You thought the language made no sense? Well buckle up…
Bonjour and hello before I start this video let me just say I’m French like fully I live in Paris got a French passport French blood in my veins now why do I say this because I don’t want this video coming off as I hate the French because I don’t I love the French
My fiance is French my best friends are French my colleagues are French but today I’m going to air out some grievances about France and the way it sometimes goes about doing things because honestly living here can sometimes be a strange experience for starters my biggest bone to pick and
This is actually something that may be more specific to Paris or or maybe just big cities in France there’s this attitude man I mean I mean Paris got an attitude problem and uh and it it needs fixing now of course I don’t want to make like a broad general statement
Saying everybody in Paris has an attitude problem but it does seem to be more of a problem here than say Tokyo let me give you an example a lot of Parisian store owners don’t like people entering their stores the store will be empty you’ll walk in and they will and I
Kid you not sigh loudly because you’ve Disturbed their I don’t know General peace and quiet I don’t know hello G yes oh hi uh you guys sell watches right no oh okay um aren’t those watches right there no uh I I have money in in exchange for one of those
Watches wait isn’t this a story G fine I guess I’ll make some money what another thing about let’s just say doing business in France and and I actually feel like this is more of a culturally ingrained thing they aren’t big on spending a lot of money the
French are not a frivolous people which you know good on you no problem there but they kind of impose that way of life on you like like even when they’re selling stuff you know if you want to buy like the upgraded version of something in their store they’ll be like
No no no no no and look some of you may think that’s like super honest of them to do but honestly I just end up feeling kind of judged for wanting to spend my own money the way I want to spend it like let me
Get the better wi-fi or phone plan if I want to cuz again back to the attitude thing it’s not like they say it like this so are you sure you want to buy this because in a couple months it will be obsolete so you know it’s more like
This really you’re going to buy that you know it’s way more expensive than the other one um yeah but uh it’s better so I mean sure yeah but you’re going to pay more money just because it’s better um yeah okay loser what a loser French people are also extremely vocal I don’t
Think I’ve walked the streets of Paris once and not heard some kind of commotion either a pedestrian yelling at a car driver or a cyclist yelling at a car driver or car driver yelling at a car driver you get the point we don’t we don’t love cars in Paris the French are
Just known for expressing themselves loudly M explosion my therapist says communication is key and sometimes just like come on really really yes your dog can’t you see he’s in my way um yeah he’s uh he’s taking a sh could you just walk around I can’t deal with this right
Now I’m going to be late because of you um you could just walk around do not tell me what to do just suggest sorry you want me to deviate my perfectly straight pass because your dog wants to take a poo poo is this a prank you know what you and your dog you
now you think all of that is bad we still haven’t talked about French Administration you think store owners don’t like dealing with you my friend that is kids play next to a system that I am actually starting to believe was purposefully designed to confuse you and make your life a living
Hell hello sir what do you want hi uh I was told I needed to come here to apply for a license who told you that um your well your website actually well we don’t oh uh why does the website say you do well that’s because we do it sometimes
Sir oh yeah but not today okay uh when do you uh it’s generally when we have eggs for breakfast uh which is when well it depends you know it depends on whatever we’re in the mood for that morning you know how how how am I supposed to know when that is uh Little
Thing Called deductive reasoning obviously what of course everyone hates the hassle of going to the DMV opening a bank account or filing out apartment applications I for one would prefer a root canal over any of those options but in France it’s just I don’t know whole other level and I still haven’t figured
Out what it stems from you know like is it a Power Trip thing like they want you to understand that they’re in control or is it like more of a competence problem I don’t know I just know it’s the worst and you piss them off or forget to do
One very unnecessary thing and the next thing you know you are thrust into an exhausting process of running in circles around the streets of Paris handing in Endless documents that were not even asked for on the website when you checked because duh you should have known you idiot and so now your sister
Has to fly into Paris on short notice to prove that you were in fact born on this planet and did have a childhood puppy named Romeo Miss anyways welcome to my hellscape it is full of paperwork now let’s look at a specific example of administ FR to rent
An apartment in France you need a dossier a file this file must include a justifica an ID sit proof that you have a job last three months of payment on your lease Theus your last three pay slips and guarantee digital which is a person you name as
Someone who will pay the rent in case you are unable to do so that is the do that agency’s require you to have in order to apply for an apartment like they won’t even consider you if you don’t have a dosier and even then you still have to be the best candidate and
Only then will they choose you I kid you not the only reason I got this apartment was because the agent recognize me and I told him if he let us move in here I would do free advertisement for them yeah so unless you’re Julia Roberts portraying a recent divor who is finding
Herself through travel you’re gonna have to jump through a lot of Hoops to rent an apartment in France let’s start off by playing a little game called so you want to move to France let’s welcome our first contestant bubby bubby please tell us more about yourself hello my name is
Bobby Burns I live in Toledo Ohio I’m 28 years old I watched the first 45 minutes of e pray love and now I really want to move to France amazing Bubby okay listen you just have to answer one question correctly and you are the winner Bobby
Do you currently live in France no I I live in Toledo Ohio oh I’m sorry Bobby close but no cigarette to live in France you have to already leave in France wait what that’s all the time we have folks thank you so much for tuning in come back next week when we will
Welcome Rebeca to find out if she can move from Paris to Paris she may actually have a shot oh Paris Texas there’s no way oh see you next week we so if you feel like you’re being gas liid good that means you’re on the right track now if you’ve somehow
Successfully obtained a residence in France it’s time to get your license which means you’ll now have to convince the French government that you’re a human and here’s what you’ll need to prove to the French government that you are in fact a real person and not an
Alien from outer space who has taken the form of an Earthling you’ll need to bring your own photo because they will not take it for you there and it better be an ants authorized photographer whatever that means a driving license examination certificate so make sure you’ve passed two tests written and
Practical again you better know French and then if you aren’t from the EU you need to also provide your residence card then you’ll need to answer three riddles from a troll living under a bridge oh and make sure you don’t forget to bring the hair of unicorn and make sure it’s
French now on a lighter note after looking into the weirdness and uniqueness of the French government I found some stuff I wanted to share with you guys so let me introduce to use some of the absolute weirdest French laws num it is illegal to fly or land UFOs in the southern French Town
Ofat yeah you heard that right UFOs apparently it was passed as part of a marketing campaign to help sell world’s famous wine now why you need to convince French people to drink wine is beyond me I mean I’m pretty sure French baby formula is 10% milk and 90% ganache but
That’s neither here nor there in 2018 mosquitoes were banned from the French commune of B in Western France now this law was passed because mosquitoes besides being annoying as all hell pose growing health risks the Asian tiger mosquito prevalent in much of France carries numerous potentially deadly
Diseases it turns out though the laws had no impact on the mosquito Population Exhausting bureaucracy and weird laws aside this is still a fan page for France so here’s some of the stuff I love about French custumes and let’s start with the art of shrugging the French have mastered the art of what’s known as the Gaelic shrug the Casual yet expressive shrug is
A cultural symbol that conveys range of emotions without saying a word hey dude what’s up what dud I I didn’t even know your girlfriend was a magician that’s that’s crazy yeah man I totally feel you yeah it’s rough it’s rough yeah mhm another thing I love about France is the cafe
Culture French cafe culture is a way of life sitting in a cafe sipping coffee and people watching is a cherish Pastime cafes are not just places for coffee they serve as social hubs where friends gather to chat and soak in the Ambiance at these Terraces and of course of
Course I can’t talk about the things I love about France without talking about bakeries in France you are never far from a bakery bakeries on every corner and I’m not talking about like gas station croissants I’m talking about like an actual Bakery the sheer abundance of B each offering a tempting
Array of fresh baguettes pastries and bread is an amazing aspect of French life I mean I literally have five Banger that I could choose from on any given day that are like a block away another thing I love about France is August vacation the fr take their summer vacation very very seriously especially
In August many businesses close and it’s actually pretty common for people to take extended holidays during this month big cities in France are pretty much empty during this month as locals head to the beach or Countryside so it’s nice for people on holidays but it’s also
Nice for people who stay here and enjoy the quiet City Vibe so anyways that’s that’s France for you I mean not really there’s there’s there’s a lot more but that’s just things that I chose to talk about today anyways thank you guys so much for watching don’t forget to like
Share and subscribe for new videos every week and I’ll see you guys soon
44 Comments
"You have to be living in France to move to France" had me laugh out loud 😂😂
oooooohhh that Parisian attitude in shops or "help desks " ….they really get out of their way not to help you but to make you understand they dont want to !
Alors pour info l'administration française a effectivement été faite pour embrouiller les gens : c'était de la résistance passive pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, contre les allemands. Depuis c'est resté la merde.
Been in Paris. I prefer the South. 😅People wise anyway 😂
We are very regular visitors of the Provence area. But at some time we had some English friends living near the Auxerre area. The most weird thing I have seen is with some friends of our friends who owned a camping. On the camping a little restaurant with an esperesso machine. The espresso machine went broke. Ordering some new parts … … The dealer close by: "no you can't by with us because you are not in our region". The dealer much farther away: "we can't help you because those parts are very difficult to obtain". A dealer even further away: "we will try and order but it might take a while". 6 SIX months later. Some parts delivered by that much further away dealer. Wrong parts. Oh sorry we mixed up. Try again. Another three months later. Some parts arrive 2 OK 1 wrong again. oh sorry we mixed up again. 1 month later, all parts are there. Then. No we can't send an engineer to repair it for you, too far away. Result. 10 months wait for parts and you have to do the repair yourself. CRAZY-ness to the next level.
as a french who tried to live abroad, I can say that administration is saldy not the worse in france. while Korean is better, and Belgium is equivalent, but the swiss is way worse…
That being said as a parisien, I do not like at all the attitude indeed. super annoying…
I experienced this when I visited Paris in 2013. After a 10 hour flight I was trying to make my way with my bags via train and subway to the hotel. I stood in front of the subway map trying to figure out which train to take. I was exhausted from being up for nearly 24 hours straight and couldn’t figure it out.
There was an information booth nearby so I asked the lady in it for help. I do not speak French at all. She looked at me like I was from another planet, shrugged and said “no English”.
I went back to the map but still couldn’t make sense of it, probably due to lack of sleep. So out of desperation I went back to the nice lady hoping we could figure out some way to communicate.
I started speaking to her saying “I’m very sorry but I can’t figure out this map and I’m exhausted.” She looked back at me, sighed, and replied in back perfect English, “oh very well” in an exasperated tone. She gave me the info I needed in 20 seconds and I was off.
Weird experience.
Loïc's landlord:
'Y'know, throwing shade during a video about how much of a total pain in the ass French customer service is, does not count toward fulfilling your "free advertising" promise'
Before you read the following, l want to say that any comments l make are made in the spirit of world love and friendship for all, including your pets and your mother-in-law.
OMFG!! WTF is wrong with us if, before every show we watch, every YouTube episode we view, every damn clip we happen to see… the host or some representative feels he must make a statement of apology/understanding/mutual love, respect and admiration for the persons depicted in the following scenes…! This is definitely the age of stupid.
You know what else is closed during the summer?… The French administration! So good luck if you have any “démarches administratives” during July or August. Come back in September, you might have a chance then.
Ah ah ah 100% French living in Texas … j'ai pu retrouver un petit morceau de cette fameuse "attitude" 😉 au Consulat of course! Je me suis fait quasi "engueulée" car j'étais …en avance 😅 et ensuite la personne qui a refait nos passeports a refusé de cocher "couleur des yeux : noire" pour mon fils (100%Vietnamien). L'option avait beau être dans liste, y a rien eu à faire "les yeux noirs, ça n'existe pas, ils sont marron foncé". Ahhhh pendant un instant je me suis cru parachutée en France 😄 mais ça fait rien, je les aime quand même mes Frenchies grognons
Their long term visa aplicación can take months
Je voudrais voyager en France mais tout le monde dit moi que France est un lieu ennuyeux. Et que Paris est la pire ville chez vous. Qu'est-ce que dites-vous? Devrais je visiter votre pays?
This explains so much about the "French Language" character.
If everyone tries to be nice without giving excuses, the world will be a bit more bearable. Tbh, the USA (at least the West coast) is pretty bearable.
Are you serious about the apartment part? That's just completely reasonable to me.
Do you know how hard it is to get someone out of your property once a lease has been signed? You've got the "trêve hivernale" for once and plenty of other protections. You can't just put people out on the streets because they didn't pay rent like in the States.
So yes, unless you want people to live on your property for free, it's better to ask for many proofs and filter them out right away.
Maybe it's more difficult to rent than in the States, but that's because the laws here are more humane, and people don't risk getting evicted onto the streets in the winter for missing one payment. You pick a camp.
but remember, Paris n'est pas France. So…ca va mieux in the south..comme Provence. Just a thought, mon frere
Omg 😲 nice video, as a French I approve. BUT! Having lived in Japan for several years, where fax machines, hand written forms and personal seal stamps rule the administration I have to say Japan is kind of the "hold my beer" scenario 😅
Quand même tres Parisien comme vision de la France l'ami…
I am from Algeria which was colonized by France during more than a century and what you are describing about administration, yelling and pastries remembers me of my country. It's french legacy 😂
I moved to Canada and a I miss Les boulangeries et les viennoiseries 😢 it was literally part of my daily routine to enjoy un croissant chaud en allant au travail.
Paris is an island disconnected from the rest of France. That's why it's called Ile de France.
Tout le monde déteste les parisiens, c'est bien connu ! viens au pays basque tu verras la différence !
The dog 'poo poo' is everywhere all over the pavement and streets in France. Why aren't there laws to make owners clean it up? Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and many other countries don't have this problem. And don't get me started on their dysfunctional relations with toilet designs or lack of. It's the only EU country with holes in the ground.
There's a reason that one of the most popular French animation classics: Asterix le Gaulois, (or as I grew up with it in German, "Asterix der Gallier") has a special homage to French Administration in "Asterix erobert Rom", or "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix". One of the tasks is conquering a bureaucratic building, which is one of the hardest tasks he goes through. Though for the longest time, I thought the comic was German, since we are very proud and annoyed with our own bureaucracy.
😂well complaining about France is so French . I believe the French in his veins
HAHA try Belgium.
About the bakery point: dude. You live in Paris. You're reducing quite an important bit of our culture within Paris. Is sad.
Usually we have bakery when not living in a big city.
Meh
That woman yelling "Macron ! Putain ! Explosion !" is the best thing I've seen on the internet today. Merci, Loïc ! 😀
Haha love it. Spot on. Can you make a video of the way the French, and only the French, inhale their saliva when they talk?
It all sounds like a regular "Russian experience". We are rude and judging af by default. And still, we're just known to be "as cold as our country is".
But as for administration, it's said that the developed countries have this bureaucracy that keeps them stable.
Some things are quite different between Paris and the rest of France, although french administration is a hot mess everywhere…
I lived in Spain and France, Spain was much worse, on the national government level as a student France was very efficient, once I got to the local level it seemed to be much more inefficient, keep in mind that my experiences were primarily as a student
True, real estate agencies in Paris are event worst than the administration. They don't even have the excuse of being an administration, to start with 😆
Oh, moving to France if you don't live if France is in fact a nightmare! I've been trying to, and the worst think is the ''bank account issue". For your dossier some agency ask that you have a french bank account, but french banks won't let you open a bank account if you don't have a french address. So yeah, you can't move to France if you don't live in french, that's pretty much it !
5:55 That's not a France's problem. That's a "housing is going fucking wild" problem. in Spain you get asked for all of that too, and it's become a meme the stupidly long list of requisites people ask for when renting the shittiest, tiniest, ugliest, oldest apartment. It wasn't that way years ago and probably won't be that way once our governments decide to fucking do something about housing.
France sounds a lot like Greece… same terrible administration (which seems to be an issue in many other countries as well), and vocal drivers, but you also find amazing bakeries and many cafés in every corner. I think the difference is that the shop owners are more friendly in Greece, because they actually want to sell you stuff, especially if they see you have more money to spend.
On the surface this is funny. But in reality, incompetence and pointless paperwork os not funny. It is absolutely horrendous to add so many hurdles which results in wasting your time. I notice this type of incompetence on my country, too and I assume it's more or less same everywhere. Just a whole lof of government employees who do nothing for a paperwork that means nothing to get authorization for something that they already have access to.
A whole bunch of nothingness which only increases the amount of wasted on government employees who serve no purposes whatsoever.
Suppose someone is coming to Paris for the Olympics. Any advice? (Canceling the trip is not possible.)
For all those commenting the French people outside Paris are nicer.. Well, I lived for 12 years in pairs and now 5 in Montpelier… Well, thing is, in Paris when you finally find and make good friends, they tend to be much more well, interesting, than folks in Montpelier…
This is entertaining and Loic makes some good points but these complaints could be be made for just about any city or country worldwide. I live in Paris and everyone has been kind to me, including store owners…maybe I haven't lived here long enough.
Paris is not France
L'Administration française… (BIG SIGH)
Haha, everything you just mentioned about French administration was perfectly depicted in Twelve Tasks of Asterix. Even the annoyment of asking workers for help, it's such a brilliant film. A true classic. 😂
When I was an assistante de langue, my friends and I all applied for the CAF. We were all making the same amount of money, and my rent was the highest but I was given the lowest amount per month. My French friend told me to dig up every relevant and irrelevant document I could get my hands on (including a copy of my American gym membership card), then go back up there and demand that my dossier be reviewed again with the additional paperwork. I was scolded for submitting an incomplete file and the fonctionnaire swore she would chastise whoever had pushed my application through… but I left with a letter promising double my initial payment.