This is inside the cathedral at Orleans. Not so odd, but quite pretty.
Note that I am not saying any of these things are better or worse than what I was used to, just that they are, you know, kind of odd.
Grocery carts: all four wheels swivel. This means that you can push your cart sideways if you want to. As I recently was in a Kroger outlet in Denver, I can’t say that there’s a distinct advantage overall, but each configuration, all wheels or just the front, has its advantages and drawbacks. Moving sideways is handy in narrow aisles, for instance. But front wheels only is easier to control in general.
Pharmacies: If it is any kind of medicine, even over-the-counter, you must go to a pharmacie (yeah, a pharmacy) to buy it. No grabbing a jar of aspirin at the grocery store. This isn’t so bad, but the package sizes are smaller, so I stock up on over-the-counter meds when I’m in the States. Also, of course, there’s nothing to buy at a pharmacie that isn’t medically related. No Doritos, swimming suits, or chocolates in these places.
Prescriptions: Of course, you go the pharmacie, where they will not count pills or other doses, rather they will give you a box of whatever it is. The prescription will be written for enough to last a certain amount of time, six months in the case of something you take every day. If the first box doesn’t cover it, the pharmacist stamps the scrip, gives it back, and you go back for the rest.
Potato Chips: They do, in fact, call these things potato chips. Those fried things the English call chips are frites, or in English, fries. But the chips aren’t what’s odd. They’re the same as in the US, and in fact Lay’s has a major presence in France. What is odd is that in most stores, they are not sold with the other snack foods like pretzels, cheese balls, or Doritos. This is because in France, potato chips have always been considered as a part of an actual meal, and are therefore usually out with the other “real” food. The largest store in our area moved the chips to the snack row recently, though, so perhaps this is changing. Or maybe it’s the seven percent British population, because brits eat their crisps the same way we eat our chips. You know, en masse!
House Numbers: Napoleon didn’t really invent house numbers, but he did standardize how they’re used in France. A few years ago it was decided that, what with all the online ordering and all, every house must have one, so places that were “In the butchers’ street” became, for instance, 12 rue de la bucherie. If there is a second address on the same property, that would be 12 rue de la bucherie bis. A third, 12 rue de la bucherie tri, and so on. Buildings of apartments or offices are more normal, with floor and suite numbers. And speaking of floors:
Floor numbering in buildings: The ground floor, or res de chaussé, is either not numbered at all, because, well, it’s the planet, right? If it has a number, such as in an elevator in a public building, it is 0 (zero). One floor up, what you’d call the second floor, is the premier étage or first floor. If there is a second floor it’s above that, and so on. Nobody cares two centimes about the number 13, so there will be a 13th floor in a building if it’s tall enough, and the same is true of every other number. I have noticed that in the US, the scheme of ground floor, then 1, then 2, etc. is used, but only in parking garages.
That’s enough. I don’t want to bore everyone. I will undoubtedly post more things I find odd about France in the future. See you there!