Things I’ve noticed – part deux
The French Paradox – (from wiki) The French Paradox refers to the observation that the French tends to have a relatively low incidence of heart disease despite having a diet rich in saturated fats. This paradox is thought to be due to the high consumption of red wine in France, which contains resveratrol and other antioxidants that may provide a protective effect against heart disease. Other factors such as lifestyle, and the healthcare system in France may also contribute to this. It’s probably good that the crew have been having red wine regularly on this vacation!
The Weather – I’m not sure if it’s a feature of the region, but the weather has been, as mentioned in a previous posting, bi-polar. It can’t seem to make up its mind! With that said, I’d rather it not make up its mind, than having 3-4 days of straight-on rain, like can happen back in Vancouver.
The lack of a ‘to go/take-out’ culture – It’s very odd for me to see the lack of ‘to go’ cups at some cafes. You are meant to sit down, dine-in, and enjoy your meals, or your coffee. The pace is noticeably slower… comfortably so if I do say so myself. However, it still is odd, and sometimes inconvenient not being able to just grab a coffee to go, and walk around with it.
Coffee Shop hours – this may go hand in hand with the lack of a ‘to go’ culture, but coffee shop hours here are also odd! Not sure if the French just don’t wake up early, or maybe they just have a coffee at home before they head out, but you don’t see coffee shops here opening at 6am….
Public transportation – buses, metro, trains are inexpensive and top-notch. You definitely don’t need a car. That is of course, if you live in the city. I’m not certain about the suburbs, however here in the city, you don’t see big fridges and freezers for food storage, so most people on a daily basis walk to their local bakery for their bread, then the cheese store for their cheese, and so-on. You hop on a streetcar or bus, which seem to come every 4-5 minutes. It’s all so convenient.
Cashless – we’ve managed to successfully go through this trip so far without the need to use any cash (except the 1-euro coin needed for the public washroom). Everything is just an easy tap with a credit card. Whether it’s with my physical card, or my phone, or my watch. There definitely have been some positives that have come from the post covid era. Even better, I happened to borrow some Euros (cash) from my buddy back in Vancouver, and he told me to just use whatever, and I could pay him back with the current exchange rates. However, I haven’t had to do that, since I get a great rate on my credit card. I specifically have a credit card that I use for travel that has no foreign exchange fees! In general, we’ve averaging about 1.477 conversion rate from Cad to Euro. Jen for example converted some cash before arriving at about 1.5. A $2.30 Canadian savings on each 100 Euro does add up in savings!
Splitting cost – with the advent of phone apps, and phones being so ubiquitous, we’ve been able to leverage some of these apps for our group travel. We’ve been using an app called Splitwise, which has enabled all of us to enter in our expenses into the app (if you happened to have paid for something), type in the description, date, etc. and the app will go and split the expenses accordingly. By having this, it doesn’t matter who pays, you just keep a running tab on the app, and at the conclusion of our vacation, we can settle the bill at that point and time. You have to love modern technology.
Toilet paper- the toilet paper here is thin, and the rolls of paper are narrower than back home. Give me my ultrasoft Charmin any day of the week!
Public Washrooms – I find it odd having to pay for bathrooms at even bigger public venues, such as the train station. Reminds me of Hong Kong.
Spicy Food – or lack thereof. The French don’t eat spicy food. It’s non-existent in any of their food! It’s so weird! Because of this, when you go to other restaurants, say to get a shawarma or a donair; their real ‘spicy’ sauce is still quite mild. Hahaha, apparently to appease the French palette.
Electricity prices – according to Darren, electricity prices are 38 cents (Canadian) per kwh of power. That’s almost 3x the price of the electricity back home in Vancouver! It’s no wonder no homes here have air conditioning.
Solar Panels