Here are a few things that will get you into trouble in the US but totally okay in France! From kissing your colleagues at work (I promise it’s not what it seems!) to weird French foods or laws around alcohol or swearing, let’s see why France is more permissive on these things that tend to shock visitors!
Thank you to Torras for sponsoring this video, check them out here: https://amzn.to/4fvkAlK
—
– Get $5 off my PARIS FOOD MAP with over 200 delicious spots I’ve personally been to and recommend: https://www.paris.lucilehr.com/products/paris-food-map?promo=YT
– Let me plan your trip to Paris: https://www.lucilehr.com/travel-planning
—
Watch my other cultural commentary videos:
– Why is it so Easy to be Thin in France? https://youtu.be/sHKXlAnVgo8?si=KOZxQ3ClzcytMq1E
– Why Are French People So Rude? My Thoughts as Local! https://youtu.be/GkxzKuL5gP4?si=p5fXjIv9oCrx8wrz
– Why Parisians are Forced to Live in Tiny Apartments: https://youtu.be/oWwyZUe6MjY?si=udcnnZf59I569gi2
– Why France Has Better Food Than The USA: https://youtu.be/C7fIHeVypdI?si=18f2MiAC8TEeLNrk
—
People in this video:
@brettconti @LivingBobby
#france #usa #europeantravel #paris #torras #ostand #torrasiphone16promaxcase
49 Comments
My mom and I, both US citizens, got flagged and searched driving back to the US from a short visit to Vancouver, BC. Turns out that we had some uneaten fruit we bought in Chinatown, some of which was banned in the US due to fly infestation issues. No fine, but some of the guards were really rude. US border guards and customs agents can be really unpleasant. Never had an issue in France or elsewhere.
Finding a job in the EU is because they have a treaty to allow them to move across national borders and work. In a sense it's like moving across state lines in the U.S.
If you love The Spanish Apartment they actually made two sequel movies and recently did a TV series about Xavier's kids called Greek Salad!
King cakes are common in the New Orleans area its a religious thing tied to Lent. Or more specifically Mardi Gras {Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday"} and is the day before Ash Wednesday or the first day of Lent. In Mardi Gras legend if you find the charm {usually a tiny plastic baby} in side the cake it will give you good luck for the next year.
You have achieved the absolute perfect balance of accent! Go no further!
If you are an EU citizen then you are at home in any EU member state. The EU is my country. France is just the member state where I was born and where I happen to live presently.
The US is definitely not the land of the free. Bigots, prudes and pro-prohibition crazies impose their perverse world views on the country
Much less bises since COVID at the office
9:55 hugging is much more invasive, it seems wrong, but also I don't like these kisses from strangers.
In France, the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie had an exhibition, " Zizi sexuel, l'expo" for pre-adolescents and the generalist TV channel ARTE showed a documentary "le clitoris, ce cher inconnu" in prime time. Apparently you can still find it on Daily Motion.
When I see someone drinking at a bottle of wine in public it is either a us tourist or a bump 😂
I live in Minnesota and I partly grew up on raw milk. I love raw milk! It is hard to find a farmer that will sell it and the ones who do charge about $5/gallon, whereas the store is $3-4/gallon and when you are pinching pennies, it makes a difference. Raw milk, I can let it sit for a day and skim the cream off to make butter or use in cooking or other things, and even if you skim all the cream off, it still tastes like whole milk. Part of the problem is the chemicals used to make them produce more, or grow faster.
Raw milk is not ok but hormones beef is fine 🤷♂️!!!
Other countries often look weird when viewed through a different lens. I guess that in some States in the US raw milk cheese is illegal but open-carry firearms are fine!! Vive la différence!!
The "land of the free", the only "truly free world", is a lie.
Sp quality french cheeses are prohibited but processed mass-produced quasi-cheeses are fine….. interesting country
Public drinking is obviously fine in Brazil, we also drink wine at urban parks and I loved drinking wine at the grassy areas around the classrooms at my uni, but cheek kissing at work is becoming weirder and weider for the newer generations, I think. Especially since it's become acceptable to wear stuff like cropped tops at the office.
As for raw milk, it's still the primary way of drinking milk in rural regions and in small cities, but significantly fewer people live in them. You can still buy raw milk at the supermarket, but the bag packaging looks amateurish and I think most people just assume it's lower quality compared to the highly professional-looking carton UHT milk.
Cheese is also a huge part of Brazilian culture (especially in the regions settled by Western Europeans), people invite their friends to eat cheese and drink wine at home (it's an event called "queijos e vinhos"), so we make a ton of cheese from raw milk as well.
………🤦 You see???? This is why…..
Americans have the audacity to argue about cheese, BUT GUNS!!!! WOOOOOO DON'T TOUCH MY GUNS….
…ridiculous 😑
In France if sex scenes aren't traumatic r*pe or something they're considered ok and therefore -12
From what I've observed
-10 is language
-12 is sex/drugs etc
-16 is extreme violence/gore
-18 is either pron or sick movies like a Serbian film
NC-17 is not no-one under 17, it is no-one 17 and under. Meaning no-one under 18. As a Swedish American who grew up mostly in Sweden, I remember seeing (in the early 80’s) a movie on TV that was based on a best selling Swedish novel. In the movie, a young boy of about 11 is accidentally left on his own at home for the summer while his parents went abroad. he was meant to attend a summer camp, but somehow got out of going without his parents knowledge. He is terrified of growing up and becoming and adult, and inspects himself for pubic hairs daily. One scene in the movie that would be unacceptable in the US, and in many (most?) countries (and perhaps in Sweden today?), was when he was shown sitting on his bed crying because he was experiencing his first erection. This scene was shown with full frontal nudity, showing the boys erection, and I’m pretty sure no prosthetics were used. I do remember reading somewhere a long time ago that the movie was banned in Australia as child pornography. I probably wasn’t much older than the young actor in the movie when I saw this movie on TV with my family. Would something like this be acceptable in France today? Somehow I doubt they could get away with that in contemporary Sweden. I also recall reading in an advice column in a magazine aimed at teenagers, a letter from a 15 year old girl who had started a sexual relationship with a 50 year old man,. The advice given was basically that if the relationship was mutually satisfactory to both of them, and if they used protection, it was all good. The 70’s and 80’s were truly different times.
Fois grais is basically torturing a duck and then killing it. It’s absolutely shameful a product no one should be allowed to eat
Some french cheese might be a good way to have free space around your seat in the plane (or to trigger an emergency evacuation). 🤣🤣🤣
Ohlala, vraiment le move le plus FRANCAIS de manger du Rocamadour en légende dans un avion comme "snack".
ahh la bise ^^'. back in 1994 (22 years old then) i visited my family in L.A. I was introduced by my cousin to some girlfriends of his. I don't know why i went and "bised" them ^^' hi how are you mouah mouah…. lol the biggest lull in my life. I remember thinking : what's the matter with you bro, they are so not ready for that kind of s****. One of them went " ahh Europe". We laughed a lot after that.
american land of the free what? 3rd world country with a gucci belt
I remember growing up that it was "normal" to realize that France and many European countries were much more liberal with profanity and nudity and such, even with alcohol. "That" in our minds was "part of the identity of Europe" or "what it is to be in Europe". And I think that was it was fine to have that understanding; that there were/are European ways of living and American ways of living. I think that both ways of life and of living it need a place where they are "the accepted way", because both of the types of people definitely exist. The U.S. should not try to lower or remove it's boundaries and Europe should not raise its boundaries, otherwise where will half of the total number of people have that they can live that embraces their preferences? In the U.S. right now there are vast numbers of people who don't even want 100 year old books on library shelves because they depict "too much". Topics discussed in schools are under fire because parents are OUTRAGED. All of those people deserve a country too. Unfortunately, I find that too many of the those living in the "wild and open" European world think the U.S. should "loosen up". Failing to realize that the world cannot just be one vast red light district. Or half of the population will want to burn it to the ground and spit in the ashes. So then let each be what it is. If you want to live the European "way" move to Europe. We will not be mad. 🙂
Kings Cake is legal in the us. Instead of a plastic man, it’s a plastic baby. You can get them at most grocery stores around Mardi Gras. Everyone I’ve bought had the baby in it.
I live in Florida and watch many French films on TV5 Etats-Unis. I am surprised when I see the mention on some films at the beginning that say, "deconseille aux moins de 10 ans" or "moins de 12 ans" and then the film contains material that in my opinion is not at all suitable for children 10 or 12 years old. What are they thinking?
"allowed" se prononce exactement comme "aloud". 🙂
In the US State of Wisconsin, children over the age of 10 (I believe) are allowed to consume alcohol in a bar or restaurant as long as their parents are present and consenting to it. That's how I was introduced to to alcohol at a very young age. 🙂
I grew up drinking raw milk and I’m a decent human being in society. Raw milk is delicious
wonderful presentation
in the USA, the human body is considered dirty and must be hidden, which is why they banned statues of Michelangelo – what a shame, they are so religious they love supernatural things.🤮🤮🙄🙄🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
When I was in Germany, I saw that they sold beer at the gas station. That was pretty weird to me.
Age of consent in France is 15.
If I go by the movies and tv shows I've seen, in the US people make love with their underwear on. This is kind of kinky.
It's not about the air cheek kiss per se, it is more about personal space in the United States. This type of greeting is common in Mexico (only one kiss) and most Latin cultures where it may be one cheek or both. Know the culture.
@lucilehr did you experience the New York kiss when you lived there? It is just one cheek but would certainly NOT be done with colleagues. But I think depending on the company, it would be just fine with friends you have in the office. Some HR departments are ridiculous.
Might have trouble importing a King Cake, but the FDA can't be bothered to enforce the rules against every local bakery. At least until the bakery gets sued by some guy who ignored the warnings not to eat the ceramic baby Jesus. As for raw milk, I think you can use it if it's from your own cow for personal consumption. So people (at least in some areas) can buy part of a cow and share the raw milk. We had to throw away leftovers of a picnic lunch at the Canadian border once. After that we chowed down while we waited in line.
Would you do some videos about the UK and England sometime? The only video I can find on your channel is the one about travelling to Scotland on the train. I'd like to know how we compare to France and the USA. Maybe we're somewhere in the middle.
The U.S. is a backward country in many ways.
i find it strange that your cake with the figure inside is banned but mardi gras cakes have them.
We're potentially on the verge of another pandemic which could make covid-19 look like a pleasant experience. One of the ways Avian Flu (H5N1) currently infects humans is through raw milk. Anyone consuming it in 2025 needs their head examined.
The law in the US is that you can't have inedible items surrounded by edible items. Grew up in Canada and we had Kinder eggs.
Real food…legal in france…
8:15 – If God wanted us to go around naked, we would be born that way. 👅
10:10 – When I was consulting at SNCF in Paris decades ago, nobody greetined my by these "air kisses". Perhaps because I spoke only English (apart from my native Croatian) and was working for an American company.
12:25 – Blood sausage, black pudding, however you call it – is there any European country where it is not eaten ?!? I just have them yesterday for lunch, with sauteed sauerkraut and potatoes.Americans banning a food item for sanitary reasons is hilarious, with their farming practices. E.g. they keep their poultry in so discussing condition that they wash chicken carcases in clorox, and destroy the protective layer on eggs by aggressive washing. And their raw milk probably is dangerous.
Excellente vidéo comme toujours. La qualité de ton anglais est exceptionnelle. Nous, au Québec, sommes toujours amusés par le massacre généralisé des noms anglais que les Français essaient de prononcer. Tu es la première Française que j'entends prononcer le TH sans se ridiculiser. Bravo !