Paris and travel: what nobody tells you before you go
Why the café will not hurry you, what to tip, and why it is all closed in August.
These are the questions visitors ask after their first two days in France. How much to tip. Why nobody makes small talk. Why the shops are shut. Why there is no air conditioning. Each has a short answer and a longer one.
Read them before the trip and the country will make considerably more sense.
Why French bread is a legal definition
Flour, water, salt, yeast. A 1993 decree says so, and the plain baguette is not covered.
Why French teenagers sit outside and American teenagers went to the mall
He spent his adolescence on a chair facing a street. I spent mine in a building with no windows.
French vs American beach day: he brought a towel
I brought a wagon. He brought a towel. He asked where the beach club was.
Why don’t the French have air conditioning?
A quarter of French homes have it. Ninety percent of American ones do.
How much vacation do French people actually get?
Five weeks. By law. He says this the way other people say the time.
Tipping in France vs America
Service is in the price by law. The machine still asks him a question.
Why don’t French people make small talk?
A cashier asked how his day was going. He answered honestly, at length.
Why is everything closed in August in France?
The bakery has a note on the door. It has been there since 31 July.
While you are here
Your First Day in Paris
A choose-your-own-adventure. Six decisions, four endings, one husband judging all of them.
Not on the list?
Ask my French husband.
A short ruling in a few seconds. Written by AI from our Journal, in his voice.
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