France - The Don'ts of Visiting France

hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with vultures world and today we're here in Bordeaux France for the don'ts of visiting France let's be honest there's a lot of things you love doing here but there's a few things you don't do when you visit France and I really want to have this video help people enjoy their trip to France more because it's a fantastic place to visit and my first dome for you is don't think the French are that stereotypical rude snob kind of thing because the French have been some of the most wonderful hospitable kind helpful hosts we have ever visited if you've watched our videos you know I'm kind of a Francophile I really love our time here in France and the people are wonderful but they get this horrible reputation mostly because the wait staff in Paris which has actually gotten better by the way and the thing is don't take that bad waiter in Paris as a typical French person the French are awesome they are so helpful and kind I cannot tell you the times that locals have helped us by putting us in the right direction tell us no this restaurant's nice but that restaurant's better you should have this this one instead of that line we've had Christmases with French friends we've visited French families around the world and the French are fantastic so don't think they're that stereotypical stob you hear about I mean I remember at the time we were in Paris we have the reputation to be the stubbiest of the snobs and we had Liam in this little carriage back in the day and the Metro worker wouldn't let us in and so the locals helped us carry the stroller over the barriers of the metro and then they scolded the Metro workers it was amazing just how wonderful the people are here so please please please please don't think they're stops they are awesome here okay and a way for you to get to know them and have them even more awesome to you is our second down and that is don't be afraid to try a little French no I'm not saying you need to be fluid in French when you come here that's ridiculous but knowing a few words male C which is thank you Si Vous Play which is please we which is yes it goes a long way to really open the people up and make them want to help you because you're like look you're really trying and if you're from the the U.S and we have our own reputation of being bad to us and not speaking languages and stuff like that they like it even more and they respect it even more and you get better service I can't tell you how many five star reviews I've gotten on Uber that make a point to say hey he tried to speak some French with me or how much free wine or free shots are free cider we've got in our trips here in France because we try to speak just a little bit of French it really does go a long way to really open up the people so don't be afraid to learn a few words and yes if you butcher it it's okay they'll understand you and they'll be fun with you with it so don't worry okay so those are my first two big don'ts I have to tell you now my third though has to do with the kissing here and that is don't feel that you have to kiss the guy that gives you the key to your Airbnb look when you see French friends meet and French good acquaintances meet they'll give Bijou kisses on the cheeks you're a tourist you don't know them you don't kiss them okay you tend to kiss people that are your friends people that you know maybe had a good time with you you've built some kind of repertoire with those the people that you'll give the kisses to not the random people on the street because I've seen some tourists going I'm not sure what to do here look it's okay you don't have to kiss they're cool with handshakes as well all right now my fourth don't for you when you come to Francis don't forget to dress nicely I mean France is one of the capitals of you know hakutua and fashion in the world and you do notice that the people do dress a bit nicer here and as a tourist if you dress nicer the locals appreciate that now I'm not gonna say they're gonna treat you badly if you dress like a slob or something like that but you might notice a little bit better service a little bit nicer help or a little more people more willing to come but help if you're dressed a little bit nicer so you know what a little color coordination a little bit of more fitting clothes will go a long way River you know you don't have to dress like you're a supermodel it's okay I mean I don't dress like a model very often but I do try to dress a little bit nicer when we come to France because it does go a long way with ingratiating yourselves with the locals the the fifth note I have for you is a very important one and that is don't think France is just Paris the reason I'm filming this here in Bordeaux is because everyone thinks oh I went to France because I went to Paris or I went to Paris so I saw France France is different all over the country and you have very different experiences don't get me wrong I love Paris if you watch our videos you know I love Paris I would move there like that no questions ask because I love it so much but also the country has got such variety whether you're going to Normandy or coming down here to the Aquitaine region by Bordeaux going over to Stroudsburg grenobo the Riviera you have so much variation in the country that don't just see Paris take the time and go explore this country which leads into my next dome for you and that is don't forget to get your seat reservations on the tgv beforehand look if you come with EuroRail or interrail they don't come with reservations and the fast trains here you know the ones that go like 300 kilometers an hour they are seat reservation required so I got have to get a seat reservation and that means all the seats get reserved so if there's no seat reservations left that means the train is full and you can't take the train so if you're going to be traveling on a weekend or a holiday make sure you're going online and buying your tickets early I mean we have the app and we have all of our tickets on the apps we had all that bot before we came here okay so do have a heads up for that another don't I have for you when you're going to be taking the trains is don't over pack look on the tgvs and on the trains in France there's not a ton of space so you can't get that big huge 900 pound suitcase anywhere because there's nowhere to put it I would rather you did two carry-on size beds because you can fit those in the small spaces to put luggages in because you know like if you're on the trains in Germany you are in the Netherlands there's that big space above your seat they don't have that big space above your seat it might be at the end of the car or in the middle of the car there's not always a ton of space so don't over pack when you come to France and then you can always buy stuff when you're here but just know that you don't need over hack when you come because you're not gonna have a ton of space not actually not just at the in the trains but also the hotels and stuff like that it's going to be a smaller spaces and when you're coming around this beautiful gorgeous country my next door for you is don't think that local French food is the same everywhere I mean don't get me wrong everybody loves the steak Fleet right and everybody loves escargot and everybody loves the coffee decana the duck but the thing is is all the regions here in France have their own flavor right if you're going to Normandy it's not a wine country it's cider country the apples that are there right you're gonna have that here in Bordeaux it's more about meat and the bordele sauce and you're going to have I mean we're by the Sea so you've got fantastic oysters that are here if you're going to Stroudsburg you might see a little German Flair in with the food and the local food so make sure when you try local French food don't just try the famous ones you've heard about before but ask the locals hey what is typically from Bordeaux what's typically from Toulouse what's typically from naan's do that and you're gonna find a much more enriching tummy experience when you do come here and speaking of those meals when you do come here my next deal for you is don't expect to have an early dinner or a late lunch because a lot of the restaurants their kitchens will close from two or three o'clock in the afternoon until seven or eight o'clock at night okay so if you're a late lunch or you like to have dinner like my dad at 5 PM you're gonna be out of luck unless you're going to really touristy place and you don't want that you want the real deal and they don't start serving till seven or eight o'clock at night also if you're gonna be on a weekend like a Friday or Saturday night I do recommend you book reservations for the place you want to eat because the French like to go out and eat on the weekends as well so you want to make sure you have that now another tone I had to do with the food is something that Caleb wanted to make sure I warned you about and that is don't expect to find frog legs everywhere in France look the locals don't quite eat the frog legs like they used to and probably if you do get frog legs they're probably not frogs from France anyway just giving you a heads up for that one and speaking of fried frogs hey my next dome for you has to do with the beach if you're going to be coming to the beach whether you're here by Bordeaux or if you're going the Riviera or wherever you're going to go in Beach season don't wait to try to find a big open spot for you and all of your friends to sit at the beaches get packed here and so when you see a little area go for it put your stuff down and grab it eventually maybe those people might leave but it's not like there's gonna be big open spaces so just be used to not a lot of personal space when you're at the beach and some other downside say I should throw them with the beach when you're there one don't gawk if anybody's topless around I mean no one's gawking at you in your board shorts right also if you're going to be going to nice the Beast there or other beaches make sure you check beforehand what are the beaches like is it a sand beach or is this Stone Beach because I know a lot of people go to nice and they hit the beach there and it's a stone Beach so make sure you got some water shoes so you don't walk around going ow ow out when you're going around okay now my next door for you has to do with culture here in France and what you have to realize is don't think French culture and the culture you're going to see here in France is limited to Art Museums like seeing the Mona Lisa and stuff like that France has a lot of layers of History here you want to see ancient Roman ruins you can see the aqueducts you can see the bridges you can see the forums and stuff like that they have that here you can see that around the country but the thing is they have more than that you can see whether you go see the cathedrals in shops or in other places or maybe you want to see twenty thousand year old cave painting in this car I mean there's tons and tons of options and yes I know I butcher it but look the locals are okay with you butchering it they'll figure it out they're really nice about it but there's so many layers of culture and history to see when you come here that it's not just an art museum trip you have the architecture in the churches and the cities and the gates and all kinds of great stuff going to Avion going to Grenoble coming here you're going to see a lot of culture and it's some of it's yes in signed the fabulous art museums but also sometimes it's outside and taking in the cities or the countryside in The Villages and just the history that's happened here in France you'll love it now my next stone for you is don't worry about being a little late if you're here in France if you're going to be going to somebody's house for dinner they kind of expect you to be a little late just so you know and you're meeting your friends if they're not there right on time it's okay now the trains and buses and stuff yeah you got to be on time for that but in general France is a little more laissez faire with the time frame kind of stuff here I mean it's not quite as laissez-faire as like Spain unportugal but it's not like going to Germany where you need to be five minutes early to actually be on time I mean it's a little bit more relaxed calm down and and that also takes you the fact when you're actually ordering your food and stuff like that don't get in a hurry all right now one thing where I think you should worry though is don't trust anyone that's asking you to sign a petition or there's bagging or anything like that because you will see a lot of begging here in France I mean not all over the place you'll see a ton in Paris you'll see a lot of ladies coming up wanting to sign petitions mostly in Paris and stuff like that but anytime you are at a you know tourist destination make sure you don't stop paying attention to where your watch wallet phone are because there are a lot of pickpockets here I'm not gonna lie about that that's one of the downfalls of France it's so fantastic the tourists are always here and whenever there's always tourists there's always going to be pickpockets scam artists stuff like that so do have a heads up and also watch your video on the scams of Paris to give you a lot of ideas of the scams you might see not just in Paris but all over France and speaking of all over France my next dome for you is don't try to see all of France in one visit look France is a super large country especially for Europe and when you come here you're going to realize that man Even though those trains get me from Bordeaux to Paris in two hours that doesn't mean you should go just Bordeaux to Paris there's so many different reaches there's so much kind of uniqueness in each of those regions here in France then maybe you you just pick a couple regions when you come here don't try to do it all like I usually say look a nice first visit is Paris then go to Normandy in the luau Valley next time coming down here to the Aquitaine region and go to Bordeaux maybe go over the pro Vols and see that another trip go see the north you know there's a lot of different options you can see and don't try to do it all because you'll burn yourself out go go go be like the French take it slow relax and enjoy and take it all in maybe say the Geeks like a farmhouse kind of BNB kind of setting when you're here it's a really really great experience but you don't want to do it all I mean I might be you know biased and want you to come back to France a lot of times but honestly there's a reason why we keep coming back to France because there's so much to see and there's such distinguish in the regions coming to Bordeaux is very different than going to Lyon which is very different than Stroudsburg which is very different than not and then and you have all these things so get out and explore and see different regions because you can have a great time all over but a really different time all over now when you are going around to all these different regions one thing is similar everyone where and that is the plateau or the fixed price menus and my dome for that is don't skip out on lunch when you come to France because that's where you have the deals the lunch deals where yeah you could get the starter a main and a dessert for a set price they'll have discount prices at lunch so you can have that really fancy expensive meal at a much lower price at lunch so you can save some bucks when you're here so my last dome for France I'm gonna go with you here in Bordeaux is don't expect to do much on Sundays in terms of shopping look Sundays all the stores are closed all the offices are closed and so you're gonna have to realize that it's gonna be a great day for tourism and eating on Sunday because the Museum's most likely will be open hey the lube is closed on Tuesdays not Sundays people you're gonna have the restaurants open so you can eat and enjoy that way but just realize you're shopping in your souvenir hunting you're gonna have a tough time on Sundays anyway sounds like the police are ready for me to get out of here so if you want to learn more about visiting fantastic funds check out some of our other videos five things you love and hate about visiting France 10 things that shock tourists when they come to France maybe you want to know about here in Bordeaux we've got the don'ts and shocks of Bordeaux well you should know before you come to Paris scams you'll see in France and Paris all on our website at waltzsworld.com or search on our YouTube channel you can find it in there search anything France but Walters rule with it and I'm sure will pop up and I wish you a great time but don't worry you will because France is fantastic

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 77,691

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: 9dCUlfbX44k

Length: 14min 28sec (868 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 03 2023