Are you heading to France for your French vacation and not sure what to expect? Well here we go through the best and worst parts of visiting France. Whether you are heading to Paris to enjoy the culture or the French Riviera in the south of France or to the wine country of Bordeaux there are many tourists tips you should know. Honest tourist information on France.
Filmed in Colmar, France
Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFr3sz2t3bDp6Cux08B93KQ/join
#travelfrance #france #visitfrance
Copyright Mark Wolters 2024
Learn how to plan your travels like we do with our Travel Planning 101 Course: https://www.brighttrip.com/woltersworld
Grab some Wolters World travel gear http://www.woltersworld.store
Help Us Keep Make More Honest Travel Videos: https://www.patreon.com/woltersworld
Hey There Fellow Travelers! Thank you for watching our honest travel vlogs from all over this wonderful world. If you would like to get in contact with us please follow us & send us a message via our social media channels below. Also, if you like our travel videos please feel free to share them with other fellow travelers.
You can find us all over the internet:
Travel Advice & Destinations: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworld
Food Travel Videos: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworldeats
Travel Tips: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworldshorts
Business Education: https://www.youtube.com/professorwolters
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@woltersworld
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woltersworld
Jocelyn’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jocelynwoltersworld
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woltersworld
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/woltersworld
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wolters-world-travel-culture/
hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with Walter world and today we’re here in colar France one of the most beautiful towns you can visit anywhere in France I mean there’s plenty of beautiful towns in cities all over France but this one is one of the ones that takes the cake and that’s why a town that I love like this I mean even my family’s from here so I might be a little bit biased but even places like this that I love like France I know there’s going to be things that annoy tourists as well and so that’s why today what we have for you are the loves and hates of visiting France and you know probably the one thing that love about coming to France the first thing you’re going to love when you’re here is actually your first true French experience if it’s flying into Paris and when you see the Eiffel Tower out the window or or when you’re walking around the corner all of a sudden there’s the AIT treeumph you’re like oh my goodness or or if you’re walking through any City and your first time going into the bonger and and seeing the baguettes and the and the croissants and the Tarts you’re like oh my God these really are as amazing as everyone says or the cheeses and you’re just like oh my God this is so wonderful we’re showing up a town like Kar which is just gorgeous as can be me that first French experience I still get goosebumps thinking about I’m like I’m all Goosebump all over think about how that first time you come to France when you really get past those stereotypes and things you think you’re going to have and you get here and you realize how much more wonderful it is than you really thought it would be I mean it sounds silly but France is just so French because it’s France and it’s amazing so when you come here be open to trying all kinds of different foods different drinks different cities not just Paris okay but honestly that first French experience you have really can be a lifechanging experience and something you’re going to love and and sometimes though that first really lifechanging France experience is something you’re not going to like and that’s going to be our first hate and that is actually the service here in France and when I talk about the service in France I’m not talking about rude service I’m talking about availability of service speed of service I mean one thing you have to realize is when you come here to France you have to have patience it takes time to get you seated at the restaurant it takes time to get you your menu it takes time to take your order it takes time to get your food to you your drinks to you to get the bill to you get to your change back to you this is something you have to realize is that this is much more of a slow paced country and and that happens in the bureaucracy to the restaurants to wherever and this isn’t something that’s targeted a tourist this is something that everybody here deals with but in France it’s normal they’ve grown up with this so it’s something that doesn’t bother them but you’ll see in tourists that have planned 50 different things to do in one day they get really frustrated because they want to go go go go go and France isn’t go go go go go and so that kind of slower service Pace can be really frustrating and that’s why I put it in the haste because it’s just something if you’re not used to it can really get to you and it can show up whether it’s the month of August where most of the people are gone on vacation or if you’re in a small town like this and you want to eat between 2:00 and 7: in the afternoon evening and the restaurants are closed because they only have the kitchens open from 12:00 to 2: and then 7:00 to 10: so just something to kind of think about okay now the second thing you’re going to love about coming to France are all of your fantastic French experiences you have outside of Paris look Paris is great you got to go to Paris I mean that’s that’s a given but the thing is you really fall in love with France when you go explore France and there’s so many different regions you can go to so many different cities so many different towns going to see the Lavender Fields in provance or or going to see the papal Palace in Avon or or going to Normandy and you see the D-Day beaches and the churches there going to oh my God or going to boo with the bo beo tapestry or maybe you’re heading to Bordeaux for the Fantastic wine and the the mirror you know thing in front of the palace I mean there’s so many great experiences to have that a lot of people really limit themselves just to Paris but once you get out even if it’s just day trips away from Paris which is great because with the tgvs the fast train pretty much anywhere in France can be a day trip but getting out there really exploring it and those towns those cities but also the nature when you’re here cuz my goodness the nature in France it’s so diverse you want mountains you have that you want beaches you can have that you want Rolling Hills you have that as well but when you want to go explore all these fantastic parts of the country that’s going to lead to another hate and that is well when you need a seat reservation to be on the tgv and there’s no seat reservations left look the fast trains around here every seat is assigned and so if you don’t have a signed seed you don’t get to take the train okay so you need to have that and if you’re going traveling at Christmas time on Friday afternoons and evenings Sunday afternoons and evenings a lot of times those tickets are booked up not days in advance but weeks or months in advance I’ve been here when they’re announcing okay the Christmas train tickets season will open up on Tuesday and people are like lined up Tuesday morning to buy their tickets at the train station and online to make sure they get those seats and so that can be a bit frustrating for a traveler if you don’t know it and I’m not going to lie to you the app to buy them on your phone it’s a little bit of a pain so so I recommend going online and buying it and then just printing it out or or downloading the PDF and putting it on your phone than trying to use the app because I know I’ve been using the apps for years and they’ve been frustrating me all the time so just a heads up for that but let’s move back into some of the things you’re going to love about coming to France and for me it really comes down to the people and how proud they are of being French but not just how proud they are of being French but also how proud they are of being alaan here in Alas and how proudly are to be from comar you have so much pride in your country in your region in your city in your neighborhood you see that whether it is in the regional folk museums where you see how they show the history of their town they show the history of their regions and it doesn’t matter if you’re in Bordeaux if you’re in Normandy if you’re in Britany or if you’re over here in alas or down the South that pride comes through in their food and their cooking in their tour guides and their explanations and to how much they put into really showing their city and and showing their town and how many times you’ll meet locals here that are glad to teach you about France to glad to teach you about their region to glad to teach you about their town and and that’s one of the things you love about it because the people want you to enjoy France you they want you to enjoy your time there I know I was at by the Belgian border and a friend of mine’s dad’s like no Mark you come with me we’re going down to the wine cave and we’re going to go look at the wines we’re going to talk and we spent like 3 hours just going over the different wise and he was explaining oh this is what you eat with this and this is what you eat with that and this is what we have to C this and that and this is from this region and oh and then here’s the fugua that my friend made for us on our own that we ordered 3 years ago I mean you have this Pride that’s in there in straussburg met a random guy in a Stewart showed me all around the city want to make sure I understood the history of straussburg how went back and forth from German to French and he was going back from German to French to kind of let you really feel that you have that when you’re here I mean whether they’re young or old the French have that Pride which is wonderful to really take in and you see that as a tourist and that’s why I get really sad when people kind of badmouth the French saying they’re rude they’re not friendly that is a bunch of nonsense I mean yes in Paris it’s a big city of big cities people aren’t necessarily always the most friendly but they’re still pretty cool and when you travel the country you really see that warm and that heart and that kindness that the French have and they want to make sure you enjoy your time here so if you’re open to them and you try to speak a little French a they see here just saying B when you walk into a store will make such a difference and they’ll want to help you even more enjoy their beautiful country but there is kind of one group of people who probably don’t want you to enjoy the country and you don’t really care and they’re really the reason why I think France has a reputation for being bad service and that is our next hate and that is the Parisian waiters in high tourist track areas so if you’re going to be by the Eiffel Tower or if you’re going to be by sakur you’re going to be any on the Shan day where a lot of tourists go and eat remember the best food in France it’s not by a tourist attraction okay you got to go a little bit farther a field and you’ll have wonderful service impa Paris but since so many tourists only come to Paris and they only eat by the tourist traps and the tourist stops those waiters there they get overwhelmed you can only be to yelled at garon so many times garon means boy don’t don’t don’t use that with people okay but the thing is is that frustration comes out and so that service in those tourist areas aren’t as good as other places in France and the food is not as good in other places in France and then people use that as their oh well I know France oh no no no just go to Paris you don’t know France and that that’s what I got to say is those Parisian waiters that are in the Tour series that are overrun they’re the ones that you’re not going to like you go to any other part of Paris any other part of France you’re going to have fantastic waiters okay and fantastic people so don’t let that rude waiter ruin your French experience because honestly those waiters are going to bring you one of the things you’re going to love about coming to France and that is the cuisine and the thing is we all know the traditional French Foods right you have the steak and fries and you have the the frog legs which are actually kind of hard to get the escargo you know the snake Sals oh you have all this fantastic food the baguettes the cheeses oh my gosh the the quol there’s so many Fantastic foods that are here I mean they can make a plain omelette into a delicacy when you’re here and what’s great is when you come to France what people don’t realize is there’s you know there’s the traditional French food that I’m talking about but then every region has their own thing you come here to Alas you know Komar straussburg you’re going to have much different food yeah you’re going to see sauerkraut and sausages pop up you’re going to see pork shoulder on there you’re going to see flamb which is like flatbread pizza looking stuff yeah you’ll have that here but then you go to Normandy and you’ve got the oysters there and there it’s not wine there it’s cider and you have all these different Cuisines and that’s why it’s really important that wherever you go you ask hey what’s the local Specialties that’s what you want to eat because oh my goodness all over France the cuisine is just different and fantastic and wonderful and no matter where you go the wine is fantastic and honestly you may put on a little weight here in France when you’re eating all that great food but you know what what it’s worth every pound okay another thing you might not like when you do come to France and this is one thing that you’ll see in the news occasionally is strikes protest industrial actions I mean these are things that do happen more in France than in some other countries you might visit or maybe in your home country it is something you need to be prepared for now it doesn’t happen all the time you know the TV likes to make it seem like it’s a bigger issue than it is sometimes but it is a good idea to have an idea oh if the taxis are on strike when we land in Paris what’s our other way to get the family of four from the airport to our own apartment okay so you want to kind of think about these things and what’s nice in France when there’s going to be strikes there’s going to be protests they let people know and so you can plan around that which is really nice but it still is frustrating when the Metro’s on strike or the trains aren working for a day or something like that cuz that can affect your trip now it’s not all the time but it’s just something that I know as Travelers it might get you a little bit and now we come to the fifth thing you’re going to love about coming to France and I’m going to be honest with you if it hasn’t been the people if it hasn’t been the food if it hasn’t been the wine if it hasn’t been the cities and The Villages and the spirit and the culture of France that you haven’t fallen in love with I don’t know what else you can love when you’re here and that’s why for this number five I want you to put down in the comment section below what do you love about France because there’s so much amazing stuff here from the Kazu to Normandy to here in Paris to Le I mean there’s so much to Love and Enjoy I mean hell just going to a bar like this bar behind me right here shoot I mean the gu that runs there was a fantastic dude got to meet him talk to him have some great drinks at a great price I mean there’s just so many things you fall in love with when you’re here in France that I really want to know what got you to fall in love with France because it is an amazing place so I hope you liked our five love and hates video of coming to France if you want to learn more maybe the don’ts of visiting France mistakes tourists make when they come to Paris the street eats here in Paris check us out on our website at walterw also don’t forget to click that subscribe button and if you’re interested in food while you travel check out our Walters world each Channel as well I’ll say bye from here in Paris in the beautiful beautiful beautiful country of France
28 Comments
My wife, daughter, and I traveled to France in 2016. While I studied French in high school, I was a little worried about going there because I was always told the French hate Americans (especially since I was still in the Army at the time). What I found was just the opposite. You hit so many great points in this video. First, people need to know what to expect. My wife and I are planners. We read and watched so much information about France, so we knew what to expect. We knew the waiter would not bring the check until we asked…”L’addition s’il vous plait.” And the list goes on. Just trying to speak French helped so much, as you mentioned. Even in Paris we found the French people to be warm and inviting when you make an effort to appreciate their culture. I went as a sceptic and I left loving the country. And yes, we did go to Colmar for a few days and loved it! We also went to Marseille, and took a day trip to Cassis, as well as a private boat tour (it was cheaper than you would think) to the Parc national des Calanques. I actually fell in love with Paris. I felt like the people there truly have the joie de vivre that you hear about, and that is what I loved about the whole country. Thanks for such a great video. A bientot!
It was the people for sure once we left Paris for Agde in the south. Glad to hear the TGV still has crummy service when it comes to ticketing. They still owe me money from around 2000. Bought the tickets online, but because I chose English on the website, they expected me to pick up the tickets in the U.K. Had to repurchase and never heard back from them.
❤❤❤❤
A very nice feature of the SNCF (railroad) website for people who plan well in advance, is that you can have it notify you when reservations are open. I started planning my September trip a few months ago, long before reservations were possible, and it offered to email me when when the dates were available. Available. Sure enough, I got the emails and made my bookings.
As a naturally slower paced person, I truly appreciated the unrushed pace of life in France.
#5 for me would be the sense of joie de vivre – the enjoyment of life’s simple moments. Sitting in a sidewalk café, sipping a coffee and watching the world go by. Enjoying the simplicity of a glass of wine and a piece of cheese. Strolling the streets enjoying the architecture and the ambience of the city and being surprised by an impromptu street concert by a string quartet.
And much as I adored Paris, getting out into the French countryside and visiting pretty villages and historical sites was just as satisfying, if not more. Climbing roses tumbling over an ancient rock wall became one of my favourite things while wandering around Giverny after visiting Monet’s Garden. It’s like art is interwoven into the very essence of the French countryside and it’s easy to see why the French Impressionists were so inspired there.
i remembered it took around 20 mins just for the bill.
10:08 Yes. A civil war is predicted for next week because of the elections.
I'm from England but last year moved to France. The best thing here is just how diverse this country is. Both geographically,culturally and architecturally
Such as in the north near Paris you have more of a classic stereotypical french style. In the south you have the Pyrenees with almost a desert type feel. The Alps ofcourse, then everywhere in-between is filled with beautiful historic towns. All of them completely unique. In England I was getting sick of how the government was making every place feel the same by building the same cheap houses. Not the case at all in France
It is an incredible country
You forgot to mention how many amusement parks france has
5:58 pigeon poop as a tear is a nice touch
My strongest memory of France is someone I met. In 1984 I spent about 6 weeks during the Summer studying at the University of Poitiers. One day our professors took us on an excursion to visit some place of historical significance. After 40 years I don't remember the place or the name of the small city we went to, but I remember during our lunch break ending up in a small, empty hotel restaurant. The couple running it appeared to be in their 60s. After some small talk where I mentioned I also studied German the man informed me he was from Germany and from that point on we spoke mostly in German, and he seemed pleased to have the chance to do so. We sat at a table and he told me all about him and his wife and his youth working as a travelling musician all around Western and Eastern Europe. As we talked his wife would join us at times when she wasn't attending to various locals who were dropping in. She brought over plates of bread, cheese, meats, etc., none of which I had ordered. She couldn't speak German so I spoke to her in French, but she was hard of hearing so her husband often ended up shouting in her ear. I don't know how long we talked, but it was a lot longer than I was supposed to take for lunch. We finally said our good-byes, and I tried to pay them something but they weren't interested in that. One of the last things he said to me was that he hoped we would meet again, if not in this life then…at which point he smiled and pointed toward the sky and put his hands in a prayer position. I've forgotten an awful lot over the last 40 years, but I've never forgotten that day or that very kind couple…
That Flamengo Tshirts at 7:48 was unexpected! Cheers from BRASIL!!
I’ve loved my times in France, but, as a tourist, by far the biggest inconvenience is the restrictive restaurant hours. I know the locals have their reasons for it, but as a visitor it is a constant source of frustration and limitation. One can never relax and let the day flow naturally.
Interesting how you mentioned Argentina amongst the rudest countries and not France 🤔 Now that you mentioned you have French ties it explains it all 😂
Love your channel and videos. You do an awesome job!
On rudeness…. If you meet a local on the street, be it New York, Paris, London,….. Understand that they’re probably
on their way to someplace they "need to be". They’re not just out for a stroll. They’re not rude……they’re busy.
i love the rich history that france have 😀
French Capitalism: You have two cows, you strike for 3.
My wife and I just returned from our first trip to Paris. We absolutely fell in love with Paris. Although we were only there for a few days , It was absolutely captivating. The food was excellent, and the people were so nice. We had heard many stories of the French being rude, but we experience none of that. They were all so polite and helpful. We are definitely going to go back and explore other areas in France.
I have spent 3 weeks between the Provence region/Marseilles and the French Riviera. If you are in or near Marseille, you can take a 20-minute train ride to Aubagne, the walk a couple of kilometers to the Museum of the French Foreign Legion. I also went to Toulon, just to see the Charles de Gaulle. Being in Cannes during the film festival was amazing!. The fresh paella in St. Remy. The best thing though> I stayed with a friend in Cannes and her boyfriend and his friends taught me petanque, while having wine and flat bread with tomato sauce and sardines. Delish.
My first experience of France was a week in Avignon, catching the train from Geneva. Avignon is a wonderful introduction to France.
My first and second experience in France was Marseille. The next one was Avignon and lavender fields and some villages in Provance. Paris was the fourth one and I met a nice waiter near Notre Dame there in a restaurant open 24 hours. He saved me because the restaurant had free WiFi and I needed it to buy a new ticket home (I was late for my bus back, nothing strange in my case). Yes, it was after midnight, Monday already, so he was not busy at all, but still, he was such a nice person! Fifth at not last was Strasburg, and… I loved all of them. I'll travel to France more for sure.
Colmar. Well, honestly, for me Colmar was a disappointment. Maybe because everyone in YT praises it to the heavens and it's not so wonderful in my opinion. Yes, I liked it, but it's a small town with not much interesting stuff besides some architecture. And I do like it but I prefere Strasburg which has the same vibe in Petite France and is bigger and has more to offer. Both of them were German towns for quite some time (much longer that they are in France), that's why they have this kind of architecture – you want more, you go to Germany. Colmar is ok, but it's not worth all of that praise.
#5 to love. Culture has the right place, like nowhere else. There are certain things to be relaxed about and certain things to be strict about and in France there’s the right balance. Makes life good and enjoyable. Cheers merci 🇫🇷🇺🇸
🇫🇷♥️French Tourism Bureaus! An incredible resource in almost every city in France! Example: I took a train to Tours, France in center of Loire Valley and famous castles. Every morning I walked to the Tourism Bureau where they had small Mercedes vans that toured vinyards, castles etc. Very inexpensive and there is always an English speaker. In Amboise their bureau helped me get a cab. Very professional, very very helpful. ♥️
Sorry, but I disagree about the people. Especially mid-age to old people, when they realise you don't speak French, can turn into douchebags in a second.
Last time we were in Paris, we checked out waiters before sitting down at cafees/restaurants, to make sure they were fairly young. Both because it's more likely they speak English, but also because the youths are FAR more friendlier than the older ones.
France is great love to leave Ireland for France in the winter down south with a bit of mild weather
I love the French language ❤ J'aime la langue française – mais elle ne m'aime pas 😢
I’ve heard Paris smells like Urine and this honestly makes me not want to go and i’m not sure of this is even true?