Just got back from nearly a month in France and had a great time. Here are some random thoughts from the trip:
1) I'm always in awe of how many buildings and villages are still standing that predate European existence in North America, let alone the USA. While we are not long for this earth, these multi-story structures have stood for thousands of years. Impressively, they were built by hand from stone or brick, which I cannot imagine a 20-year-old attempting today.
2) French people are not as rude as they're portrayed over here. Maybe this was an older stereotype, but they were nice people, particularly outside of Paris. Even the Parisians were nice enough.
3) 25,000 steps per day walking through Paris is about what it takes to break even with the crepes, pastries, and other items. The Paris metro is efficient in some ways (found trains to be frequent and loading and unloading to be quick), but inefficient in others (connections can require a 10 min walk, and signage is not well labeled compared to other major metros). There was no plan to send any extra trains for large-scale events (such as the Eiffel Tower light show), as you would see in Chicago after a Cubs game or a concert.
4) French countryside is better than advertised. It is literally like driving through a painting of Van Gogh or Monet. The vibe is so refreshing compared to the cities, much like rural America.
5) It is truly incredible how little the country seems to have been affected physically by two major World Wars, among other conflicts. There are still remnants from those and the French Revolution, but if you didn't know any better, you wouldn't really notice.
6) Only 18% of France has A/C (though I've seen figures up to 25%). That's insane given how hot it has been over there this year. Obviously building age plays a huge part, but in 2026 it still lags many other European countries (e.g., Italy) and is way behind the U.S. A student teacher we hosted said the A/C was life-changing and doesn't know how she'll go back. We took a TGV "bullet train" that was much slower than what you see in Asia and didn't have working A/C when it was 95 and sunny. It wasn't an enjoyable five hours.
7) Infrastructure - for all of the complaints and concerns about U.S. infrastructure, France has plenty under construction that has been moving incredibly slowly (thanks short work weeks). Some French we talked to were saying that certain projects were many years in process and they didn't even look close to being done.
On top of that, fuel is crazy expensive, as you all know, and despite having an edge in terms of wireless speed and availability a decade ago, it was less prevalent and not as fast as I find in the U.S.
8) Despite not having tips as regular or high as a percentage, I found French service to be better than American service. It can be slow in restaurants, but otherwise everyone treats customers better IMO.
This topic was modified 9 hours ago 2 times by JDB
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan. POTFB
@jdb I like how you titled this too. Buddy was in Paris this summer and did the motorcycle with a sidecar tour. Sent us pics. By the way the numbers added up he was on the back of the motorcycle with the French man driving. Come on.
With regards to item 1, my son went on an Italy trip a few years ago and made the same observation about how a good chunk of the architecture is often 100's if not over 1000 years old. He was able to tour the Sistine Chapel and other sites and was just floored by the old-world feel to everything. He ended up traveling with his marching band to New York a year later and they went on a tour where the tour guide was bragging about how the church they were walking through was over 400 years old and he had to resist letting out a "Bitch, please. The church I was in last year was 1400 years old." Britain in particular, once you get outside of the metropolitan areas, there are actually rules about improvements you can make because they are purposely trying to maintain the old country feel of things. There are many many houses In England that still have thatch roofs because they aren't allowed to update them.
Out of curiosity, how do you feel about the Paris traffic? I only ever took cabs in Paris and it is a good thing, otherwise I would have murdered someone road-rage style. Here in America during rush hour, if you pull up to an intersection, most considerate drivers will note that the traffic on the far end has not moved out of the way, so they stop short of the intersection to allow the cross traffic to not be blocked if the light turns. In Paris, not only does every car pull into the intersection regardless of whether the traffic on the far side has moved or not, but the cars behind them also pull around and fill in the cross walks of the cross traffic sides.
Yes, the French rudeness thing is an old stereotype (outside of Parisian traffic). Every experience I've had with a French person was fine with regards to the language barrier. Most understood some English. As long as you were polite, they were always helpful in working with you to get the message across.
@jdb I like how you titled this too. Buddy was in Paris this summer and did the motorcycle with a sidecar tour. Sent us pics. By the way the numbers added up he was on the back of the motorcycle with the French man driving. Come on.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan. POTFB
@jdb I like how you titled this too. Buddy was in Paris this summer and did the motorcycle with a sidecar tour. Sent us pics. By the way the numbers added up he was on the back of the motorcycle with the French man driving. Come on.
Just got back from nearly a month in France and had a great time. Here are some random thoughts from the trip:
1) I'm always in awe of how many buildings and villages are still standing that predate European existence in North America, let alone the USA. While we are not long for this earth, these multi-story structures have stood for thousands of years. Impressively, they were built by hand from stone or brick, which I cannot imagine a 20-year-old attempting today.
2) French people are not as rude as they're portrayed over here. Maybe this was an older stereotype, but they were nice people, particularly outside of Paris. Even the Parisians were nice enough.
3) 25,000 steps per day walking through Paris is about what it takes to break even with the crepes, pastries, and other items. The Paris metro is efficient in some ways (found trains to be frequent and loading and unloading to be quick), but inefficient in others (connections can require a 10 min walk, and signage is not well labeled compared to other major metros). There was no plan to send any extra trains for large-scale events (such as the Eiffel Tower light show), as you would see in Chicago after a Cubs game or a concert.
4) French countryside is better than advertised. It is literally like driving through a painting of Van Gogh or Monet. The vibe is so refreshing compared to the cities, much like rural America.
5) It is truly incredible how little the country seems to have been affected physically by two major World Wars, among other conflicts. There are still remnants from those and the French Revolution, but if you didn't know any better, you wouldn't really notice.
6) Only 18% of France has A/C (though I've seen figures up to 25%). That's insane given how hot it has been over there this year. Obviously building age plays a huge part, but in 2026 it still lags many other European countries (e.g., Italy) and is way behind the U.S. A student teacher we hosted said the A/C was life-changing and doesn't know how she'll go back. We took a TGV "bullet train" that was much slower than what you see in Asia and didn't have working A/C when it was 95 and sunny. It wasn't an enjoyable five hours.
7) Infrastructure - for all of the complaints and concerns about U.S. infrastructure, France has plenty under construction that has been moving incredibly slowly (thanks short work weeks). Some French we talked to were saying that certain projects were many years in process and they didn't even look close to being done.
On top of that, fuel is crazy expensive, as you all know, and despite having an edge in terms of wireless speed and availability a decade ago, it was less prevalent and not as fast as I find in the U.S.
8) Despite not having tips as regular or high as a percentage, I found French service to be better than American service. It can be slow in restaurants, but otherwise everyone treats customers better IMO.
Just got back from nearly a month in France and had a great time. Here are some random thoughts from the trip:
1) I'm always in awe of how many buildings and villages are still standing that predate European existence in North America, let alone the USA. While we are not long for this earth, these multi-story structures have stood for thousands of years. Impressively, they were built by hand from stone or brick, which I cannot imagine a 20-year-old attempting today.
2) French people are not as rude as they're portrayed over here. Maybe this was an older stereotype, but they were nice people, particularly outside of Paris. Even the Parisians were nice enough.
3) 25,000 steps per day walking through Paris is about what it takes to break even with the crepes, pastries, and other items. The Paris metro is efficient in some ways (found trains to be frequent and loading and unloading to be quick), but inefficient in others (connections can require a 10 min walk, and signage is not well labeled compared to other major metros). There was no plan to send any extra trains for large-scale events (such as the Eiffel Tower light show), as you would see in Chicago after a Cubs game or a concert.
4) French countryside is better than advertised. It is literally like driving through a painting of Van Gogh or Monet. The vibe is so refreshing compared to the cities, much like rural America.
5) It is truly incredible how little the country seems to have been affected physically by two major World Wars, among other conflicts. There are still remnants from those and the French Revolution, but if you didn't know any better, you wouldn't really notice.
6) Only 18% of France has A/C (though I've seen figures up to 25%). That's insane given how hot it has been over there this year. Obviously building age plays a huge part, but in 2026 it still lags many other European countries (e.g., Italy) and is way behind the U.S. A student teacher we hosted said the A/C was life-changing and doesn't know how she'll go back. We took a TGV "bullet train" that was much slower than what you see in Asia and didn't have working A/C when it was 95 and sunny. It wasn't an enjoyable five hours.
7) Infrastructure - for all of the complaints and concerns about U.S. infrastructure, France has plenty under construction that has been moving incredibly slowly (thanks short work weeks). Some French we talked to were saying that certain projects were many years in process and they didn't even look close to being done.
On top of that, fuel is crazy expensive, as you all know, and despite having an edge in terms of wireless speed and availability a decade ago, it was less prevalent and not as fast as I find in the U.S.
8) Despite not having tips as regular or high as a percentage, I found French service to be better than American service. It can be slow in restaurants, but otherwise everyone treats customers better IMO.
With regards to item 1, my son went on an Italy trip a few years ago and made the same observation about how a good chunk of the architecture is often 100's if not over 1000 years old. He was able to tour the Sistine Chapel and other sites and was just floored by the old-world feel to everything. He ended up traveling with his marching band to New York a year later and they went on a tour where the tour guide was bragging about how the church they were walking through was over 400 years old and he had to resist letting out a "Bitch, please. The church I was in last year was 1400 years old." Britain in particular, once you get outside of the metropolitan areas, there are actually rules about improvements you can make because they are purposely trying to maintain the old country feel of things. There are many many houses In England that still have thatch roofs because they aren't allowed to update them.
Out of curiosity, how do you feel about the Paris traffic? I only ever took cabs in Paris and it is a good thing, otherwise I would have murdered someone road-rage style. Here in America during rush hour, if you pull up to an intersection, most considerate drivers will note that the traffic on the far end has not moved out of the way, so they stop short of the intersection to allow the cross traffic to not be blocked if the light turns. In Paris, not only does every car pull into the intersection regardless of whether the traffic on the far side has moved or not, but the cars behind them also pull around and fill in the cross walks of the cross traffic sides.
Yes, the French rudeness thing is an old stereotype (outside of Parisian traffic). Every experience I've had with a French person was fine with regards to the language barrier. Most understood some English. As long as you were polite, they were always helpful in working with you to get the message across.
I found the constant blocking of intersections annoying af, but not that different than what I've experienced in NYC before. We almost got run over in a crosswalk because an immigrant cab driver just decided to turn fast off a main street and down a slower street that we were crossing (with other people).
That being said, Paris traffic wasn't as bad as I expected since we were there during Holiday month, when most Parisians head to the country, the South of France, or other parts of the EU. There were quite a few restaurants and bakeries closed to give their workers time off, but we didn't have any trouble finding plenty of food options. Walking through Le Marais was quite nice and much less busy, whereas the tourist areas (Louvre, Eiffel Tower) didn't seem much different.
We took the Metro much more than we Ubered and I didn't rent a car until we were in the countryside.
Just got back from nearly a month in France and had a great time. Here are some random thoughts from the trip:
1) I'm always in awe of how many buildings and villages are still standing that predate European existence in North America, let alone the USA. While we are not long for this earth, these multi-story structures have stood for thousands of years. Impressively, they were built by hand from stone or brick, which I cannot imagine a 20-year-old attempting today.
2) French people are not as rude as they're portrayed over here. Maybe this was an older stereotype, but they were nice people, particularly outside of Paris. Even the Parisians were nice enough.
3) 25,000 steps per day walking through Paris is about what it takes to break even with the crepes, pastries, and other items. The Paris metro is efficient in some ways (found trains to be frequent and loading and unloading to be quick), but inefficient in others (connections can require a 10 min walk, and signage is not well labeled compared to other major metros). There was no plan to send any extra trains for large-scale events (such as the Eiffel Tower light show), as you would see in Chicago after a Cubs game or a concert.
4) French countryside is better than advertised. It is literally like driving through a painting of Van Gogh or Monet. The vibe is so refreshing compared to the cities, much like rural America.
5) It is truly incredible how little the country seems to have been affected physically by two major World Wars, among other conflicts. There are still remnants from those and the French Revolution, but if you didn't know any better, you wouldn't really notice.
6) Only 18% of France has A/C (though I've seen figures up to 25%). That's insane given how hot it has been over there this year. Obviously building age plays a huge part, but in 2026 it still lags many other European countries (e.g., Italy) and is way behind the U.S. A student teacher we hosted said the A/C was life-changing and doesn't know how she'll go back. We took a TGV "bullet train" that was much slower than what you see in Asia and didn't have working A/C when it was 95 and sunny. It wasn't an enjoyable five hours.
7) Infrastructure - for all of the complaints and concerns about U.S. infrastructure, France has plenty under construction that has been moving incredibly slowly (thanks short work weeks). Some French we talked to were saying that certain projects were many years in process and they didn't even look close to being done.
On top of that, fuel is crazy expensive, as you all know, and despite having an edge in terms of wireless speed and availability a decade ago, it was less prevalent and not as fast as I find in the U.S.
8) Despite not having tips as regular or high as a percentage, I found French service to be better than American service. It can be slow in restaurants, but otherwise everyone treats customers better IMO.
Just got back from nearly a month in France and had a great time. Here are some random thoughts from the trip:
1) I'm always in awe of how many buildings and villages are still standing that predate European existence in North America, let alone the USA. While we are not long for this earth, these multi-story structures have stood for thousands of years. Impressively, they were built by hand from stone or brick, which I cannot imagine a 20-year-old attempting today.
2) French people are not as rude as they're portrayed over here. Maybe this was an older stereotype, but they were nice people, particularly outside of Paris. Even the Parisians were nice enough.
3) 25,000 steps per day walking through Paris is about what it takes to break even with the crepes, pastries, and other items. The Paris metro is efficient in some ways (found trains to be frequent and loading and unloading to be quick), but inefficient in others (connections can require a 10 min walk, and signage is not well labeled compared to other major metros). There was no plan to send any extra trains for large-scale events (such as the Eiffel Tower light show), as you would see in Chicago after a Cubs game or a concert.
4) French countryside is better than advertised. It is literally like driving through a painting of Van Gogh or Monet. The vibe is so refreshing compared to the cities, much like rural America.
5) It is truly incredible how little the country seems to have been affected physically by two major World Wars, among other conflicts. There are still remnants from those and the French Revolution, but if you didn't know any better, you wouldn't really notice.
6) Only 18% of France has A/C (though I've seen figures up to 25%). That's insane given how hot it has been over there this year. Obviously building age plays a huge part, but in 2026 it still lags many other European countries (e.g., Italy) and is way behind the U.S. A student teacher we hosted said the A/C was life-changing and doesn't know how she'll go back. We took a TGV "bullet train" that was much slower than what you see in Asia and didn't have working A/C when it was 95 and sunny. It wasn't an enjoyable five hours.
7) Infrastructure - for all of the complaints and concerns about U.S. infrastructure, France has plenty under construction that has been moving incredibly slowly (thanks short work weeks). Some French we talked to were saying that certain projects were many years in process and they didn't even look close to being done.
On top of that, fuel is crazy expensive, as you all know, and despite having an edge in terms of wireless speed and availability a decade ago, it was less prevalent and not as fast as I find in the U.S.
8) Despite not having tips as regular or high as a percentage, I found French service to be better than American service. It can be slow in restaurants, but otherwise everyone treats customers better IMO.
