French Quirks

I've been in France for about a month now (Oh my god, has it been that long already??) and I've noticed a few cultural differences and certain aspects that aren't like the cliche stereotypes associated with the French. This post is a culmination of such little "quirks" as I think of them. I'll be continually adding to this list throughout the rest of my time here, so keep checking back every so often.

Here we go:

• The French don't use "Excusez-moi" as much as you would think. Instead, they always say "Pardon."
• Pretty much nothing is open on Sundays. Wanna get something to eat? Go shopping? Too bad.
• French notebooks are all graph paper. They don't use lined paper. I finally found a paper store on campus that sells normal notebooks for us Americans, but they were almost 6 euros each. Worth it?
• [Quick french lesson: 'bonjour' is hello (or literally good day), 'bonsoir' is good evening] There is no way to tell when the French switch from saying bonjour to bonsoir. Sometimes it's 5:00, other times it's not until 7 or 8. Really you just have to take a guess and go with it when they look at you like you don't belong.
• There are a LOT of stairs. Some buildings you're lucky to have an elevator. There are almost no escalators. It's especially evident in the metro. I feel bad for people with kids - they have to lift strollers up and down endless flights of stairs. I don't know how handicapped people get around at all - there are no standards for handicap accessibility like in America.
• Toilets don't have handle flushes like in the US. Instead, there are buttons on top of the water tank, or sometimes on the wall above. Weird.
• French elementary schools don't have classes on Wednesdays. Also, high school kids get two hours for lunch to roam the city. Before you get too jealous though, they do have classes on Saturday.
• Dinners for special occasions are held late at night. They are also usually at least 3 hours long. Don't expect to get to bed early.
• Restaurants and cafes are required by law to post their menus outside on the street. Convenient when you don't know where you want to eat.
• Eating on the metro is actually allowed! They even have vending machines in all the stations. This is weird to me, coming from DC where all food and drink in the metro is strictly forbidden.
• When French people greet good friends, they say "coo coo!"
• You know how in America we call Coca-Cola "coke" for short? Well, in France they shorten it to "coca" instead. Makes more sense that way, really.
• Scooters are a weird fashion trend here. Kids ride them everywhere. I've even seen a few adults using them to get around.
• Pigeons are to Paris as squirrels are to DC. They're everywhere and don't seem to mind the human presence, but rather just ignore you and get in your way. However, they're worse than squirrels in the fact that they can scare the crap out of you by flying into your face.
• Pretty much everyone smokes here. It's rather annoying. Thankfully, they've finally forbidden it in restaurants. But it is still allowed in the outdoor seating area of cafes. So passersby can get a lovely whiff on their walk past. Joy.
• Smiling a lot will instantly get you pegged as an American.
• Arrows that direct you forward are pointing down, while in America, we show this by pointing up. Something you rarely think about or notice at all.
• Titles on the spines of books are facing the opposite way. So when you are reading the titles of books on a shelf, you have to tilt your head to the left, instead of to the right.