Bridging the gap between US and Europe

Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:03 AM
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Bridging the gap between US and Europe

I have on travel forums for some time and have found some questions or comments from our good friends living 'overthere' intriguing.

I would propose to compile some.

En tout bien tout honneur' - not being judgmental here.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:03 AM
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1. a lot of posts were asking about streetmarkets. It took time for me to understand this - seems there no street markets in the US. For us it is part of our daily life, so we would never think of recommending going to one (at least I would not think of it).
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:07 AM
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2. A lot of question about safety (in capital letters sometimes...) seems the situation is the inverse in USA than in France : our cities are safe and we hesitate to venture into the suburbs. I would never recommend going into Aubrevilliers or Saint-Denis without paying attention for example. Paris intra muros ? Been there in all arrondissements in all kind of state (someone said palstered ?) without any problem.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:07 AM
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3. Hotels : ok an easy one here, US tourists want AC, queen beds. They find small rooms...
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:09 AM
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4. cars. US tourists want automatic cars, ok. But they seem to be overwhelmed by our traffic. Yet I don't see it more complicated driving in Europe than in say Boston or Minneapolis or ... I don't see no reason for that shyness. We are not supermen because we can drive small cars in congested areas or small streets.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:13 AM
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5. wine. You have great wine 'overthere', yet I see some (a lot) of US posters being ok with wine of the house or even ordering the wine by the pichet. something I would never drink anymore...
Can't get that one.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:14 AM
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6. tipping.
A well known and well discussed subject. Easy to understand, not that easy to change one's habits... wouldn't want to launch another debate about it here.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:17 AM
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Your comments / ideas / questions ...
What amazes you in our daily life or what don't you understand with us ?
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 11:37 AM
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Why are Belgians so rude (like the French)

Why don't you tip?

Does everyone speak English?

Are we safe on the streets?

Why do Germans wait at No-Walk signs even though there is not a car in sight for miles?

How can we get off the beaten path?

Tell me about an undiscovered gems of restaurants/hotels

Where can I find the best french fries in Belgium/Europe (only the best not 2nd best)

Why are stores closed often on Sundays -I thought Europe was less religious than the U.S. where Sunday is wide open?
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 12:14 PM
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Hi, friend.

I'm probably not the typical responder, but here goes:

1. Street markets are part and parcel of our daily life in France. We rarely miss the big Tuesday market in Le Bugue, and if we do we go to the small one on Saturday or the big market in Le Buisson on Fridays. Very occasionally, if we happen to be in Sarlat on a market day, we will go there. That said, we had a fine farmers' market at Dupont Circle when we lived in the USA and almost always went, though it was frightfully expensive compared to anything in Europe.

2. We lived in fear of being mowed down in certain DC neighborhoods by reckless outlaws with guns. We tippy-toed around train and metro stations after dark. I was mugged in broad daylight on one of DC's major streets. Our house was robbed. Friends had similar horror stories, ranging from having bicycles stolen to being robbed at gunpoint. Nothing like that here in the Périgord except a lively cocaine trade at some of the campgrounds and the very occasional domestic violence issue. In big cities like Paris we are always watchful, but not fearful, and we tend to inhabit neighborhoods that the likes of Loacker would not step foot in, meaning ethnic places where there is a grand mix of people of all races. No fear issues at all there.

3. Easy, for sure. I've been traveling for 40+ years in Europe, living here permanently for almost 2. I expect, and don't complain about, small hotel rooms. Look at the architecture and history of most of the hotels in Europe and it should be clear why the rooms are small. AC I don't necessarily need - I'm used to non-airconditioned places, including my own home - but when it's sweltering, I like it and will pay for it. Queen beds? My husband and I are petite and can sleep easily in almost any bed. We're just not fussy about hotels as long as they are clean and are in a neighborhood we want to explore.

4. Neither one of us needs an automatic. In fact, we don't like them. Our car here in France is a small Renault diesel manual. We can drive seemingly forever on a tank of diesel. We're not scared of city driving (though I will admit I am not fond of the périphérique around Paris) or much of anything else. I do admit to being a bit of a wuss on the major Autoroute du Sud with all those lanes and big trucks. But you're right - it's no more complicated than Boston or New York or San Francisco. I think visitors from other countries may get put off by the signage and various lanes and so forth in big cities, but am not sure because we had to memorize all that for our licenses.

5. We have such good local wine (and yes, sometimes by the pichet) that it's hard to answer this. We are friends with two fairly local châteaux owners who have pretty simple wines that aren't expensive, and we tend to buy from them in bulk unless we have a special occasion to buy for, in which case we place ourselves at the mercy of Julien de Savignac. But if you stopped by our house (and I hope you will), you might get the local offerings (you could bring a bottle or two of something fancier if you liked

6. Tipping - we don't, except if we're in a hurry or feel someone's gone out of their way for us in some small way. I left an extra 20 cents today at the PMU in Le Bugue after having a panaché and the waitress was practically supplicant. If we have a lovely meal in a fancy restaurant, which we don't often, we will round up the tab up to maybe 5% or so, but we understand that it is simply not the norm.

Last question I don't think I can answer because I chose to move to Europe knowing full well what I was getting into and think I pretty much understand what that entails. It's not as though I didn't know what I was going to encounter. What I don't really understand right now is French politics. What is going to happen? It's not as distressing as what is happening in the USA, but it still smacks of racism and exclusionary politics.

Yes, there are things that totally amaze me after being here for almost 25 years, though ony 2 as a permanent resident: the politesse, the absolute reverance for good foods, the stars in the heavens on clear autumn nights that rival those in Africa, the incredible kindness and generosity of neighbors in a small, small community, the reliance on local, hunted products to make wonderful delicacies, the woodsmoke smell that permeates the village now that it's winter and we all have our wood stoves stoked up with logs hewn from our land...

There are undoubtedly things I don't understand yet. I look forward to figuring them out.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 12:32 PM
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You have great wine 'overthere', yet I see some (a lot) of US posters being ok with wine of the house or even ordering the wine by the pichet. something I would never drink anymore...

You'd see a lot of Italians doing that, too. Maybe our house wines are better than yours!
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 12:42 PM
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Our house wines aren't normally bad at all. Maybe WoinParis is spoiled. Cheri, if you come to visit us, you might get house wines - or we could take you to Juiien de Savignac for something special
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 12:42 PM
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Why are Europeans or many wine snobs?
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 01:08 PM
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1. Many towns and cities in the US have farmer's markets or green markets, but they're not ubiquitous like the weekly markets in every tiny town in Italy. The street markets in Italy tend to sell a lot of cheap junk as well as food, not all of a high standard, whereas the green markets in the US tend to be organic, zero kilometre, expensive stuff.

My son-in-law grows mushrooms and sells them at a farmer's market in the US.

Anyway, street markets are not common everywhere in Europe. Places with a lot of rain tend to have more covered markets than street markets. You don't see many outdoor street markets in Ireland, for instance.

3. Most parts of the US have very hot summers, and air conditioning is more important there than in northern Europe. I don't like air conditioning, and didn't have it in my home in the US (which was unusual even 20 years ago). We have a bedroom air conditioner in our home in Italy, but we rarely use it. However, I wouldn't want a hotel room in Italy without air conditioning. At home, I manage the internal temperature carefully, but hotels can't do the things that I do. I've spent more than one sleepless night in Rome, lying in a pool of sweat, futilely trying to move some torrid air around with an electric fan.

4. Most Americans under the age of 60 can't even drive a car with standard transmission. I always preferred a standard transmission, but by the time I left the US they were getting hard to find, and cost more. By the way, automatic transmissions are beginning to take off here in Italy.

In Italy, we don't drive in cities that we don't know very well, unless absolutely necessary. There are so many ZTLs, and parking is scarse and expensive. Trains are cheap here, and between major cities, are a lot faster than driving.

I agree that driving on the autostrada or in rural areas is as easy in Europe as in the US. That's even true in the British Isles, where they drive on the "wrong" side of the road.

All in all, Wat, I think you're generalizing your experiences in Belgium and Paris to all of Europe. Italians also like big beds, for example. The standard width of an Italian "letto matrimoniale" is 160 cm (63 in.) We call those skinny beds "letti francesi".
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 01:17 PM
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I should add that, by now, virtually every hotel in Italy, except in the mountains, has air conditioning. I imagine the same is true in southern Spain and Greece.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 01:19 PM
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Is the water safe to drink?

What's the best way to change money?
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 01:36 PM
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T just love "What is the dress code for..." put in your own destination, pr the usual tourist hot spot.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 01:39 PM
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1: street markets: a lot of US cities do have street markets, they are one of my favorite things to visit. But they are generally seasonal, and I was surprised to find out they are more year round over there.

2: maybe partly guide books. Lots of doom and gloom online too. Warnings of pickpocketing- I realize it's not the same thing, but if someone takes your wallet here, it's more likely a mugging, so the two blend together in my head. And as someone else said- I've had bikes stolen, my car prowled, etc. have had taxi drivers and waiters try to cheat me- so it happens here too- but the thought I might not be able to catch or fix it due to lack of language is rather intimidating. But the constant warnings of scams on the street- I'm not worried there because you see those in cities here and I don't know how anyone falls for it.

3. Ha. I don't know. I'm not averse to small rooms or no A/C. I like historic hotels so I "get" it.

4. I cannot for the life of me learn to drive a manual (I have tried). Feel free to fix that Wo! I shall pay you generously in wine/beer of your choice the other part of that...I think many Americans don't actually drive in those comparable big cities. I have, as a necessity, but few of my family and friends have. There's so much space between the cities in the US- unless you travel or frequently move, you might learn to drive in one of those cities and you get really good at just a few routes to various places. Or one's husband/wife/parent does all the driving- so the rest of the family never drives on vacation.

5. We have great wine over here, but unless someone is a wine enthusiast, I don't actually see the good stuff on the table much. Holidays, perhaps. Either folks don't drink much on principle or it's a budget thing- I can get friends and family to split a cheap bottle or pitcher of wine with me at restaurant but if I want a bottle of the good stuff, it's on me. I think many people might just see ordering wine as the "European" thing to do, but they don't actually like or drink it enough at home to tell the difference between 2 buck chuck and the good stuff.

6. Like you said, hard to change habit. I have nightmares about waiters chasing me out of the restaurant. Tipping is controversial even here. (it's not whether or not you tip, it's how "mean" you are about it.)

Hmm...
1. I don't understand French politics either. I don't understand the hijab laws. Here I could understand it because in parts of the US there aren't many Muslims, but surely you must see hijabs and other ethnic dress over there?

2. Don't really understand the whole Royal family thing. What purpose do they serve? Tradition, I get that, but why do people care about Kate Middleton? And I'm assuming that the state supports the royal family...why? People here complain if the president takes a golfing weekend...

3. Completely in awe of the public transit. Yet many Europeans seem to have cars, so what keeps the transit system intact? Especially with the budget flights.

4. Yes, why is stuff closed on Sunday?

5. How Europe is so big and so small at the same time. There are SO MANY cities. But even on high speed rail it takes longer than I would have expected to get places. I've seen a lot of Europeans criticize Americans for never leaving their own country, but I'm rather startled by how much Europeans apparently travel. I think even if I lived in Italy (or France or UK), it would take me a lifetime to see everything I wanted to see just in that one country.

6. The ugly American tourist stereotype. I mean, I get it, it exists here too. But many of the European tourists I see on the streets of Seattle or Chicago or LA (or at Disneyworld) are really no better dressed or behaved. Shared a hostel room with teen girls from UK in California, and they were much like teen girls from anywhere else.

7. How mobile are people? I mean, do people generally stay in one place there whole life or do they move? I've seen a lot more family run hotels and buildings owned by the same family for generations than you would see here...but I would think industrialism and the EU would mean that a lot of people migrate from place to place.

8. Hotels. There are so many small independent hotels. Do Europeans generally stay in those on vacation or do you stay at chains like we do here? And grocery stores, too- I know there are more markets and butcher shops and that sort of thing- but do you really use them or do you go to the supermarkets? I've seen mentions of both on forums.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 01:49 PM
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When Americans refer to "the South of France" they usually mean the coast between Nice and Marseilles. For us, the South of France is the very large area extending from the Alps to the Atlantic ocean South of the Loire River. Bordeaux is as much "South of France" as Antibes or Toulon.

Rotisserie chickens bought at market stalls : What's to praise about them? They are usually tasteless (unless free-range but then the price is much higher) and the potatoes are soaked in unhealthy fat.

"French" onion soup : there is nothing typically French about it, the recipe dates back to the Roman times. It is not the thing we would order in a restaurant.

Safety : Not always as rosy as some would like to believe. My house was broken into by drug addicts, so were two of my friends' and no later than yesterday I was at the hairdresser's when he heard someone calling for help. It was a 84-year old lady who was mugged in broad daylight in what used to be a peaceful Southern town. The man snatched her bracelet with such force that he broke her arm in 3 places.
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Old Nov 27th, 2016, 01:50 PM
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You forgot the famous one:
How to meet the locals?
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