Things not to do in France Interesting facts about France and the French Are there in France

Tights were invented in France. Women's tights are the most ingenious invention of the 20th century, because they can also be used as an excellent medical tourniquet to stop blood, and in the garden from pests, etc. :)

France is home to the world's most visited attractions: the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and the Monastery of Mont Saint Michel.

France is the homeland of cinema, the homeland of aeronautics, the homeland of the bicycle, the homeland of ballet.

There are several types of fire-resistant trees growing in France. They were chosen for amazing looking wooden fireplaces (one of these fireplaces can be found in the castle of Amboise). The most famous non-burning trees are juniper and cedar. Accordingly, pine nuts are actually a panacea for all diseases. Unlike Russian Siberian and even Far Eastern pine nuts, they are not just large, but sometimes unusually gigantic. And very inexpensive. That is, they are expensive, of course, but much cheaper than Siberian ones in Siberia itself. In Arab markets, you can find a 200 gram bag of peeled nuts for 5 euros.

The most smelly and at the same time the most expensive mushrooms in the world grow in France - truffles. There are even truffle auctions. This is the only product for which there is no official price. Truffle sellers only accept cash! They cost an average of six hundred euros per kilogram - and this, together with the land and uncleaned. The season is from November to March.

All escargots in France (grape snails baked in garlic sauce) are called bourgogne. This is because they are considered the largest and most delicious. On the menu, they will be called Bourgogne, even if they are collected in the square in front of Notre Dame de Paris.

Buckwheat is not in short supply in France. Buckwheat fields in Brittany are considered indigenous, although they appeared there only around the eighth century. Buckwheat flour for Breton pancakes and biscuits is a common, everyday product. The French do not use buckwheat as cereals for porridge. But those who yearn for buckwheat porridge can buy it in poultry food stores, more expensive - in Bio stores, from Greeks, Turks and Arabs. And if you want it to be expensive, then in Russian stores.

France is the largest country in Western Europe.

In France, the terms "dry" and "brut" refer only to champagne. The concept of "dry wine" does not exist, because by definition it is all real natural wine. Fortified wines are definitely becoming liqueurs and are no longer considered wines.

France gets its name from the Germanic tribes that lived in Northern Europe and are known as the Franks.

France has the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world.

France is the third largest country in Europe after Russia and Ukraine.

France is a member of the UN and also one of the 5 countries with veto power.

Paris is the capital of France and is considered the world capital of fashion.

France has the largest wine production. About 8 million bottles are produced in France every day.

France and England are connected by an underground tunnel.

The famous bicycle races Tour de France are held in France, the participants of the races cover about 3600 km. The races last for three weeks.

Champs Elysees is considered the most beautiful street in France.

It is believed that April Fool's Day, April 1st appeared in France.

France is one of the most attractive countries for tourists. About 81.9 million people come here every year, which is more than the entire population of the country.

The French army ranks 6th in size.

The seven mountain ranges of France include: Vosges, Jura, Le Massif Central, Northern Alps, Southern Alps, Pyrenees, and Corsica.

France is one of the largest wine-growing countries in the world, with the second largest vineyard area after Spain. The best wineries are located in the provinces of Alsace, Champagne, Loire, and Burgundy.

The Concorde, the famous supersonic passenger airliner, made its first flight from Toulouse in 1969. The aircraft began to be used for transportation from 1979 to 2003.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris was named the tallest man-made structure in the world, and it remained in first place for 41 years, until the Chrysler building in New York was completed in 1930.

France is second in the list of aid donors to third world countries after the United States.

France is ranked 12th in strength of the army, which includes the French army, the French navy, the French air force, paramilitary auxiliary forces and the national gendarmerie.

France has the sixth largest fleet of 42,550 professional sailors and 15,000 reservists.

France is a member of the G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, and the Latin Union.

France is the leading exporter of agricultural products in Europe and the third largest in the world. The main agricultural products are wheat, poultry, dairy products, beef and pork.

France has one of the lowest employment rates in the 15-64 age group.

France was ranked 24th for corruption and 20th for human development.

The Canal du Midi, in the south of France, is the oldest functional canal in Europe, with 63 castles, 55 aqueducts, 6 dams, 7 canals, 126 bridges, 1 tunnel.

After Luxembourg's population (per capita), the population of France is the largest drug consumer in Europe.

France is the second largest nuclear-powered electricity producer after the United States, while it comes first in Europe. The amount of electricity produced in France is higher than in Germany, Great Britain, Spain combined.

France is home to the world's first mass-produced ballpoint pen manufacturer.

With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the French government carried out mass executions of thieves, murderers, criminals and other declassed elements in the forts of Paris and in the moats of the Vincennes fortress.

Under King Louis XIV, in parades, the French army was always built in the shape of the letter "L" in his honor.

In French, the numbers 70, 80 and 90 are called, respectively, "sixty and ten," "four times twenty" and "four times twenty and ten." The same applies to the derivatives of these numbers. But in Belgian French, everything is like people.

After the Great French Revolution in 1793, the National Convention carried out a reform of the calendar and time units. The year was divided into 12 months, strictly 30 days each, and the month consisted of 3 decades of 10 days, of which only one day was a day off for civil servants. The remaining 5 or 6 days of the year, the so-called sansculotis, did not refer to any month. According to the new rules, a day was divided by 10 hours, an hour by 100 minutes, and a minute by 100 seconds, and, thus, each new second corresponded to 0.864 old seconds. On January 1, 1806, Napoleon canceled this system and returned the calendar we are used to.

The speed of electric current is almost equal to the speed of light. In 1746, when it was not yet known, the French priest and physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet wanted to measure the current speed experimentally. He placed 200 monks, connected to each other by iron wires, in a circumference over one and a half kilometers, and then discharged into this circuit a battery from Leyden cans, invented a year earlier. All the monks reacted to the current in an instant, which convinced Nolle of the very high value of the desired value.

The Principality of Andorra is jointly governed by Spain and France. The princes are, respectively, the bishop of the Urgell Catholic Diocese and the President of France. Thus, the French president is the world's only democratically elected monarch.

Throughout continental Europe on highways right-hand traffic. An exception to this rule is one Parisian street 350 meters long - General Lemonnier Avenue. Here the movement is organized on the left-hand side. There are sections with partial left-hand traffic in Odessa - in Vysoky Lane and on Italian Boulevard, which was done to relieve the adjacent streets from traffic jams.

In many countries, metal monuments with bare genitals suffer from the fact that people rub these very organs to shine - supposedly, this brings sexual luck. And even if the sexual organ is clearly not visible, this does not save individual monuments. At the Parisian cemetery Père Lachaise there is a monument to the journalist Victor Noir, who lived in the 19th century and was killed in a duel. The monument depicts Noir lying on the ground after receiving a bullet, but the most noticeable detail is the bump in the fly area. According to legend, if a woman has problems in her sex life or cannot give birth, she needs to kiss this bump, which has long been shining brightly, and then put the flowers in an overturned Noir hat.

The dog waltz is called differently in different countries. In Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands - flea waltz. In Bulgaria - the cat march, and in Finland - the cat polka. In Hungary - donkey march, and in France for some reason they call it a chop.

While writing his works, Alexandre Dumas used the services of many assistants - the so-called "literary blacks". Among them the most famous is Auguste Macket, who, according to the most famous biographer of the writer, Claude Chopp, came up with the basis for the plot of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and made a significant contribution to the "Three Musketeers". Although it should be noted that it was thanks to Dumas' talent that his novels, even if they grew out of the rough notes of assistants, were saturated with vivid details and lively dialogues.

In the Middle Ages, a lot of Roma lived in the territory of modern Czech Republic in the region of Bohemia, and the Roma who came to France began to be called Bohemians. Their way of life became the basis for comparison with the gypsies of the creative elite, leading an equally chaotic and eccentric life. That is why this stratum of society was called "bohemia".

Until the mid-19th century, restaurants served all ordered dishes at once - this method of serving is called "service à la française" ("French system"). At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian prince Alexander Kurakin visited France and taught restaurateurs another way - to serve dishes gradually, in the order of their arrangement on the menu. In modern restaurants this system is the most popular and is called “service à la russe”.

The original recipe for salad "Olivier", invented in the 19th century by the French chef Lucien Olivier, who lived in Moscow, has been lost. In 1904, the recipe for the salad was roughly reproduced: 2 hazel grouse, veal tongue, quarter pound pressed caviar, half a pound fresh salad, 25 boiled crayfish, half a can of pickles, half a can of soybean kabul, two fresh cucumbers, a quarter pound of capers, 5 hard boiled eggs.

By order of Napoleon III, aluminum cutlery was made, which was served at gala dinners to the emperor and the most honored guests. Other guests used traditional appliances. precious metals - gold and silver.

The main flower of France is the lily. According to legend, the founder of the Frankish state, King Clovis I in the 5th century, defeated the Germans on the banks of the Li River, where lilies grew. Since then, three lilies have flaunted on the flags and on the coat of arms of France, personifying compassion, justice and mercy.

There are bee hives in the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris. The tradition of keeping hives in city parks is over 150 years old. You can buy a jar of Parisian honey at the souvenir shop in the Luxembourg Gardens.

The French prefer pink toilet paper, sometimes with flowers. It is bought most of all in France.

In 2010, a record price of one gram of dried truffle was recorded - $ 17, which is approximately one and a half times higher than the cost of one gram of gold on the world market. Outstanding copies are sold not just like that, but at an auction, which is attended by restaurateurs from almost all over the world. At Castello Grinzane Cavour, near the Piedmont town of Alba, four kilograms of giant white truffles were sold to several Chinese buyers for £ 30,000.

The words "souffle" and "prompter" have little in common in meaning, but both come from the French "souffle" (breath, breath). The soufflé is so named because it is light and airy, and the prompter is so named because it must prompt the actors very quietly.

France has a huge number of national cuisines - 22 (by the number of regions), which depend on what products are produced and grown where. The French, as you know, not only know how, but love to cook properly and deliciously completely simple, at first glance, dishes. So, if you eat only potatoes every day, you will still have a fairly varied and exotic menu. In France there are so many varieties of potatoes and dishes made from them that it is almost impossible to taste everything.

Last week on the eve of the European Football Championship (Euro 2016), one of the best strikers Karim Benzema - a French citizen born to an Algerian immigrant family - sparked a stir in France. Not with a spectacular goal in favor of Les Bleus, the national team that hosts Euro 2016, but with his statement published in a Spanish newspaper, in which he claims there is a “racist part of France”. The events that gave rise to this statement, as well as what happened next, turned Benzema from a man who scores goals and earns his living (about 200 thousand euros a week) into the protagonist of a tense political drama. And this drama - depending on which side you look at - testifies to the fact that something has rotted in the soul of Benzema or in the French state, or maybe there and there.

The facts of this case are equally unsightly and undeniable: a few weeks ago the French Football Federation (FFF) announced that Benzema would not play for the French national team in the upcoming Euro 2016 championship. Federation President Noël Le Graët referred to a pending lawsuit against the footballer. Last fall, French media reported that Benzema was involved in blackmailing his teammate and former friend Mathieu Valbuena. A handful of scumbags contacted Valbuena, demanding 100 thousand euros from him, and for this they promised not to publish an intimate video of Valbuena with his girlfriend. When Valbuena refused, one of the blackmailers, a friend of Benzema, asked the star football player to tell Valbuena that this was an offer that could not be refused. Judging by the recording of the conversation with Valbuena, as well as by his own admission, Benzema did just that. Naturally, the French court accused Benzema of complicity in the attempted extortion. And shortly thereafter, the Federation removed Benzema from the national team, and Valbuena struck him off his list of friends. “It feels like a fool has been made of me,” Valbuena admitted.

Now in France many people think that Benzema also fooled them. Last week, in an interview with Spanish sports magazine Marca, Benzema was asked about a comment made a few days earlier by French footballer Eric Cantona, who, alluding to the Benzema situation, said that French coach Didier Deschamps was racist. (True, Cantona did not say that he and Deschamps had been at enmity for a long time). Benzema responded as well as he usually scores a penalty. “No, I don’t think so,” he replied. "But he [Deschamps] succumbed to pressure from the racist part of France." After his words, the miserable story about how football stars misbehave turned into a furious debate about the role of racism in French society, politics and sports.

Context

2016 European Football Championship in numbers

El Pais 10.06.2016

FIFA World Cup for unrecognized states

The Christian Science Monitor 05/27/2016

Can terrorists win the European Football Championship?

Yle 28.03.2016 These problems are not alien to the French national team. Over the past two decades, it has, in fact, served as a barometer by which you can see how France is tossed sides when it views itself as a multinational state. Almost 20 years ago, when France hosted the 1998 World Cup, its underrated national team - a multicolored team of players of French, African and Arab descent - defeated Brazil, the clear favorite, winning the championship and stirring up their country. It was a victory that allowed the French to believe that “unity in diversity” was not just a slogan, and that the diverse communities living in France did not weaken the Republic, but made it stronger. For a while, the national flag changed from blue-white-red to the flag of “blacks, whites and Arabs”, as the country was proud of its multinationality. A new wave of optimism came two years later when the national football team won the European Cup.

But these victories only provided an opportunity to escape from the tensions that were building up in everyday life outside the stadiums. The French economy was stagnant at the time. The social crisis that Jacques Chirac promised to overcome after he was elected president in 1995, in fact, only intensified under his leadership. It is significant that in the same year when the national football team won the Eurocup, when asked whether there are too many players of foreign origin in the team, “asked during the poll, more than a third of the respondents answered yes. IN next year in Paris, during a match between the teams of France and Algeria (the first ever match between the two countries linked by a tragic colonial past), young French Arabs in the stands booed the Marseillaise, the national anthem of France. And 15 minutes before the end of the match, when the French team was leading with a score of 4: 1, the game had to be stopped due to the fact that they, jumping over the fences, rushed onto the field. The sight of thousands of young people from impoverished suburbs or suburbs pouring into the field in droves (although they probably did so not in protest, but out of a desire to have fun) seriously worried many French citizens. And by 2002, the racist leader of the right-wing National Front party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who a few years earlier had ridiculed the phenomenon of "blacks, whites and Arabs", in his words, "had nothing in common." with his ideal of the national team, reached the final round of the presidential election that year.

Chirac subsequently defeated Le Pen with 82% of the vote. But Chirac's victory made no more sense than the victory previously won by the French national football team over the Algerian team. A country that had believed only a few years earlier that it could achieve unity in diversity was now showing disunity in the years of trial. In 2005, the eminent intellectual and philosopher Alain Finkielkraut claimed that France had become a laughing stock in Europe - not because of the way they play, but because of their line-up. As he said in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, anyone can see that the team that everyone considers "black-white-Arab" is in fact "black-black-black". His thought was taken up by veteran socialist and Montpellier Mayor Georges Frêche, who said it was not "normal" for nine out of eleven players on a team to be black.

At the same time, politicians - both left and right - began to criticize the players for not singing the Marseillaise before the start of the games. Zinedine Zidane, national team star in 1998 and 2000 and of Algerian descent, is rarely seen singing the national anthem. Billed as the star of the 1980s (and now a disgraced former FIFA official), Michel Platini reminded fans that in his time, many players also did not consider it necessary to sing the anthem. But this did not stop Marine Le Pen, the daughter of the aforementioned Jean-Marie Le Pen, who later became the leader of the National Front herself, expressing her regret by saying much more famous words: “When I look at our team, I don’t I recognize neither France nor myself. "

By 2010, Le Pen's daughter was no longer the only one in France who sang the praises of the former team. During the FIFA World Cup in South Africa that year, the French national team refused to train. They protested against the expulsion of their teammate Nicolas Anelka, who, in response to the coach's criticism, told him to go far, but in a much harsher form. The strike lasted 10 days - long enough to secure the team an early exit from the tournament, as well as a surge of public outrage at home. This act of the national football team marked its final degradation, after which it has become a useful idiot for those who try to speculate on the growing tensions over the issue of national identity in France. (As for Anelka, he actually ended his career a few years later when, during a game in 2014 for England, West Brom showed a "qunel" - a signature fascist gesture invented by the French comedian and notorious anti-Semite Dieudonne).

Benzema himself was at the center of the Marseillaise scandals: in January 2015, during a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona, \u200b\u200ba French anthem sounded to honor the victims of the attacks at the Charlie Hebdo editorial office and the Parisian kosher supermarket. When the last note sounded, Benzema turned his head and spat, a gesture that sparked outrage in the French media. Before that, he said that it was impossible to make him sing the hymn with everyone. (And although Benzema did not explain the reason for his reluctance to sing, he stated several years ago that "my homeland" is Algeria. The French word "pays" can mean a country of which a person is a citizen, or a country to which he is emotionally attached). And in addition to these real or fictitious signs of contempt for France, there is also a lawsuit filed against Benzema in 2014 for sex with a minor for money. (The charges were later dropped.)

Significantly, with regard to Benzema's character, almost all people agree: most of them agree that, given his behavior in the case of Valbuena, his punishment is entirely justified. Few of Benzema's defenders portray him as an innocent victim of ingrained racism, just as few believe in his altruism when he suddenly became worried about this particular case. This famous footballer has never before considered it necessary to deal with the problem of racism in French society.

And yet, if everything is clear with the character of Benzema, then his sweeping accusations of the existence of racism in French sports raise questions. It is simply not enough to conclude (like Le Pen) that Benzema "with these outrageous accusations against the French covers up his own immorality." The "French" include five million French Muslims, the overwhelming majority of whom are from North Africa or the Middle East, living in a country that is popularly overcoming the problem of integrating Islam into society. Two months ago, a poll by the newspaper Le Figaro found that concerns about the presence of Islam in France, once felt only by the right and the far right, have spread to the other side of the political spectrum. In 2010, 39% of socialist voters agreed with the assertion that Islam plays an "too important" role in France, and today this opinion is already 52%. Almost thirty years ago, the idea of \u200b\u200bbuilding new mosques was approved by every third French citizen. Today, those who support such a policy are barely 10%. Etc.

Sports are not immune to outbursts of racist and chauvinistic sentiments. French football fans at times insult and boo black players with racist gestures. Few can confirm this better than Patrick Vieira, France's great midfielder of 1998. Vieira, who was born in Senegal but raised in France, has been repeatedly racist abused not only as a player, but also later when he was the coach of the youth team of Manchester City. He canceled a match in Croatia when the same happened to one of his players.

But these incidents of racism caused much less resonance than the case with Benzema - although they are no less disgusting. This is partly due to the fact that today the country is fixated on Islam. Unsurprisingly, the few observers who supported Benzema's criticism (though they condemned his behavior) also got hit. And the most prominent example is Jamel Debbouze, a very popular French comedian of Moroccan descent. At first, in response to the scandal, Debbouz said that the despised and condemned youth from the suburbs, most of whom are children of North African immigrants, needed Benzema to play in the national team. "Until nothing is done to improve life in poor suburbs," he said, "it would be wrong if" there are no 'our' representatives on the national football team. " Moreover, Debbouz continued, Benzema is simply "paying the price" for the differences that exist in French society. (True, then Debbouz, shocked by the ensuing storm of indignation, apologized for his words and called - although not entirely convincingly - all his fans to support the team.) In turn, Zidane, now the head coach of Real Madrid, for which Benzema stands, chose his words very carefully and said only that “a person, like a football fan, may be disappointed” by Benzema's absence.

More bold words of support for Benzema came from the eccentric socialist politician and former education minister Benoît Hamon, who said Benzema was "made to remember reality." We are a country, he continued, "categorically denying the growth of intolerance." In modern France, he concluded, "we can all too easily say that we don't like Benzema because he has an Arab face." Amon did not need to clarify that this is the same France in which former President Nicolas Sarkozy called young Arabs "scum." And in which the Minister of the Interior, Brice Hortefeux, once joked that "one Arab is still okay, but if more is already a problem."

Today, Ortefe will undoubtedly say that everything is fine in the national team, since there is only one "Arab" in the team so far. (This dubious honor goes to Adil Rami, who was born in Corsica to Moroccan immigrants and who plays for Sevilla.) As far as the team's chances of winning are concerned, they are more than normal - and perhaps even higher without a star forward. Benzema's presence would be a distraction and there are other world-class strikers on the team, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud. But even if the team wins the championship - playing for France and in France - the country has yet to answer the question posed recently in a headline in Le Monde: "Tricolor - which France team?"

talks about housing in French, debunks the main stereotypes about the French and gives useful recommendations.

About moving

In my case, everything is very commonplace - I married a Frenchman. I made the decision to move on a click, and I was sure that everything would be easy. Although I did not have the experience of moving to another country, as a student, I constantly moved from one place to another. And, in general, I got used to the nomadic life. In addition, I wanted to be close to my loved one as soon as possible, because I myself am from Khabarovsk, and it is very difficult to maintain a relationship at such a distance. But when I started collecting things, I realized that everything is far from being as fun and simple as I had expected. Packing boxes and shedding crocodile tears. After all, I was leaving everything that was dear to me, close, to which I was accustomed and built for a long time... For the last ten years I have lived in Khabarovsk. After studying, I stayed there to work, acquired connections, friends, bought an apartment. And just finished the renovation and hung up the curtains, how ... you need to leave. In general, expectations from the move and reality did not coincide a bit.

About the stages of emigration

There are four classic stages of emigration. In this sense, relations with a country are very similar to relations between people. The first stage is the candy-bouquet period: you are in love, you don't see any flaws, everything is fine with you - the birds are singing, the roads are clean and even, the flowers are blooming, the bread in the bakery is delicious. In general, absolute delight and love.

And then, a few months later, the second stage begins - the stage of dramatization. Suddenly, your eyes open to reality, and you begin to see the flaws. And very often - only disadvantages. Adaptation in emigration is psychologically very difficult: it's hard for you, because you are breaking away from your roots. It was blooming with a delicate violet in the southern fields of Provence, and suddenly you were transplanted to the North Pole. And this is such a shock! You don’t know what to do, you don’t see your place here, everything around is alien, incomprehensible. This is the filthiest period.

At the third stage, everything starts to get better. You understand where to go, “tighten” your tongue, and you define a plan of action. That is, you are not something that no one needs at all, because you can do this, search here and do this.

And the fourth stage is full adaptation, when you feel at home.

I'm somewhere between the third and the fourth right now. But very often emigrants get stuck on the second: they cannot return to their homeland, and they cannot settle down here.

About adaptation

In my experience, those who move to another country to work or study adapt much faster and easier. They do not have these four stages of emigration. And people who move for other reasons, for example, or some life circumstances, as a rule, go through all of them.

About bureaucracy

France is the birthplace of three “b's”: baguette, beret and bureaucracy. This is especially obvious when you get married and you need to collect a bundle of documents in order to finally get a residence permit. I am not saying this from the position of an emigrant - the French themselves are faced with bureaucracy everywhere. Everything takes months: to take one piece of paper, you need to sign up for a rendezvous two months in advance, then wait two months until the piece of paper arrives, and then its validity period will expire.

About the famous French slowness

The French are not the slowest nation because there are Spaniards and Greeks. It's just that the French are not the most agile. It is not very customary to rush here, and “I need everything urgently and yesterday” does not exist. In a short time in France they will not provide a service and will not write out a paper, since the planning horizon here is much longer than, say, in Russia. You even need to buy groceries in advance because the shops are closed on Sundays. It would never occur to a Frenchman to buy a chocolate bar on Sunday night. Why would he? And if necessary, he will think about it on Saturday or Friday and buy in advance.

About rental housing

To rent a house in France, the first thing you need is a permanent work contract. All work contracts are divided into three types: permanent, temporary and seasonal. And you need a permanent one. Basically, it makes sure that it is almost impossible to fire you. If there is no permanent contract, dancing with a tambourine begins, because then a guarantor is needed. The system in France is such that, even if you have a lot of money in your account, you still need a French guarantor - money does not carry the same weight as a person who guarantees with his name that if something happens he will pay for you.

In France, as in other European countries, most of the rental transactions are carried out. As a rule, the tenant communicates with the landlord only through an intermediary. But there are sites like leboncoin.fr, where you can find the owners directly. cost money (about a monthly rental rate), with the agent doing about nothing. They are just waiting for the weather by the sea and offer options that are completely inappropriate.

Homeowners always have several potential landlords, and a dossier is collected for each. What for? The fact is that French law is on the tenant's side. If one day he cannot pay, it is almost impossible to kick him out of the apartment. This is why the French are so meticulous about the dossier. They want to be as sure as possible that the person is reliable, will not stop paying in a year and will not live in someone else's apartment as a bird.

About the old housing stock

In France, no, all houses are different from each other. Before we moved into our apartment, my husband lived in the very center of the city, in the so-called “old fund”. This 100-square-foot apartment in an 18th century building had a fireplace, giant gaps in old windows, and antique parquet flooring that cannot be changed as it is a heritage. The apartment was not in very good condition and I insisted that we move. But in the historic buildings there are also magnificent apartments completely renovated and with plastic windows... True, putting them in order costs a lot of money, since in France any services, from manicure to wallpapering, are much more expensive than in Russia.

About the apartment in French

An apartment in French is certainly white walls (paintable wallpaper or decorative plaster) and no colored wallpaper. The French do not like flowers and petals at all, they say it's kitsch. They prefer to paint the walls in the same tone: in rented apartments - white, as a base and suitable for everything; in their apartments they can be painted in dark gray, blue or any other, most importantly - in one color.

No renovation, and you will not see chandeliers in typical French apartments. Ceiling lighting is not available in all apartments, the French are adherents of spot lighting. You won't see curtains here yet. Most, especially in rented apartments, are limited to roller shutters or shutters.

The French love to have more rooms. When my husband and I moved, I thought: there are two of us, no children yet, two rooms for two people by Russian standards - generally excellent, one could do with one. And he says: “What are you, we need at least three rooms!”. Previously, it seemed to me an overkill, but now I can no longer imagine how to live in less than three rooms for two people. The French, if they can afford it, will always prefer more spacious housing, and this is one of the reasons why many continue to rent apartments: a mortgage for a large apartment in a good area is much higher than. Therefore, when children appear, the French often move farther from the center.

Parisian apartment

There are a lot of people and very few square meters. And this greatly affects the cost of housing. So that you understand, in 8 m², and it will cost more than 100 thousand euros. The price per m² in expensive areas reaches 20 thousand. Few can afford a mansion. Let's say two people can live in a studio of 16-20 m², and 50 m² in Paris is already a good, large apartment. It is impossible to buy an apartment there if you have an average French salary.

About provincial dislike of Parisians

The French are very simple people. They do not like all sorts of tricks and luxury - it is not customary to show it here. And in the opinion of the French, Parisians are a show-off. Is it true? Partly. The capital changes people a lot. Even if you were born in a French province, but left for Paris, you become a “parigot”, and metropolitan thinking is always different from provincial. But if we talk about many Parisians, then most of them are also ordinary people who have no time for exhibitions of fashionable designers and for smoothies with quinoa. Every day they live their lives in the rhythm of “metro, boulot, dodo” - metro, work, sleep.

On the superiority of the French language

It is believed that the French consider their language to be the best in the world and, in principle, do not speak any other. It is not true. The fact is that the French speak very little foreign languages, in contrast to their neighbors and northern European countries, where English is the second language after the native one.

For example, how many Russians speak foreign languages? I talked with the French living in Russia, and they all say: guys, you don't know English in Russia, we can't come to an agreement here either. And all because in Russia English is taught according to the classical, obsolete system "London - from the capital of Great Britain" and "Where is the frog?" Since childhood, instead of useful ones, they give us unnecessary phrases. The French have the same thing. Therefore, in a restaurant, the waiter can understand what you are asking to order, but will continue to answer in French. If you've ever learned a language, you know that you often get stuck at the stage “like a dog”: I understand, but I can't say. But this is precisely how the stereotype developed that the French tyrannize everyone with their grassed language.

In my first year in France, I did not speak French at all. I tried to strike up a conversation in English, but with him everything is really bad here. And this also did not help my integration in any way - with my excellent English I felt like a complete fool. But not once in a year has no one got into a pose and said: "You are in France, speak French!" Another thing is that a lot depends on how you behave yourself. How many are used to it? "Hey you garcon!" So why should the French have to line the red carpet if they are being treated inappropriately?

What to try in France

• Bread. Do not go to Paul, which is in Moscow, do not go toLa Mie Câline that is everywhere. Start with a good French breakfast and go to a French bakery that says Artisanale. This means that the bread dough is made in this bakery. In chain stores, frozen dough is baked.

• Salted oil. Since I live in Brittany, and our gastronomic specialty is salted butter, I will definitely recommend it. In any incomprehensible situation between ordinary and salty, choose the latter.
• Charcuterie. This is translated into Russian by the absolutely idiotic phrase “sausage product”, which immediately sends it somewhere. But charcuterie is everything made from pork: various sausages and ham. Try it because in France sausage is made from meat.
• Cheese. It doesn't matter which one, the main thing is French. Don't miss the wine bar. Chances are good that there you will be served a "mixed" plate of wine - assiette mixte - with cheese, bread and charcuterie.
• Wine. Here, choose according to your taste. When asked for advice, I say that any French wine is good. Remember that white wines in France are dry and sweet, and there are no sweet reds. Rosé wines can be sweeter and drier. Pink from Anjou is sweeter, from Provence it is drier.

About how much the French drink

In Russia, a glass of wine at dinner is called household alcoholism, and in France it is called an ordinary French dinner. Of course, in France they drink much more wine than in Russia, at times, but here the culture is different. This is a wine country, all the wine is good, why not drink it? Often a glass of wine is drunk at lunch with colleagues, and this is completely normal, no one will look askance. There is even an anecdote that is not an anecdote at all, but the truth. The doctor at the reception asks: "Do you drink alcohol?" - "Well, wine, beer sometimes." - "It's clear. Do you drink alcohol? " That is, wine and beer are not even considered alcohol here. Alcohol is whiskey, rum, cognac, fruit vodkas such as calvados. Therefore - no, the French drink a little.

About neighbors

In France there is a holiday called Neighbors' Day. We celebrate it in the private sector: they block the street, roll out a large table, bring their own specialties, children run, adults chat and drink wine. But in apartment buildings do not fold so warmly, because the walls are also thin here. The French are a polite nation, you will not see an open neighborly war here. They will quietly creak on the sidelines: "Here, this Jean from the 35th apartment again turned on the music loudly." But the police are unlikely to be called.

About heating

In winter, of all the items of expenditure on housing and communal services, most of the money is spent on heating. The first winter I honestly tried to turn on and off the heaters in order to save money, but then I told my husband: no, I can't live like that, I'm a normal Russian woman, I want warmth. So for the second winter we don't turn off the heaters at all. And, of course, our account has grown decently.

About the "communal apartment"

We pay 70 euros per month for garbage collection, maintenance of the entrance (once a month the owner vacuums it), light in the hallway, cold water and TV tax. - for electricity, hot water and heating (we have no gas, so the heating and heater are electric) are about 160 euros per month. This is a lot, usually the French pay less for electricity in the apartment.

About places of power

I have been to a huge number of departments in France, but Brittany is the region to which my heart was given. If we talk about a place of power, then for me it is a citySaint-Brieuc (Sainte-Brieuc) in the north of Brittany is a bay with some of the strongest ebb and flow in the world. Twice a day, a huge giant drinks water from the entire bay, and people walk along the bottom of the sea, collect shells. In French it is called “walking fishing”. In general, the ebb and flow in our Atlantic is simply amazing - how much water can go and come and change landscapes. Strong place! In general, I can be dropped off on any bank of Brittany, and I will be fine. But the weather there is rather harsh: the North Sea, windy, it can be rainy and cold - in general, for lovers of harsh port romance.

Another place of my power in France -department store roof Printemps in Paris. Love look at the city from above. There is a free observation deck with cool views of Parisian rooftops. Unlike the roof of the GalleryGaleries Lafayette, which also offers a great view, the panorama here is much wider, you can also look at the other side of Paris, and not only at the “grand boulevards”.

We also have in Nantesisland of Nantes... Previously, Nantes was located on a huge number of islands, but today only one of them remained, the rest fell asleep. And on the island there is a part where large shipyards used to be. Even 30 years ago, huge ships were built there (now the construction was moved to Saint-Nazaire), and today modern urbanism has rethought this space: part of the landscape that belonged to shipyards has been left, and part has been modernized. This is such an industrial, creative part of Nantes - my favorite part of the city I live in.

We recently returned from a trip to two departments - Lot and Dordogne, and there I was struck by a village calledSaint-Cirq-Lapopie... She just carved into the rock, and there I felt like Belle in the movie "Beauty and the Beast." This is that good old France, which no longer exists - about which we read in fairy tales, novels, in The Three Musketeers; which everyone imagines, but which, of course, has nothing to do with modern France. We were there in a very low season, there was practically no one, and all these streets belonged to me. An absolutely incredible landscape!

And let's go back to Brittany again. There is such a wonderful place there -fort La Latte... A huge fort made of rock, on which the English Channel overlaps from the side - it's just fantastic! When you imagine that people actually lived there, who specially built a fortress to defend themselves from invaders, it is amazing.

About other stereotypes

Before moving, I had a strong feeling that the French are terrible snobs. And so, it seems, the whole world thinks. Why? I'll explain now.

France has great cuisine, great products and great wine. For the French, this is the norm - they were born with this and it has always been so. It is absolutely normal for them to only buy a certain cheese at a certain store; know what kind of wine you like and know what kind of wine you will not drink under any circumstances; to understand that this wine with this product is good, but with that it is bad. For them, all this is absolutely natural, and there is nothing arrogant in it. But when you grew up in a completely different culture, their reasoning was like “Are you crazy to translate the product and spread foie gras on the bread?” or “I’ll wait for the full moon, go to my butcher and buy this piece of beef from him” seem like a terrible snobbery. You think: how can you be so arrogant and nasty? But we just have too different cultures. Probably, and now many consider me a snob. But when you get used to the fact that choosing food for wine is easy and that you need to go for cheese on Tuesdays, you quickly forget that for someone it can be wild. And the French do not even suspect anything about it. They don't know that or elsewhere it is not accepted at all. Therefore, the whole world believes that they always turn up their noses and look from the height of their rich French cultural and gastronomic experience. But let's be honest - they have a reason!

Prepared by Yulia Isaeva

Photo: from the personal archive of Lesya Kosttsinskaya

Natalia Glukhova

Is it easy for Russians to adapt in France?

07/03 2017

Good afternoon friends!
I want to tell you today how Russians live in France. Are there any advantages to immigration and what opportunities “ours” have in France. Let's talk about what it is like in Paris, where you can communicate with compatriots, and what awaits an emigrant.

From this article you will learn:

What is it like to live in France?

How does a Russian live in a foreign land? becomes a home for Russian emigrants. Life here flows in its own rhythm, you need to get used to it.

Before the 1917 revolution

Russia has had a "romance with France" since ancient times. Even the Napoleonic army failed to discourage the Russian aristocracy from loving the French language, style in architecture, art, and literature. Children were sent to study at the prestigious Universities of France.
The French Riviera attracted aristocrats from all over Europe. Here they rested, were treated, spent the summer.
“He is in French perfectly
I could express myself and wrote ... "
Remember who this is about? Eugene Onegin, of course. So, the language has come into use very tightly.
Ladies sighed over French fashion magazines, and gentlemen ordered new weapons from Paris.

Interwar period

1.5 million emigrants went to France after the 1917 Revolution. Political refugees, dissatisfied with the regime, students, princes, and former ministers fled here. A Russian diaspora is being formed, Orthodox churches are being built.

Paris 1900

Russian emigrants settled in big cities and occupied the suburbs of Paris. Newspapers appeared in Russian, charity evenings were organized. Here, unlike in Russia, one could breathe freely.

Russian emigration today

Let's talk a little about life in France through the eyes of Russian emigrants.

"Pineapples in champagne" and reality

I want to say right away - for tourists, vacation is always romantic, unusual, attractive. But, rest from real life is very different. Big cities all year round live in their own rhythm. Here you need to work, study, learn the language, apply on time to extend your visas.

People go to France for the quality of life, good education, opportunities. But, all this is not given just like that.

France was and remains tolerant of emigrants. There are still stereotypes that Russians live in grand style. It is worth disappointing them: not everyone is ready to open bottles of champagne with a hussar saber and then beat glasses.
Of course, the gallant French speak of Russian women with delight. But, girls should not easily believe everything that these famous ladies' men say. Another country is a different mentality.
On the other hand, many people like our Russian mentality, too; a Russian girl can become an enviable bride. It's hard to judge how French women treat our men. Such pairs also add up.

• It is not customary here to marry early;
• there is a "relationship agreement". You are not officially married, but for the state you are a couple. If you get divorced - no division of property;
• european feminism is not a myth, they are used to self-sufficient women;
• children are born late, the average age is 30-35 years.

Work situation

The labor market treats native French and emigrants from Russia differently. Many emigrants regret this fact. According to the rules, first a job offer must be posted on job search sites.

If French citizens did not show interest in the vacancy, there was no candidate - the vacancy can be offered to non-residents. Moreover, preference will be given to citizens of the EU, and only then - of other countries.
Of course, it's great if you were invited to work by a French company as a highly qualified specialist.
Don't speak French? You will be offered working specialties on a temporary basis:

• security guards;
• nannies;
• dishwashers;
• nurses;
• maids;
• grape pickers.

You can get a job if:

1. have a special permit or
2. student visa.

For many ambitious Russians, this job is a good way to start a career. You will tighten your language, make acquaintances, and understand how the country's social system functions. Then, it will be easier to get a job.

Own firm

Option - opening own business... Of course, entering a foreign market is always difficult. It is necessary:

• study the legislation;
• readiness for possible difficulties with promotion, entering the market;
• see how similar firms function.

Opening a company may become an opportunity to obtain a residence permit and permanent residence in France. Only, it will be necessary to do everything according to the law.
This is a good opportunity to assimilate in the country. Especially if you know your business well.

Education at the university

Students admit that it is interesting to study here. , for Russian students it is necessary to "acclimatize".
There are many study options. By the way, you can even get a long-term visa at language courses. They must last at least 3 months. For many young people, this is an opportunity to start their studies in Paris, for example.
The quality of education is high. The local grading system will have to be dealt with. On the other hand, teachers are always ready to help students. There is no formal system of communication between a student and a professor, as we have.

Students say that you really need to study in French universities. Here's the main difference:
we are accustomed to the fact that a passing ball ("three") is easily deserved. Here you will have to work hard for the passing score. This is already an indicator that the student has been studying for the whole semester. You get a passing grade, you move on to the next course. They work for knowledge, not for grades. In fact, it won't make a huge difference whether you got a passing grade or the highest - the main thing is knowledge.
If you have moved to live with a small child, then he must definitely go to school. There are Russian schools and even international ones. If the child already knows French at a sufficient level, he will be able to attend public school.

Russian community: you are with friends

As in any country, there is a Russian community in France. Someone fundamentally does not want to communicate in their native language - a person changes his life, wants to make acquaintances, to be friends only with the French.
Others are drawn to Russian cultural centers, websites and Russian-speaking communities. On sites and forums, experienced beginners will answer questions. Better to have at least a few Russian friends here. This will make it easier for you to adapt.
There are several large Russian portals and Internet newspapers. Such communities are often found in cafes and parks. It is not difficult to find friends and speak your native language here, as in the 17th century. Useful acquaintances can be made on such portals:

• russian doctors (it is useful when a doctor speaks your language, knows the difference between domestic and European medicines, and gives advice on where and how to buy medicines);
• russian lawyers, lawyers (buying an apartment, getting married, regulating problems with stay);
• shops of Russian goods (chocolate "Alenka", condensed milk with a blue label - nice little things in a foreign country);
• “Our” heads of firms can help in job placement.

Perhaps you shouldn't be limited only to communication with fellow countrymen. French buddies are also useful. It’s easier to learn the language, learn more about the country, customs, traditions, way of life.
I hope I was able to tell you a little about the life of Russians in France.

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