You've been in france too long when...

[Maciamo]

We have done this thread for Belgium (http://www.eupedia.com/belgium/you_have_been_in_belgium_too_long.shtml) already. Let's give a shot at France.

For starters :


You take 3-hour lunches and indulge in wine unsparingly.
You find yourself joining a demonstration - for the fun of it.
You don't think twice about butting in lines.
You are surprised that the airport didn't choose to strike just during your summer holidays.
You take country roads to avoid traffic jams on the motorways in the summer months.
You know what are your acquis sociaux and are ready to fight to protect them.
You also take country roads to avoid paying the toll for the autoroutes.
You go to the bakery every morning to get your breakfast.
You tell your boss or customers "that's not part of my job" when asked to do something.
You park your car against the bumper of the car in front of you.
You think watching debates on TV about the latest hot topic in the news is a nice way to spend your evening.
You've come to like arguing about any topic and constantly interrupt other people when they speak.
You start following gossips about newscasters in tabloid magazines.
You don't laugh when a girl/woman introduces herself as Fanny.
You are anxious when you go abroad and can't see a pharmacy within a 100 metres radius.
Your friends tell you to meet in front of the Casino and you know they are referring to the supermarket.
You can't imagine that shops could be open on Sundays.
You automatically kiss any friend, or friend of friends you don't know on the cheek, even between men.
You start saying 'oh la la' whenever something bad happened and 'ah bon ?' when told something you didn't know.
You can't envisage life without cheese.
You can tell good from bad millésimes (vintages) for each wine region of France.
You wouldn't dream of buying non-French wine.
You respond to questions by shrugging your shoulders.
You are surprised that shops are open over lunch.
You know that students in 6th grade are younger than those in 4th grade.

[hope]

16 and 21 made me smile.

[kbarbara1023]

I do #23 all the time and I don't live in France :)

[Chris]

Excellent references for the French lifestyle!

[Ikiru]

I don't think the 3. and 18. (the "between men" part) are accurate. Other than that it seems right.

[TardisBlue]

Not bad!

Except:

9/ wrong
15/ ? I don't get it
21/ for most people, no they can't

The rest is mostly true, I'd say.

[Angela]

I think it means they're hypochondriacs. Italians are accused of the same thing. :)

It's meant to be humorous, I'm sure.

These are all just stereotypes, but at least they're fun stereotypes.

I did one for Italians. The only difference was that I took on the persona of a foreigner listing the reasons why he or she could never be Italian.

I assure you it was done for humor, but also out of love.I guess I have a sneaking liking even for our faults. :)

I would venture to say that if a people can't or won't do this about themselves, they're either completely lacking in humor, have no sense of objectivity about themselves, or are ultra-nationalists of some sort. At any rate, not my kind of people.

I'll see if I can find my post or I'll repost my copy of it.

[TardisBlue]

I think it means they're hypochondriacs. Italians are accused of the same thing. :)

Really? I know the French are (were) renowned for being one of the greatest consumers of antidepressants (though apparently, that's no longer the case now) but I didn't know we were deemed as hypocondriacs. I mean, I don't take it badly of course, it's just that I didn't know it was a trait that was considered as typically French (or Italian).


It's meant to be humorous, I'm sure.

These are all just stereotypes, but at least they're fun stereotypes.

I know, and I see nothing nasty here :) But to tell you a "secret": the French are the first to "criticize"/make fun of their own country and its people (and they can be pretty vocal and even harsh about it), but they tend to react strongly when the 'mocking' (even if gentle) is done by non-French people. Lol, that shows how chauvinistic and sometimes irrational we French people can be ;-). Or maybe it just applies to all peoples.


I did one for Italians. The only difference was that I took on the persona of a foreigner listing the reasons why he or she could never be Italian.

I assure you it was done for humor, but also out of love.I guess I have a sneaking liking even for our faults. :)

I would venture to say that if a people can't or won't do this about themselves, they're either completely lacking in humor, have no sense of objectivity about themselves, or are ultra-nationalists of some sort. At any rate, not my kind of people.

I'll see if I can find my post or I'll repost my copy of it.

Please do :-) I actually don't have much first-hand experience about Italy and Italians. (Due to personal circumstances which it'd be out of place to detail here, let's just say I've barely had any contact with my paternal family). I feel deprived of half of my heritage, and it's somewhat frustrating, sometimes. So I'm always interested to learn new things about Italy/Italians, even if it's just humorous stuff.