JDB's Hot Takes: France Edition

JDB · 2026-09-01T19:07:15Z

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.

Page 4 / 4 Prev

Last Post

RSS

JDB

(@jdb)

Famed Member

This is hilarious...

Wemby went 1 for 13 last night in the Spurs opener.

https://twitter.com/alolanmeowth/status/2112935463627464802

ReplyQuote

Topic starter Posted : 10/21/2026 6:24 pm

😂

Page 4 / 4 Prev

Forum Statistics

10 Forums

3,816 Topics

112.2 K Posts

30 Online

908 Members

Latest Post: Iran War Has Started Our newest member: Jonna Stephan Recent Posts Unread Posts Tags

Forum Icons: Forum contains no unread posts Forum contains unread posts

Topic Icons: Not Replied Replied Active Hot Sticky Unapproved Solved Private Closed