with someone they met ten minutes ago are, for that reason, regarded as utterly outré.

On the other hand, Americans, who have been taught to never discuss politics or religion, sometimes think they are being singled out for abuse when the French express their opinions on such matters. They are not, of course. they are simply engaging in the second most popular French indoor sport (and the one that does not usually require a bed).

The American habit of constantly smiling is regarded by the French as a bit goofy at best and even false or duplicitous by many.

You will notice that butter is not served with bread except at breakfast or when served with the cheese course.

Cafe au lait is only called that at breakfast. At other times it is a "café crème " or "une crème."  

Asking for special preparation of food items is generally frowned on as is the practice of the "doggy bag."

By law, prices must be posted in the window of cafes. You will notice that there are usually at least two price levels. One is for service at the bar (le zinc) and the other for table service. It is cheating to buy a drink at the bar and then take a table to drink it at.

What is called a menu in English is a "carte" in France. A menu (or "formula") is a prix fix meal with limited choices that is usually a good value.

People will run into you right and left. French people simply don't look where they're going, and they depend on other people not to bump into them.

People stare at you a great deal, no matter how unremarkable you may be. I've never understood this but they do. Pay no attention as no one means you any harm.

When you pay for something the person taking your money expects you to put it down, rather than taking it directly from your hand. Most places have a sort of tray on the counter expressly for this purpose.

When you're in a theater and have to go by someone to get to your seat always pass in front of them facing toward them, that is, away from the screen or the stage. It's very rude otherwise.

Finally, there's a lot to Paris that is beyond the tourist sights. Its the ambience and the attitude of Paris which need to be lived and felt.

You should spend some time just strolling around the city to appreciate its architecture and to get a feel for its medieval layout, the Belle Epoch improvements of Baron Hausman, and the modernizations seen in places like the Les Halles Forum and the new Opera in the Place Bastille.

You should take a little time to just sit in a cafe in the Latin Quarter or St. Germaine and people watch.

Enjoy some of the nightlife of Paris. Not the tourist ripoffs like the Moulin Rogue or the Lido but the vast number of fantastic music venues, from the jazz joints to discos.

Eat! And be a bit courageous. Go to places that don't cater to tourists and don't have English menus. Just point to things on the menu or, better still, walk into a cafe at lunchtime and ask for the daily special which you'll almost always see displayed on a chalk board. don't worry if you don't know what it is! Try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have a hilarious story to tell about how you got served a calve's head with cream sauce or something else too weird for you to eat.

Don't listen to the half wits who tell you Parisians are terrible people or adivse staying in a tight little tourist cocoon. Strike up conversations with strangers, be open minded, put your map in your back pocket and just wander around, get lost, experiment, learn, take the time to really look at things.

Mainly, enjoy yourself.

NB:I'd bet money that pete m is a Brit.

Answer 5

yeah, go to other places besides Paris.

ask locals ( not s****. ones) where good places to visit are.

Use the train and railway system, it's pretty cheap if you do your research.

Have an open mind, and enjoy yourself

Answer 6

I went to France in the summer, to Bretagne, in the vicinity of Penestin. It was beautiful in that area . Great beaches, beautiful countryside, wonderful historic walled towns and cities such as Vannes and friendly people.

Advice........try to speak as much French as possible. They really do appreciate it . In the part of France we stayed very few people spoke good English. Luckily my basic French and a really good phrase book got us through.....even when the exhaust on my car split in two.

I never thought I'd learn the words 'pot d'echappement' which is exhaust pipe in French.

Eating out is quite expensive so watch the Euros.

If you're driving ( on the right  obviously) and from the UK you will enjoy better roads and less traffic outside of the main towns.

Have a great time!

Answer 7

Take a digital camera with lots of memory, get some sun lotion with at least a factor of SPF15, get some really cool sunglasses, a map of the area you are going to be staying and lots of money. France is one of the best places for shopping, so make sure you have enough for some little treats!

Now that I've answered your question, will you answer mine, please? Thank you.

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