You’ve heard so much about France from movies and television, but it’s a completely different thing actually being there in person! In this post we’ll share the 10 Most Surprising Things About Visiting France. We’ll cover some things we’ve observed in the culture and customs as well as some more practical matters of day to day living. This will be very useful for anyone wanting to know what to expect when visiting France.
Our experience of visiting France
We’ve visited France twice so far. The first time was a short 4 day trip to Paris. After studying French for many years and being enamoured with the country it was amazing to finally see the place in the flesh. While my spoken French still left a lot to be desired, I tried my best. It seemed like French people appreciated that I made an effort. I found that French people were a lot nicer than what their reputation might lead you to expect.
On our second trip to France, we spent 6 weeks travelling by train up the coast of France from Andorra to Italy. We stopped at many towns and cities along the way. As such we visited most of the major attractions in southern France. Our passion for the country has only grown the more we’ve seen of it. We’re dying to come back and explore some more. 6 weeks in France was not nearly enough. You could easily spend years travelling around the country and still find new things to discover.
The 10 most surprising things about visiting France!
France shuts down on Sundays
One thing that we found particularly surprising about visiting France is that the whole country seems to become a ghost town on weekends. Many shops and restaurants in France close on Sundays and supermarkets are generally only open until around 12:30pm. This caught us off-guard on more than one occasion. If you come from a country where shops are open 7 days a week it can take a bit of extra planning to adjust to the French way of doing things. In recent years, the more touristy areas have opened venues on a Sunday. In addition, small corner shops and some essential services may be open on a Sunday. However, Sundays in France are still generally reserved as a day of rest and for spending time with family and friends.
In addition to the Sunday closures, many smaller shops as well as some museums and other venues may close around lunchtime each day during the week. This will usually be for a couple of hours and may be anywhere from noon to 3pm, depending on the venue. Be mindful of this when planning your activities in France. It’s a great excuse to take the time to have a long lunch!
Aparthotels – the best place to stay in France!
If you like the convenience of a hotel but want a bit more space and the conveniences of home, look no further than France’s Aparthotels. Aparthotels are a really convenient accommodation option when travelling through France. They have fully furnished apartments with all of your utilities and high speed internet set up and ready to go. You can rent them out for a night or for a longer period of time. Furthermore, discounts may be available for longer stays. Some Aparthotels have 24 hour concierge available. A regular cleaning service may also be included in your room rate. Additional cleans are also available on request for an extra fee. You may also find them spelt a few different ways, including apparthotels, appart’hôtels, appart hôtels, appart hotels, appart’hotels and appartement hôtels.
We stayed in a number of Aparthotels during our time in France. They are an excellent choice due to the quality of the amenities, the speed of the internet and the overall convenience that they offer. One handy feature were their heated towel racks. You can often find heated towel racks in bathrooms in France. They are often connected to the central heating. Heatd towel racks are a great way to both keep your place nice and toasty warm as well as dry your clothing on the go. Being full-time travellers, we often wash our clothes in the bathroom sink and hope that it dries by the next day. We’ve found heated towel racks to be by far the most efficient way to dry our clothes on the go. After experiencing the luxury of heated towel racks, it’s going to be hard to live without them!
Boulangeries in France are cheap and amazing!
Boulangeries are the name for are bakeries in France. It is no secret that France is known for its baguettes, croissants and other baked items. However what we found surprising was the impressive quality and quantity of boulangeries all around the country as well as what great value they are! It seems like there’s an amazing boulangerie or patisserie on pretty much every street corner. Each one of them is filled with mouthwatering delights that look like they came straight out of a gourmet cookbook. You don’t have to look far to find decadent cakes that have been made with absolute precision. Each cake is like a work of art. Yet you can buy them for as little as 4 or 5 euros. The most surprising thing of all is how we didn’t manage to double our body weight after all the cakes we ate while in France!
Bonus tip – look out for chocolateries as well while in France. They’re everywhere and a decadent handcrafted chocolate will only set you back about 1 euro. It’s a great affordable treat that always brings a smile to our faces!
Amazing food can be found everywhere in France
When you think of France, one of the first things that come to mind would have to be amazing food. However gourmet delights are not just reserved for the most exclusive restaurants in Paris. We were shocked at the number of Michelin star restaurants that can be found in even the smaller lesser-known towns in France. Considering that the entire country of Australia doesn’t have a since Michelin star restaurant, we were amazed to find not one but two Michelin rated restaurants when walking down a small section of road in Marseille. France is home to a whopping 638 Micehlin star restaurants (as at 2021), including 30 3-star restaurants.
It’s not only high end restaurants where you can find amazing food in France. There are the boulangeries, patisseries and chocolateries that we mentioned before. There’s also a plethora of varieties of cheeses in many fromageries in France. There’s local markets with the best quality local produce. There are butchers (or boucheries) with a wide range of delicious meats. And you must not forget the amazing wine! What was even more surprising to us, was the quality of the food in the supermarkets in France. Who would have thought you’d be able to find duck foie gras macarons in the frozen food section? If you are a foodie, you will be in absolute heaven visiting France.
France is a bike-lovers paradise
Once you come to France you will understand why the most famous bike race in the world is held here. France is an absolute bike-lovers paradise! Many of the towns and cities were developed before the invention of cars. As such the narrow alleyways are really more suited to cycles than cars. Furthermore there is an extensive network of dedicated bicycle paths all around the country. When you walk out of a train station you will often see bike racks and bike share facilities. Bicycle shops are also plentiful throughout the country. In addition, we found many signs throughout the country counting the number of bike users on a particular day. It really is a bike-friendly country. One of our bucket list goals is to one day do a cycling trip through France.
French people love to protest
Coming from the democratic society of Australia, we are no strangers to protests as our democratic right, however the French take it to the next level! We were surprised at how often there were protests, over different issues all through the country. From teachers salaries, to vaccine mandates to cleaners strikes, you will find protests nearly everywhere! What we have observed is that the French are very civic minded, with a long history of democratic ideals that they continue to upload vigorously. These ideals are neatly summarised in France’s national motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”. The other great thing is that the vast majority of these protests are peaceful. As such they won’t impact you as a traveller visiting France.
The ubiquitous condom vending machines of France
France has a reputation for being a country for romance. However one thing that we weren’t expecting about visiting France was how ubiquitous condom vending machines are throughout the country. In most other countries you’d only find condom vending machines hidden away in public bathrooms, but not in France. In France they are out in full display on the side of many streets. From what we could tell they seemed to be located outside pharmacies. Given that many pharmacies in France are not open 24 hours, this makes a lot of sense. It does still give us a bit of a shock every time we see one though!
Beware of French motorists at pedestrian crossings!
In our home country of Australia, pedestrian crossings with the white stripes indicate places in the road where the pedestrian has right of way. Not so in France. Make sure that the cars are actually going to stop for you, otherwise you run the risk of being run over! Some pedestrian crossings also come with pedestrian traffic lights to tell you when you should cross. However at other times it seems like you have a 50-50 chance of a motorist stopping for you when you cross.
Watch where you walk in France, or you might step in dog poo!
One things we weren’t expecting when coming to France was the amount of dog poo we’d see on the street. Dogs are a popular pet in France. However it seems like not all dog owners are diligent about picking up after their dogs. We did see doggy bags available for use in public spaces as well as certain areas reserved for dogs to do their business. Nevertheless dodging dog poo was a regular part of life while in France. We have observed similar things in neighbouring Spain and Italy. It seems that not all French people are on-board with this by-product of dog ownership. We did see some signs in shop windows requesting dog owners to take their dogs elsewhere when nature calls.
French people are obsessed with Wattle
We’re from Australia, where the beautiful golden flower called wattle is our national flower. Wattle is native to Australia, so we found it very surprising when we started seeing it all the way over in France.
Apparently wattle was imported to France as well as other countries in the Mediterranean over 100 years ago. Since then it has really taken off, and it can now be found everywhere! Once you start noticing it, it is hard to stop seeing it. We’ve seen it in markets, in flower stores, in restaurants, on the dashboard of people’s cars. Massive trees in full bloom can be found all along the French Riviera. We took the train all the way up the southern coast of France. During our journey and saw many wattle trees dotting the landscape. Wattle provides such a vibrant pop of colour. It’s no wonder that the French have fallen in love with this beautiful plant.
What surprised you most about visiting France? Was there anything we missed on our list? Let us know in the comments section below. And if you liked this post you might also like our other France travel blogs.
If you want to learn more about visiting France, check out our 10 Most Surprising Things About Visiting France video.
France Blogs
You can find our France travel blogs below.
Toulouse Destination Guide (2024): What You Need to Know
Carcassonne Travel Guide (2024): What You Need to Know
Self Guided Walking Tour of Carcassonne France
10 Most Surprising Things About Visiting France!
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