15 Differences Between France & England | French Culture vs British Culture | Paris vs London

I am French. We have a lot of cheese and most of it doesn't smell bad. We have very good cheeses that have no odor. Personally, I don't like bad-smelling cheeses.

Im a New Yorker that has lived in both Paris & London. I personally feel more at home in Paris bc of the people. Theyre kinda jerks like New Yorkers, we dont like eye contact when were on public transportation, we dont talk to strangers & the French are more classically stylish than the Brits. Like New Yorkers. Also, French cheese is way better than in the UK. The only thing I hate is having to pay to use the public bathrooms in France. Than after you pay to go in, the bathrooms utterly disgusting. UK trains run 24/7 as opposed to France. Their stations (especially the RER) shuts down around 11pm.

People in London are cold, avoid eye contact, keep straight faces in the streets, when you go to a shop, employees are quite rude and don't say hi to you, in France (not Paris) people are more chill and laid-back, free-minded
I've been living in London for 6 years, it still doesn't feel like home mostly because of how people behave

My grandad said the french were very friendly during the war ….. he was in the German infantry

In the UK it isn't really legal to drink alcohol until you are 18 so the majority of Brits don't know how to handle their booze at that age. In France consumption of alcohol is more ingrained from an early age via the family and eating out so I can only assume French people treat it as a cultural norm whereas Brits see it as a treat. Also beer consumption is quite high in the UK whereas France and some other countries bordering the Mediterranean are a nation of wine drinkers, perhaps that's a difference? The Brits also historically haven't had the choice of spirits unlike the French. Gin and Scotch have tended to be the shots spirits with gin especially being associated with the masses of times gone by (especially women) whilst whisky was associated with men and brandy was a treat often smuggled over from France in times gone by.

As for strikes, they are much harder to organise in the UK nowadays. Of course they do happen but are usually considered a last resort. 50 years ago wildcat strikes were common but under the Conservative government of Mrs Thatcher in the 1980s a lot of unions had their powers curtailed. Also the media in the UK have more or less been very negative in their portrayal of unions on the past and it severely hurt their image with the middle classes. Not sure if that's the case in France though, maybe a French reader can answer that.

One thing we can thank Covid for, is that it appears to have killed off the "Mwah Mwah" we for some inexplicable reason imported from the continent.

Londoners used to be kissy kissy but Covid will have changed that

Cars have to pass the test every year not 3 years in England.

Rabies used to be endemic in France and the caution lives on.

I think France is lucky to be culturally in between the serious North of Europe and romantic south, which prizes beauty and quality of life. They strike the perfect balance between efficiency and beauty. As a Londoner, I sigh at the new construction of tube stations that are just grey on all the walls, no colour at all. I don't think they would do that in Paris.

Italy and then French

Do you prefer to live in UK or in France, Im debating about moving to one of them but I dont know. Loved the video

is she half asian?

I'm French and have lived in the uk for 10 years now I think. I'm from the North of France and I would touch with my right cheek, usually we'd 2 bites but sometimes 4. Some of my family live in the South though, and over there they touch with the left cheek and do 3 bites - which always made it so awkward as we wouldn't go on the same side and I would usually be left hanging as I thought they went for 4 buses lol. I never know how to great people in England.... I miss doing la bise, it was much easier and clearer for me lol

RED LEICESTER BEAUTIFUL CHEESE

I have always said why do American men dress like it's 1950! I'm 57 - skinny fit still works for me! I don't know which side you kiss first but I do it the Belgian way which is 3 kisses.

Cool

Brits never say ornery.

All the bridges over the railways and the railway tunnels are, unfortunately, too low for double decker trains. We really could do with them because of the overcrowding on commuter trains.

Hi guys, we do have a very smelly cheese called Stinking Bishop. It gets its name from the pear that is rubbed on the rind. Although it really does stink it tastes really good if you like that sort of thing.

Public transport in England is unreliable and ridiculously expensive, thanks to the government selling it off to private companies, who can charge so much because there's no competition.

There's loads of cameras in England, mainly because there's a lack of respect for the law. It's a cultural thing, which I don't quite understand. The police are usually very helpful!

"To my palate, English cheese is a lot better" - and that was how the war with France began!

In France, we think that dry cheeses taste like soap. We still like them in salads or in burgers, or as an aperitif.

we kiss on the right or left depending on whether we live in the north or the south ... why? nobody knows. Also we can kiss our close male friends or close male friend's close male friends, eventhough we don't know them. Sometime we don't ... depending on the mood. Formal way is to shake hands anyway, even a woman's.

Now you know why people are not nice to your dog in France, they secretly hate you for what your dog might leave on the sidewalk 😂

The UK used to suffer interminable strikes in the 1970s! Quite endemic.

Right cheek personally !

Never fancied going to France myself but it was always something my Auntie wanted to do so she went to paris for a romantic weekend.. She hated it, the french were either rude or ignorant and acted like they were doing you a favour when they eventually got around to taking your order and people urinating in the streets were the least of her concerns as dodging the human shit was a higher priority.. People just dropping their trousers and shitting in the street lmao The food wasn't great (certainly no better than they can get at home and better in some cases) either and the constant harassment from people in the streets wanting money menacingly or selling over priced crap.. She'd never go back, on the plus side at least she doesn't go on about how great Paris is anymore.

An MOT test on a car in UK is every year once its 3 years old.

CCTV in the UK increased in a bid to combat terrorist attacks. I know tons of Brits who kiss or hug upon meeting.

England had double decker and bendy (accordion) busses

Last time I was in Le Havre I witnessed just how stylish the french were.
Walking around one Sunday, a well dressed older woman in a fur coat and pill box hat walked past. She then started to rummage around in the litter bin in the street. ,

Lot of people must have already answered the question , I am from the region ile de France which is the same region as Paris and I always start la bise by the right cheak and it's just cheak/cheak and not cheak/leaps. And most of the time we make 2. First with the right cheak then with the left one. Sometimes we do mistakes because we are in an other region and they make 3 or 4 (or 1). So we say sorry or laugh and it's okay.
So if I'm a stranger I would make 2 and start by the right side. Exept if you are in the South-west of France it's 3 start by right.

If you think the French eat late, then you would be very surprised about the Spanish and Italians lol.

The public transport costs in the UK are insane. I think it’s mostly because the system is privatised and somehow it makes things more expensive, plus money hungry bastards.

Transport is expensive in Britain because, conservatives.

Google the miners strike of the 1980's

In the UK MOT every year.

car m.o.t test in uk is every year not every 3 years.

if you don't strike in France, its the guillotine. We really are both socialist countries.

If you want to see classic cars you have to be in Suffolk or Norfolk somewhere rich enough people have a passion car often near old car musseams that were closed down a few decades ago the cars were sold of cheep to the locals because the museum had gone bust the other thing is WWII Willie's Jeeps are really popular amongst enthusiast's they go to schools and teach about the history of there car once a year and even if you are knowledgeable might let you drive it a bit

We used to strike and if one union stricked all there alies would strike to making the union's effectively a second government but far more accountable now though we railie strike and for this you can thank Margaret Thatcher for ringing the British government in favour of courporations rather than people and the other person is Ruppert Murdoch who caused one of the largest strikes in British history and was the first newspaper to win against a union something we are still licking our woonds from

Head to Chester, you will love it.

Apparently there is no French direct translation for the word, “shrug” which I find hilarious. Is it true?

I live in the U.K. and learned to greets my friends differently depends on their preference, nationality and the industries they are working in! Of course all of my french friends and people who works in PR will get the kisses. I greets my Spanish friends with kisses and big hugs. Asian and English friends I’d just say hi and that’s it really. So it depends🤷🏻‍♀️

I live in the UK and people here are pretty bad at picking up their dog poo too. You come across new poos on the sidewalk daily. I've been to paris before and don't remember seeing a lot of dog poo though.
I tend to disagree on UK having better sliced bread, most of the bread you buy in shops isn't even fresh but instead the plastic bag "toast" bread. But then again I'm a belgian and biased to belgian bread lol.

There is no logic whatsoever to train fares in the UK. One example is 'split ticketing'. This is where you split a single journey into segments and buy a different ticket for each stage.

For example: if you are travelling from Hull to Manchester, there will be several stops along the way, including Huddersfield. It may be cheaper to buy a ticket from Hull to Huddersfield, then Huddersfield to Manchester for the same journey, than buy a single ticket going all the way, despite the fact that it is the same trip and you are staying on the train.

Also, coaches are a lot cheaper than trains but nowhere near as popular as it takes a lot longer to travel by coach. If you are not in a hurry though, this may be worth considering.

Both France and Britain are countries with peripheral cultures found in the Celto-Germano-Latin border. France lies predominantly in the Latin territory, but it does have its foot on some Germanic soil (Alsace), and a bit on the Celtic side too (Brittany). Britain predominantly lies in the Germanic territory (84% of Britain is English, and even most of the population of Wales and Scotland speak English instead of a Celtic language), but it does have significant Latin influence, especially in the language, and some Celtic influence, especially true for Scotland and Wales. This makes both France and Britain transitional cultures. France is the gateway to Latin culture for Germanic people, and the exit for Latin people. Britain is the gateway to Germanic culture for Latin people, and the exit for Germanic people. France is definitely Latin, but less than say Italy or Spain, as it does have a more Northern European mentality in some aspects of life, such as being more industrial and organized. Same with Britain, as it does have a less stiff and more relaxed approach to work and life than the super punctual, calculated, and efficient-obsessed Germany. You can clearly see all this with their language and historical attitude toward food, art, fashion, religion, laws, work life, drinking culture, etc.