Culture Differences (part 1)

Before arriving I was most interested to see the differences from American culture to French and British culture.

London was a bit crazy!  Fast-paced!  People are in a huge hurry there.  The city overall wasn't built with as many pedestrians in mind as they have roaming around.  The sidewalks and roads are super narrow.  Hard to get down the street without being shoulder to shoulder with people.  Another thing I couldn't help but notice and this was a bit bizarre to me....I told Brad he shouldn't get any ideas from this observation...the women in Britain do a lot for the men.  For example the woman goes to the bar to make the drink order while the man sits back casually at their table.  I like doing things for my husband, don't get me wrong. I love doing for Brad, making his coffee each morning, fixing our meals and doing our laundry.  However, when we are out I want to be treated like a lady! I believe Brad should open the doors for me and he should stand at the bar to collect our drinks. 

Paris is more relaxed then London for sure.  It has better scenery too.  Of course that is just our opinion.  Just about everywhere you look in Paris you want to capture it with your camera.  I haven't noticed the women doing more for the men here.  I doubt it's like that here in Paris.  Brad loves the amount of motorcycles here.  The majority seem to drive vespas or motorcycles.  Even if they do drive a car it's a super small one. Paris is much more pedestrian friendly as well!  It's peaceful and enjoyable to walk around.  Once we get going with the walking we are surprised we're so content to walk as far as we have been walking. 

Both countries don't seem to believe in a top sheet on the beds.  We've had bottom sheets and a comforter in both hotels so far. The soda here is great!  I'm currently addicted to coke light!  It's the European version of diet coke.  It has .7 calories!  And according to Brad it doesn't even taste like diet.  All the sodas taste different here.  Brad tried the dr. pepper in Britain which didn't go so well.  To him it tasted flat.  I'm not sure why the sodas taste so different as they are bottled as diet coke or 7up or dr. pepper yet they taste slightly different.  The lemonade is quite good here too, it's bottled up like a soda with carbonation.  

Another huge difference from America that both these countries share in....tipping customs.  Tipping is not expected.  It's appreciated but not expected.  Brad actually had a taxi driver try to give him money back as he couldn't believe Brad was giving him such a large tip.  The minimum wage in these countries is much more than in America so they are not working as hard for the tips. 

Continuing from the point about tips, I'll now discuss the level of service.  In America the waiters/waitresses check on you constantly.  They come by to greet you, get your drink order and continue to check on you as your meal progresses.  It's not exactly like that in Europe.  They are more reserved, not as quick to serve you.  They aren't being rude to not come by the second you are seated they seem to just hang back a bit to let you get comfy then come by to take the drink order.  That one drink is all you get, no refills! They won't come by to get your drink order if all people in your party are not present.  Once they bring you the food they don't check on you at all.  After they clearly see you are finished they come pick up your dishes and ask if you'd like dessert.  It's a much more reserved approach as it seems to me.  Rather cautious about not intruding on the meal time that two people are sharing.  In a way I'm enjoying it.  In another way I miss feeling more taken care of in a restaurant setting.  I'm thinking when Europeans visit America they likely must get annoyed with how many times a waiter checks on them.

Here is likely the biggest difference we have both noticed.  When immigrants come into France or Britain it appears there is a high expectation on that immigrant to adjust to the French way of life or the British way of life.  In America that expectation is not so high! 

I titled this post as a "part 1".  I'll likely think of other stuff to discuss in the coming days as we spend more time here in Paris and once we return to London. I like noticing the differences in Europe compared to America. 

As far as posts this is likely all for today. We are ready to get out and about more. We're off to The Louvre!