France Makes Everything Complicated

You thought the language made no sense? Well buckle up...

[@mathieuaurousseau100]

Guy went "disclaimer: I'm French" then proceeded to do the most French thing possible: complaining about France

[@debu206]

I am not french, i live in paris and the struggle is real.

[@fabiencasters9630]

Tellement vrai !

[@reinerjung1613]

Maybe this is a continental European tradition. Germans also complain about Germany and we are rude. And we complain about all the complaining in Germany. Looks like we have something in common.

[@mathieuaurousseau100]

@@reinerjung1613That's nice to know Every country should complain about themselves, how are we gonna make it better otherwise?

[@reinerjung1613]

@@mathieuaurousseau100 Germans rather master in complaining and not so much in changing things. This is done by our neighbours, like Denmark, the Netherlands or even France.

[@Leslie-Risse]

I don't think any french likes the french administration.

[@romain2184]

Nobody can't, it is mades for hate

[@quentin54mylene]

After dealing with American administration, especially the DMV and doing my tax return in USA i really miss french administration.

[@shaezbreizh86]

" je voudrais le laisser passer A38 s' il vous plaît "

[@quentin54mylene]

@@shaezbreizh86 c'était plus ou moins ça au dmv en Californie, ils m'ont dit de revenir avec un document qui n'existe pas, ils étaient d'accord que ce document n'existait pas mais ils le voulaient quand même" 😡😅

[@Etherneea]

The french administration hates the french administration

[@badluck8741]

I worked at a restaurant in Paris long ago, and the owner was always telling me to be rude to customers cause, according to him, tourists wanted the "French experience" 😂

[@mellie4174]

American living in France, actually no. We just want to get to know people and enjoy our experience in the restaurant or on holiday. We don't want to be yelled at.

[@sanoakley]

😂

[@KlaneSight]

What a brilliantly french excuse for his typical french attitude

[@annarobin6535]

I needed an international version of our marriage certificate for the german administration (I am german, my husband in french, so our children are both french and german. But as they are born in France, we have to "make Germany aware" of their existence...). I called the mairie (townhall) of the town where we got married. They told me that they didn't know what to do. So I asked at the townhall of the town we were living in (being quite close to the german border, they are more used to stuff like that) who told me they just needed to fill out document XYZ. No way, the mairie near Orléans had never heard of it, dispite it being a normal document every townhall is supposed to have available. I had to get one from our townhall and mail it to them. They still managed to make a mistake while filling it out...

[@TheLikeys]

So you’re saying even French bureaucrats don’t know how to fill out the forms requested by other bureaucrats

[@annarobin6535]

@@TheLikeysIt wasn't even a complicated form, just a marriage licence with every line translated to different languages...one of them being french. 😆

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Okay, but why did Germany need it? Germany could also just accept the French certificate, instead of being difficult and sending you back to get a different one.

[@Ple0k]

@@TheLikeys that's not the kind of job you end of doing because you were smart at school, or wanted to. Depending on where you go, they may even barely talk french

[@annarobin6535]

@@Anonymous-sb9rr Don't get me started on German administration...😆 But asking for a translation for documents seems reasonable to me. I don't expect those who work in administration to speak several languages well enough to understand all those documents. And which languages would be allowed to be given without translation? English, French, Italian? Polish? Turkish? On which criteria could they base those exceptions without discriminating? Plus, the "same" document in different countries doesn't always contain the same things, so they can't just look at which category might correspond to which "answer". If I remember correctly (I haven't looked at our marriage licence in a while), the french one isn't even in nice little categories, but a text, and with the dates in words (like the ninth of march one-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-two).

[@meslegumesbioenunclic3267]

En France on un dicton qui dit '' pourquoi faire simple quand on peu faire compliqué''.

[@AlighieriD4nte]

On a pas de pétrole mais on a des idées.

[@meslegumesbioenunclic3267]

@@AlighieriD4nte on vas pas non plus tous les faire.

[@danielmajor3777]

On a ce dicton aussi au Québec

[@VonKuro]

@@meslegumesbioenunclic3267Jamais n'est pas français

[@meslegumesbioenunclic3267]

@@VonKuro nan c'est impossible.

[@merlin2600]

As a French-speaking Belgian, going to study in France (in the nineties) was an unexpected culture shock. I ended up queuing with the African families at 5am in front of the Préfecture, going with all my documents mentioned on the website and still getting yelled so badly that even I, a native French speaker, couldn't follow. The banks were another surprise. One bank refused to open an account for me (I was bringing money, not trying to borrow or anything), explained that grandparents are actually ATMs and telling me to go to La Poste because they could deny me. And worst of them all: CROUS. If you know, you know. That is when I started actually applying the strategy from Les 12 travaux d'Astérix. I started making up random documents and stamps until the teller was confused enough to give me what I wanted in the first place.

[@gmhefner1]

haha, i was thinking that would be my approach too. i would make up some absolutely crazy shizz and yell it to top their crazy shizz. but what do i know, im a dumb american. 😉🤓

[@Lostouille]

???

[@guillaumejeremia8779]

Hey, being also a Belgian who moved to Paris in the 90's, I know what you've been through and I never want to live that again! 😄

[@artemius8442]

Oh berdel de morde... le CROUS... *hides in a corner, rocking back and forth, mumbling*... "The CROUS can't hurt you anymore. You're a grown man now... it can't hurt you... RiGhT?!" Excellente idée pour le formulaire B34-a rôôôse issu de la note de service 0135-24 ! Pourtant grand fan des 12 travaux d'Astérix, pourquoi j'y ai pas pensé avant !?

[@merlin2600]

@@artemius8442 ils ne voulaient pas me donner la carte malgré une lettre de la maître de stage de l'Université de la ville. Ma carte d'étudiant ne leur plaisait pas. J'ai passé des HEURES entre leurs guichets. Au final, j'ai collé une étiquette dessus, demandé qu'ils la tamponnebt au guichet B et dit au A que B avait valide ma carte. Prise au dépourvu, elle m'a donné la carte CROUS.

[@Leslie-Risse]

I'm parisian, born and raised, and I'm constantly adjusting my path to accomodate people. I'm not saying you're wrong in your statement, I'm saying polite parisians exist but being polite in Paris mostly mean being unoticed! X)

[@thulyblu5486]

It's one of those 1% of the people produce 99% of the problem things

[@christopherbedford9897]

It only takes 1 in 10 being an archetypal "pissed off parisian" to reinforce the stereotype. The other nine can be the nicest people on the planet, but they won't be remembered because of the one. And believe me you're outnumbered by more than nine to one. 🥴

[@jeanrose1627]

I agree i'm a nice parisian too But there's a lot of terrible people here

[@MissAtSHy]

I was born and raised Parisian and I apologize whenever someone steps on my foot in the métro...

[@peymanmostafaei6963]

​@@christopherbedford9897There is a saying in Persian that says you only need one bald (sick) goat to make the whole herd bald! I suppose that's the case for Parisians!😂

[@Pehennji]

Ce qu'il faut surtout comme papier, le plus important de tous, c'est le laisser-passer A38.

[@belxander293]

Le port, vous le trouverez au bout de la ville, c'est au bord de la mer. 😄

[@puloguffeltefush7745]

par toutatis

[@shaezbreizh86]

étonnant qu'il n'est pas utilisé cette scène ^^

[@ShadowWalker-ng1it]

Il vous faudra le formulaire jaune. Guichet 46, 3e étage, couloir 4, formulaire blue guichet 47, 8e étage, couloir 7.....

[@jeannefostergoriot6804]

@@ShadowWalker-ng1itNe pas oublier le formulaire rose, je ne sais plus dans quel bureau, ça fait trois heures que je cherche ledit bureau

[@Botjer1]

A Swede here. Ive been roadtripping in the French countryside twice and I just love France and the French people. Everyone I've met has always been really kind and helpful. Even if I dont know the language they have always tried to help me.

[@Chasfondue17]

The French on the countryside are very nice people but the Fench in Paris not really. The worst kind of French are those in Paris, working for the state.

[@karinet2]

@@Chasfondue17You forget Lyon. I think my experience was even worse in Lyon compared to Paris.

[@Cotylion1721]

Because you been here as a tourist, if you will live here then it's another story 😂

[@karinet2]

@@Cotylion1721I studied and lived there for 6months... and disliked it. In the shops, people were very distant, drivers were very agressive...

[@KlaneSight]

I’m afraid you’ve only seen one of the two faces most of them wear

[@randomwerewolf1099]

Having worked in a shop, I was also annoyed when customers came in

[@Mylisacamplife]

I'm in California and super annoyed when people walk in the door and I can't make money without them LOL😂

[@Huuberrt]

If you have a seller with minimum wages et no incentives in front of you he will have no motivation to sell you anything. And if he has a bad relationship with his employer it’s worse.

[@Hey_me]

😅

[@joline2730]

Random: "Customers are not an interruption to your business, they are the PURPOSE of it" GHANDI

[@deputyrook6232]

as a wise man once said: "Paris, c'est Paris. La France est ailleurs." ("Paris is Paris. France is elsewhere.")

[@rawchicken3463]

That reminds me of the quote "Particularly during times when Frances many powerful duchies continued the modern French tradition of trying very hard to pretend Paris doesn't exist"

[@pamelagericke3426]

That's true. Paris is very different from the rest of France. Or even the attitude of people in the North or the South are very different as well ..

[@KlaneSight]

Désolé mes amis français, I’ve spent 1,5 years in south central France, lovely and tranquille Cantal. French attitude is French attitude. Not limited to Paris. It’s the same whether you’re in Cannes, Nice, Toulouse, Marseille, Clermont-Ferrand ou lieu-dit qui vous n’avez pas ever heard of.

[@mEDIUMGap]

Как знакомо. "Москва - это не Россия"

[@ericbischoff9444]

The attitude problem is mostly in Paris. It's a lot less in the rest of France.

[@sandrasmusicstudio3487]

I feel like in Canada, Quebec decided to take your description of "french administration" as a personal challenge of something they had to top. We moved from another part of Canada to Quebec for a year and ran straight into a wall of red tape. First, you have to switch your driving license and plates to Quebec plates within six months of moving. Second, it takes 5 1/2 months to get an appointment at the office that administers licenses and plates. Third, when you get there, you find out that in order to get Quebec plates, you need Quebec insurance, so you have to come back on another day, but they can't guarantee that you can get another appointment in time. Then you call the insurance place to get Quebec insurance, but they explain that you can't get Quebec driving insurance without Quebec plates. Not kidding. After multiple frustrating phone calls, we finally asked what we are supposed to do if we can't get plates without insurance, but can't get insurance without plates, and the person on the phone actually said "If you buy a car in Quebec, it will come with plates on it." !!!!

[@carmelasantana3091]

Ah, and there it is! Follow the money, as they say. Make changing the plates so difficult that any new Quebec resident will prefer to buy a car in Quebec instead, generating revenues for the auto industry :)

[@charlesdemeillon]

LOL I would just add that most French people _not_ living in Paris do not consider Parisians to be typically French (for many of the reasons that you have stated). Administration is equally awful everywhere though...

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

I had several french friends from anywhere but paris, and they all were super nice and friendly and wouldn't stop complaining how awful paris is and how it gives them a bad name. Kinda reminds me of the Argentinans and Buenos Aires, they all nice except the capital that gives them a bad name. Meanwhile I can testify all Brazilians be the same core idea of super chill and always late, the only difference is in Sao Paulo they be 30 minutes late to everything and in rio de Janeiro they be 2 hours late for everything

[@user-ke6xt1yl1l]

Alors comme ça on a obtenu son appart' grâce à sa notoriété ... Les passe-droits opportunistes, voilà une pratique bien française. Rien d'illégal, mais est-ce tout à fait moral? 😅

[@scialomy]

Fun fact, most (>50%) people in Paris are not from Paris but moved here for work or studies. This makes me question the true reason for Paris' hatred.

[@rebours]

Paris actually hosts the most important provincial born population, so no.

[@puloguffeltefush7745]

I'm french, and here is a true story about how french administration can be very VERY fkd up. When i was in the science faculty, i took an apartment with a friend. The monthly payment was around 800€, split in two, so i sent to the administration a letter to get help for paying the rent, as i was an unemployed student. In the letter i explained that the rent was 800€, but as i was sharing with someone i was only paying 400€. Let's put aside the fact that it took almost 6month for the help to trigger, when i had filed all needed documents, and for a time it was nice. 2 years later, i received a very angry letter from the CAF (part of the government that handle this kind of monetary help). In the letter they explained to me that since the rent was 400€ and i was spliting it, i was only paying 200€/month and therefore i lied to them and needed to pay them back around 2000€. Again, my first letter explained it all, so i guess some guy just went trough the record and missread it, never checked how true his asumption was, and fkd me for 5month. 5month during wich i weekly mailed them the actual documents, without being answered anything else than "you have to pay the 2000€ and then we can watch if you're right". Obviously as a student i had no way of paying this much, and it was a pain to solve. In the end i surpassed my administration phobia and went there, stayed until someone finaly agreed to take a look at the original letter, and do something. And then the guy who agreed to look at it revealed the big reality => they don't communicate between different service, so if the guy charged from checking things fk up, the guy that was originaly charged with the case can't do nothing to explain, they just don't communicate. In conclusion, french administration is deeply designed to be inefficient, even when people working in it just want to help you. One incompetent guy in the process can ruin the work of several people, and therefore fk the life of regular guys that just wanted to be over with their damn paperwork. Horrific u__u

[@PhilJonesIII]

One exception: They do communicate with the Tax Office and they do check that your declaration for tax matches the income you also have to declare to them.

[@pbl6888]

Tu as eu beaucoup de chance d'avoir pu aller sur place pour expliquer la situation : aujourd'hui de nombreux services administratifs ne reçoivent même plus le public.

[@user-eg9vc1pq7e]

1/ I am French, I work/live abroad. I cannot get an International Driving License anymore. The rules have changed and are super complicated...... 2/ A few years ago, I went to Paris in the summer to meet my sister, with my 1 year old son in a pushchair, my wife (who his English) and my mother in law. Arrived safely at Charles de Gaules airport and everybody was polite, nice and helpful.... Very strange..... I asked my sister who burst out laughing explaining they had organised a "be nice to tourist day...." 3/ Quite ashamed to be French when I take foreign friends to Paris...... 4/ BUT: having lived abroad for many years, the consular service is WAY better than most countries in terms of flexibility and paperwork. (experiences in 6 different countries) 5/ Please keep doing your videos. I show them in my French classes, especially your shorts on French language. My students LOVE them/you.

[@Lostouille]

Tu devrais pas avoir honte. Même si on doit et devrait faire des efforts , on a quand même la capitale et le pays le plus visité au monde. Si les gens viennent et reviennent c'est qu'on est pas si terrible que ça 😂

[@KCrvr]

As a matter of fact, after living in London, Paris and Istanbul, I'd say Istanbul is by far my city of heart, and would put London second and Paris last.

[@DanielCrist]

I must agree with the comment on consular services. I'm an American, I live in Myanmar (Burma). Multiple times I have been in pretty serious or even life-threatening situations (it's the country, not me, I swear - but it's also an incredible country) and the American Embassy always tells me there's nothing they can do to help. When I had to get two covid vaccinations, by law, as a foreigner, but was barely getting by financially because it was covid-time, so I didn't have a job, and it because was covid-time, I was also trapped in the country (they sealed all borders from entry or exit) because I was in the hospital during the two emergency charter flights the US Embassy arranged for remaining citizens to get out of the country while they could if so desired. Paying for the vaccines out of pocket as a foreigner was pretty expensive at first, and I asked the US embassy for help. Again, I was told there was nothing they could do, for some reason they only offered emergency loans for food assistance or repatriation flights - threat of arrest or deadly disease was not valid, apparently. My friend heard about my problem and told me to go to the French embassy. I asked him if he was kidding (he very much knew I was American) but he said he was serious, he was from Mauritius but they have no embassy/consulate here so he uses the French one. I still had doubts that we were in the same situation, since Mauritius was a former French colony and still French speaking, but I had nothing to lose, so I went, thinking maybe they could at least give it at a lower price. No, I was immediately brought into an office and given the vaccine and a stamped booklet, and told to come back in _ weeks for the second injection (also free). I have since come to then with questions knowing that they would be much more helpful that my own embassy (of which somehow only has 5 people working the consular services department while the other 100+ people do.... I don't know, spy on China?

[@FatimaLopez-jr1th]

I mean, Astérix comics tackled the bureaucracy hell... We still reference it in my family from time to time. 😂

[@scoovy9170]

"French Administration is the Worst" *Germany has entered the chat*

[@conteslunaires9318]

Oh I'm curious. A exemple maybe ?

[@HackedGlitch265]

Honestly, I find that hard to believe. When I bought my car (used, owner passed away extremely quickly, his son and daughter didn't need an extra car), he unfortunately never got or lost the string of numbers that are now used to transfer ownership of a vehicle via the ANTS website (basically some registration website the government uses to process pink slips, or the equivalent we have here). Those numbers were handed out around mid 2015, as this system didn't exist beforehand. No biggie, he files a, well, file on the website, and I do the same 2 days later, figuring that would be enough time to let them handle the situation his end, and even mentioned his own file # in mine, so that if they somehow ended up processing mine first, they'd see "Oh, let's check if X's file is processed." like 3 weeks later, I get an email that my file was rejected. CUE calling them for hours, only for them to explain that "they're swamped" and that I have to wait until X's file is cleared first. Another 2 weeks, X's file cleared, so I filled mine in. Took another whole god damn month. I REALLY needed my vehicle's registration as I was planning on having a fuel mod added to it, and I was close to the deadline that a basically 50% refund was offered (around 450 euros worth all things considered). SO I got my registration, paid up, and then had to do the whole process again AND PAY because I did the fuel mod. They do shit in such roundabout ways sometimes. Like that time I had 2 work related medical visits within 6 months to ensure I'm "physically fit for the job" because they were in two different regions and for two different jobs. Apparently, they don't store those in a national government database allowing medical facilities to access those files remotely... because reasons. If someone told me our country had the dumbest administration in the world: I wouldn't even be able to begin to defend them. best argument would be that Costa Rica's might just be worse because they're never in a rush to get things done... but that sucks as an argument.

[@Lostouille]

​@@HackedGlitch265 and they still use fax 😂😂😂

[@JeromeMillion]

Also... The Japanese administration 🤣 !

[@anekedudy8369]

Was looking for that comment. 😂 German here who works in public service, and I struggle with my tax forms every year. 🎉

[@driftwolf]

The trick with French administration is to realize that internally they're a feudal system, with knights, barons, and the rest. The higher ranks only talk to OTHER "nobility". The trick to dealing with French bureaucracy is to find a "champion", usually low ranking but still considered one of their own, and have THEM correspond with the necessary people on your behalf. (re) discovered this when I needed some updated documents from the French government. Was unable to travel to France until I got those documents. 8 months of fighting the bureaucracy and they just politely fended off all my requests. Then I mostly accidentally did the right thing - I contacted the local French consulate and found myself a "champion". Just 3 weeks later I had my documents. Since then, whenever I need something, I just find a local "champion" and boom, stuff gets done REALLY quickly. If you're overseas the local consulate is your best bet, if you can convince one of them to be your champion. Internally it's more difficult, although I've had some success with the local mairie. The French bureaucracy might not consider themselves a modern aristocracy, but they sure hell act like it. So I just play along whenever I need something from them.

[@freyyr]

A lot of this sound like parisian issues 🤡

[@legueu]

Clearly

[@magolord2820]

Nah man, French administration is shit everywhere in France lmao, this is actually hell

[@legueu]

@@magolord2820 Pretty sure that the legendary French administration was not included here.

[@CyrilAndrieu]

Clearly, we don't have these kind of problem in the South, probably a weather issue 😂

[@ludoviclemaignen9432]

Not quite in my experience the French are not very good at customer service. Maybe that explains why Napoleon said of the UK it was a bastion of shopkeeper, as if it was an insult... (I am french living in the UK btw)

[@94darckmaster]

in france it s not allowed to die a sunday in my village (yes it s a law)

[@Ravendarkwytch]

How do they enforce that?

[@jamesarmstrong5937]

They tend to let people off with just a stern warning on their first offence!(it seems to work)

[@Ravendarkwytch]

@@jamesarmstrong5937was thinking that I doubt they get many repeat offenders

[@TheTotoyesyes]

@@RavendarkwytchFor the little story behing this law. A lot of little villages in France are suffering from rural exodus and deeply lack the proper installation to take care of the population (IE : all doctors go to big cities to make more money, little villages don't have doctors or have 1 or 2 for thousands of patients ==> it takes month to get a appointment). In response to this and to highlight the absurdity of their situation, the mayor of this village implemented a law forbidding it's citizens from dying on sundays and on public holidays. As if saying to the government in a taunting way : "Since you guys are not gonna do single thing to improve our situation I guess my only recourse is to forbid death itself" Always remember that Death is easier to reason with than the French government.

[@EliLoveGems]

😂

[@mjb7015]

The French invented bureaucracy, and by the time they realised the mistake they couldn't find the right forms to undo it

[@danitho]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@ashwinvk4124]

It's just degitilization

[@amoonemery6126]

Dear M. Loïc , this is your rent agency property writting We are still waiting for the free gig advertisement. Also your rent fees are going up. Thank you for your understanding 😄

[@ThomasConover]

You’re the funniest French comedian I’ve ever seen. Your language series is just mingling clever made. 😂😂😂

[@tommay6590]

🤫Do not call him a „comedian“, he is just an observer reporting fact. 😂😂😂

[@ThomasConover]

@@tommay6590 🤣 yes that’s exactly what I mean. A comedian is per definition an observer that is reporting facts. And this guy is an absolute genius. His knowledge in linguistic oddities and ability to make it funny is really amazing I love it 🤣❤️❤️❤️👍

[@thx1138tab]

Attitude and arrogance is part of our A-level in France 🤣

[@heleneelong3679]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@duckyluci]

The administration part seems to be pretty much exactly the same as here in Germany. My condolences.

[@elsephiroth666]

He did not say enough about the administration. Basically, for every papers you need to complete so many things you don't understand and have so many signed shit that it takes a lot of time to do the simplests things. Also, Some of these are needed to have the others which makes things almost impossible when you don't already have them. To get an appartment you need a job and a bank, but to get a bank you need a job and to get a job you need an appartment. the circle jerk of stupid.

[@rybaluc]

​@@elsephiroth666If there is such condition like job for bank account then it is violation of EU directives.

[@lucmillette700]

Really enjoyed this! As a tourist to your beautiful country I thought French people hated tourists. Glad to see they behave the same way with each other. And to those who say this was only a Paris problem…..NON, simplement non! I speak fluent French, granted I have an accent but many of the Parisiens and non-Parisien went out of there way to correct every little thing I said, even when I was repeating what they said. 😄. Love your channel, always looking to the next one.

[@shinyshinythings]

I’ve come to the conclusion that correcting a foreigner’s French is as automatic for French people, as saying “bless you” after someone sneezes is for Americans. They are brought up believing that it is not acceptable to mispronounce things or use the wrong word, and they don’t want you as a foreigner to be unsuccessful at speaking their language. The other day I met a lovely neighbor for the first time at the local laundromat, we had a nice chat, and then she asked me in French if I had arrived by car or on foot. I said “en piéd” and she immediately said “á piéd”, not to be mean or to criticize, but to make sure I was speaking the best possible French that I could. I don’t think she gave it a second thought.

[@shaezbreizh86]

its not to take badly, by correcting foreigner, we prevent them from doing x or y mistake wich can only help them later to being better understood by other, a good exemple i've in mind is japanese getting difficulty with the " ou " and " u " sound, they can easyly say " merci beaucu " instead of " merci beaucoup ", the second mean thank a lot , the first mean thank beautifull as.s ( beau cu.l ) ^^ Correcting people is mostly a way to push people in the good direction and help them, however i can agree that it shouldn't being made in a mean way wich is not acceptable there is a also an impotance given to the language, of course english is usefull to make the bridge between country due to the fact its an easy language, but each foreigner whatever the country they're going should learn some word of the country they're travelling at to show some respect to the culture, at least the basic like bonjour, aurevoir, merci, etc etc for france, even if the pronounciation is not perfect it will make you appear respectful toward the culture @@shinyshinythings

[@Nikki.....]

that's actually a great thing cause it makes it so much easier to learn French through repetition of what's right specially that so many things just need to be memorized like the genders of every word. If they don't correct us then who will? and we would keep speaking broken french instead of progressing

[@uck8978]

Agree 💯%!! I actually can confirm that buying an apartment is easier than finding the one for rent!

[@sufifi]

Having traveled a bit, I'm pretty confident in saying every country thinks their administration is the worst, even Switzerland (and we all know everyone wish they lived in Switzerland)

[@rree9550]

"everyone wish..." oh really.. let's ask David Castello-Lopes...

[@rashidask8242]

My favourite thing about the French is the 'face farting'. Especially when I'm in class and to a question I may have asked a student says, "PPPrrrrr", obviously with the shoulder-shrug, I do make it a point to tell them that that wasn't the answer I was looking for. 🤣 If ever you need info on the French education system, I'd be glad to give you some input. In waaaaay to deep!! 😂😂😂

[@dingotopruc9642]

A good while ago I went back to France on a business trip. I brought with me some old Francs that are no longer in use since France has adhered to the Euro monetary system. It was still possible to redeem those Francs but only at the Banque de France main branch in Paris. I took the day off and went there to finalise my transaction. I was told by the clerk that on that particular day they could change the paper currency but I would have to return the following Tuesday for the metal rounds. I had to have this thing repeated to me twice because I could not fathom the stupidity of it. I was leaving the following day, I still have the pieces. I cleaned them and mounted them in a frame that I put on a wall in my TV room. A memento of the French weird rule system and conversation piece.

[@lsmeteor4652]

I wish mosquitoes really knew how to read ‘No mosquito admittance’ signs in Canada 😊

[@gabrielecauda9659]

Now I understand why there are many misunderstandings between French and Italians because of French attitude 😂

[@MichelleKarenAstrologerShaman]

I am French, living in the US for decades. Whenever I return to France, I am always shocked at the insanity and complication of the French way of doing things. Everything you say is absolutely true but very, very mild compared to reality. In my humble opinion, things are wayyyy worse! I don't know how people who don't speak French fluently can even survive! Love your videos! Excellent travail! 🙂

[@yousef2508]

I had to learned French because I wanted to immigrate to Quebec, but I never liked French culture. The only thing I liked was some French lovely female ❤ I had the privilege to get to know them.

[@joeuser771]

asterix: la maison qui rend fou (I can relate, we have the same problem in Italy)

[@arkadybron1994]

I lived in France (campagne), for 10 years and c'est trop vrai.

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

Paris attitude problem, one time we were passing on a transfer in Charles de Gaulle airport, and we dared asking the bus driver if the bus goes to the right terminal cause the transfer was on the other side of the airport and my dad was so motion sick when we landed he was taken to the clinic, so mum very politely ask if the bus stop at terminal 1, the bus driver then started to swear at us in France, we came from Sao Paulo Brazil, and know enough Portuguese to fully understand all the swears...

[@Lostouille]

De Gaulle* He was probably mad because he missed the last strike 🫢🫢🤭

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

@@Lostouille thanks, I forgot french love that extra pointless letters

[@Lostouille]

They are not pointless , they have an esthetism purpose 🎩🧐🍷

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

@@Lostouille to annoy everyone who isn't french?

[@davidbourgeois2951]

​@@LillyP-xs5qeto annoy anyone trying to learn French, including French kids in school :D

[@mellie4174]

American married to a French man and living in France and.... I have never felt so seen. My husband would also agree with you! Love living here though!

[@mellie4174]

Also, I live on the French riviera and, ya, it is still like this. Lol. Possibly a bit less with the attitude but still there.

[@EtheRenard]

What I like in France is tax declaration. When you have a job, it's automatic. I moved to Canada and I have 15 pages of maths to do, on paper, because apparently, computers don't exist in Canada. There are tools you can pay to do so, though

[@dehro]

Lol... I was in Marseille yesterday at a trade show, listening to one conference about the "coup de coeur" where a guy related that a study had been done about a specific industry. The result was that only 40% of the time, someone entering a store would be greeted by the staff.. In 2022. In 2023 this number had gone down to 30%. When he started saying that he wasn't quite sure why this was so, it took all of my inner strength not to stand up and say "where's the surprise? You're french!"

[@Hassani171]

He's not lying. I've been here 4 yrs and maaaaan🎯

[@quentin54mylene]

For renting an apartment in USA they asked exactly the same, (my apartment asked 2 years of rental history, credit score, proof of income, driver license number etc) but ask also to pay non refundable fees. So if you're denied too bad for you, you just paid for nothing.

[@kapitanXbomber1989]

3:10 I prefer French expressing themselves loudly than expressing themselves with guillotine.

[@davidbourgeois2951]

Meh... They kinda had it coming, back in the days of the ol' Revolution ;) (I'm really not advocating for the death penalty here !)

[@TheNealzarka]

The day i took an appartment in bangkok i knew something was off with france. Passport + money? welcome to your new home! That's absolutely crazy easy anywhere else

[@shelleyanne77]

Thank you thank you thank you...i can feel the thick energy of a collective venting from all of us living here.

[@jamesthenewb]

A lot of this happens in big cities in the US too. Saying that, I'm all for the shrug being used everywhere, and I'd love to have some bread and café experiences that don't suck.

[@melissabates4357]

When I was an assistante de langue, my friends and I all applied for the CAF. We were all making the same amount of money, and my rent was the highest but I was given the lowest amount per month. My French friend told me to dig up every relevant and irrelevant document I could get my hands on (including a copy of my American gym membership card), then go back up there and demand that my dossier be reviewed again with the additional paperwork. I was scolded for submitting an incomplete file and the fonctionnaire swore she would chastise whoever had pushed my application through... but I left with a letter promising double my initial payment.

[@chethan93]

"You have to be living in France to move to France" had me laugh out loud 😂😂

[@whydoineedanameiwillneverp7790]

Oh god, I thought only Bengali/Kolkata shopkeepers were like this! The sighing when you enter, the talking you out of spending money at their damn shop, that attitude! Exactly the same experience growing up in suburban Kolkata!

[@migspeculates]

bengalis are the frenchies of the indian subcontinent

[@my_graphics]

I am trying my best not to laugh but this video is unexpectedly hilarious.

[@SpinX522]

I don’t know, I find a lot of people in large cities have an attitude problem. It’s not exclusive to France. Come to Canada and spend some time in Toronto, you’ll see. Or even go to New York, you’ll see.

[@asilnorahc8910]

French here, and I wholly agree to all of this. I would add that the co-signer thing for appartment dossier is even more insidious than what's been said - I heard about a guy living in Marseille, in the south of France, who had a well paying job, and couldn't get an appartment... not just because the cost of living increased like crazy, but because the guy is... an orphan. He has no relatives at all. And the co-signer, you guessed it, must be a relative. ... So he was living in his car. Basically homeless, despite working a 2k/month job. ... So if you don't have a relative. You can't complete your dossier. At all. No matter if you actually have the means to pay for the exorbitant rent of a singular appartment in a big city. WTF. Now, I would say that it depends on who you're dealing with - many people in the administration, from my experience, genuinely want to help you out. They will make exceptions, or try and guide you around the protocol depending on the situation. But, I guess i've been lucky - and I haven't had to deal with finding an appartment, specifically. So it really is a game of chance, and from hearing the stories of litterally everyone in my entourage, it really is generally a bother and administration is a pain. I hate it.

[@danitho]

Holy moly........ I assume marriage would work, right? But who wants to have to get married to have a place to live?!

[@asilnorahc8910]

@@danithoI honestly don't know the bare minimum about the rules of this all. I heard about this on the radio one day and I just couldn't wrap my head around this. I hope the guy found a place to live regardless.

[@amal.hope.]

The co-signer can be other than a relative. I'm an expat in France and don't have relatives here, so my co-signer was just a friend. And many around me are in the same situation.

[@asilnorahc8910]

@@amal.hope. Glad to hear our system is not entirely fucked up on that point.

[@MrThomas20121]

boulangerie/bakerie are only everywhere in medium/large city, small town/village may only have 1 or not have any. For example my city only has 2(3 if you includes the supermarket) despite having around 10k residents.

[@asfodem]

C'est fou ! Où t'habites ? Chez moi j'ai jamais vu un village de plus de 1k habitants sans au moins 2 boulangeries (sans compter le supermarché). Exemple : à Lisle-Jourdain (10k habitants, comme tu le dis) = 10 boulangeries.

[@Lostouille]

​@@asfodem dans des bleds hyper paumés où la moyenne d'âge est de 68 ans . Y a pas de boulangeries ou de commerces sédentaires. T'as des vendeurs en camionnette par contre 😂

[@Boba_Fett_Bounty_Hunter]

Talking about bakeries, I gotta say... Man... I went to France for the end of high school trip, and one of my best memories was eating a chocolate chip baguette. Simply DELICIOUS!

[@tunedin4402]

I kinda have an idea about where all those french people go during August.. I live in Corfu🙃

[@home9556kefr]

Renting an apartment is like pulling out your own wisdom tooth.

[@mostab7564]

Our town's bakery has gone bankrupt and we now have a machine giving us bread near the townhall that is supplied by another bakery... from another town. I swear this has been felt as an humiliation and people from the other villages around us often make fun of us. 🗿 A typical conversation may be: "My town is better." "Stfu you do not even have a bakery"

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

1:00 First off… I experienced this with store owners sighing when I first walked in the door, within 5 minutes of my arrival in Paris!

[@arkansky]

This is quite possibly the absolute worst year to tell people about french city life in August because of the 2024 Olympics

[@jrlanglois]

In my experience Marseille has an attitude problem the same. But also, so many bones to pick across Canada and the USA. lol

[@alexandterfst6532]

The thing about store owner is so true. They can get pissed of and don't want to sell you anything because you didn't say bonjour

[@Adrak-Hiano]

I live in france and the post office in my town (10k inhabitants) is open, and this is no joke, from 2pm to 3pm on thuesdays and vednesdays. Even better, we have this social administration called caf, which has an *aweful* website that make you pull your hair out, but they also have offices in bigger cities. And you would be wrong for thinking that things will be quicker by making an appointment and talking to a real person. For starters, it opens on vednesdays from 3 to 5 pm AND THAT'S IT! If your working around that time, too bad. Then, even if you had an appointment, you'll be waiting for half an hour, if you're especially lucky on that faithful day. We love to let our frustration out on administrations but we also know why it is so bad, our government has been cutting budget for social services for years now, and still does, so there is no wonder these guys are overwhelmed.

[@FrogeniusW.G.]

I just say that much: Come to Germany and it's administration. It's the same here. You'll cry. It's like "The house that makes Maniacs" in the "Asterix and the Romans" comic (if anybody knows, how I mean).. 😭 Edit: It seems, the main or only difference between Germany and France is, that Germans are quiet and drink beer.. 😅

[@Kamiyu97]

So the worst about administration is when you want something, and A say it's not here, that you have to go see B, and B say nope, it's not here, it's A 🙃 maddening! Also when you want something, they're like "oh, we need that document" then you go through the hassle of getting the said document and they're like "oh no, in your case, it's not applicable, sorry!" Like seriously?! One thing I liked in the US is that at the DMV they take your mugshot themselves! Here, to get a new driver's licence, you have to go take it yourself, make sure it's approved by ANTS (the governmental organism that takes care of ID related stuff) and then, if you've got a QR code, then, bingo, it's digitalised right away! If not, well, hard luck, you have to cut the picture, stick to an official document you've printed yourself, filed yourself, and then, you have to mail it to them, with an envelope and a stamp. Oh, and as they will be digitalising the picture themselves, it'll take extra time LOL! You could scan it yourself, but nope, you can't!

[@Leland_Iko_Music]

je sais maintenant pourquoi j'ai autant de problèmes avec l'administration! Je n'aurais pas dû laisser mon OVNI à Chateauneuf du Pape !!

[@annea5781]

😂😂😂😂

[@kaipeterson]

OR try the Spanish red tape. So complicated that most people will employ a "gestoria" who deals with the administration, fills out forms and makes sure everything is done the way it is supposed to. For a price, though. Same in Italy.

[@Dfg11333]

I used to complain a lot about French administration until.. I moved to the US. After spending hours on my taxes and being turned down by an horribly incompetent guy, I started being nostalgic about how doing my taxes in France was literally taking me 15 seconds. And after spending 7 hours at the DMV to renew my license, I now love how France has managed to modernize its administration and make most things straightforward and easy. Sure there is still room for improvement, but overall, the US was for me a much worse experience. Now there is bias at play here. First cultural differences. You never really understand your own culture until you go to a different country. Some things that can be obvious for any French person is not for foreigners, and folks wouldn't understand why a foreigner wouldn't understand it, as they're not aware of what is typical French and not obvious outside of France. But it's true for any country. I've had folks fail to understand why I didn't understand "Tylenol" (or even acetaminophen) -- they had no idea it was called differently in other parts of the world. Then, going through immigration paperwork is a nightmare in any country. Try to get a Visa, Green card then US Citizenship and maybe you'll find France wasn't that bad after all. As for the shrug -- well, try to understand the indian nod 🙂 Attitude and Cafés are mostly Parisian. Not French. Regarding apartments, I had one landlord in the US ask me for a credit score. I told him I had none (just arrived in the US) and he told me to get it regardless. Paid $25 for the credit score company to tell me that they can't even give me a "no credit score certificate", all I can ask is for a refund. So no credit score = no house? Well, then another landlord didn't care as they understood our situation. In other words, it depends on who you talk to. Rental agencies optimize their costs; if you're a "special" case, they just don't want to bother with you.

[@konan4heather]

It would be so funny if the mosquitos at the end of the conversation just started laughing in the buzzing manner, like bzz-bzz-bzz-bzz (imitating giggling)

[@RenaudKyoku]

For renting a flat, if you go through an agency yes they tend to be very demanding as they don't want to lose precious time with not-very-serious applicants. If you contact owners directly though, sometimes (!!) they are less demanding. But please keep in mind that there is a huge (!!) ratio of unpaid rent bills, and owners (landlords) have approx. zero (!!) way of getting their money. They can file a complaint, but it takes years, and when the non-paying tenants are condemned (they usually are), it is very difficult to get the money back (the owner has to pay (from his own pocket) for a bailiff to do some actions, praying that it will deliver, and even then it can again take a few years). The only tiny security that an owner can get, is to ask applicants for a guarantor. And even then it is time-limited and amount-limited. Laws in France are particularly harsh against owners. Unpaid rents, required diagnostics, unrealistic isolation requirements, illegal to eject tenants, squatters cannot be ejected, etc. France doesn't like people being owners. It was even proposed, not so long ago, that France would be co-owner of the land of every owner, and that every owner would have to pay a percentage of their revenues based on that share, and when they can't, the said share increases, progressively expropriating them. France is absolutely awful in regard to ownership. Really.

[@VoidVerification]

That woman yelling "Macron ! Putain ! Explosion !" is the best thing I've seen on the internet today. Merci, Loïc ! :D

[@ArmelleK]

Mais pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire compliqué ?! Telle pourrait être notre devise ! Et c'est vrai qu'il y a plein de choses absurdes ! Merci d'en avoir fait une vidéo 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Modding_]

Almost like in germany, here you need a home to apply for a job but you need a job to get a home, wich is doable but wierd.. Also: love your vids :)

[@agnesboubessla4408]

This is too accurate 🤣

[@carlosfurukawa6133]

I thought Germans were bad, but you made me change my mind..😅

[@laloutre9106]

I'd just like to know how you learned to speak so well, so fluently and with that American accent. Have you ever lived in the United States? I'm just curious because I'm French and I'd love to be able to speak English like that so much!!

[@juliebaker9266]

American here...French accent is what's cool.

[@a0me]

He lived in the U.S. for most of his life.

[@laloutre9106]

@@a0me Oh ok, I understand then. Thanks for answering.

[@laloutre9106]

@@juliebaker9266 And yet I'd love to have YOUR accent lol

[@elizabethmac1475]

@@laloutre9106 As an American, I am honestly impressed you can write English so well, never mind accents. English and French are such difficult languages to learn. Well done!

[@verttikoo2052]

That UFO law is very effective 👍 Now aliens have their annual probe festival in the USA instead 🤔

[@iamwhoknocks]

😂well complaining about France is so French . I believe the French in his veins

[@sizzlorrd.3858]

3:13 she is straight outta Asterix comic

[@abmiyas1585]

Une vraie légende 😅

[@sizzlorrd.3858]

@@abmiyas1585 que?

[@jonasholmqvist5231]

100% agree. I love France, live and work here for 12 years and generally happy - but French administration is just *so* bad. Compared to Finland (where I'm from) it's both overdimensioned and inefficient. French tax payers literally pay more to get less.

[@frenchjamdawg]

shout out to my man ursaff

[@Beare-gd6vf]

Thank you for giving me stuff I can flex with in school cause else I can´t anything in French

[@learnsmart94]

Regarding French administration - I read somewhere that it’s so cumbersome due to the fact that in the past nepotism was quite a common practice therefore people who wanted to bring their family in the comfy public company, had to actually create new positions within the company, adding more processes , procedures to Actually justify their jobs. Times has changed, the procedures remained.

[@hibandaify]

Okay, now I forgive all those people I met the first time I came to France. I thought my being black was the peoples' problem.

[@Sopranoanxieux]

I only had the best experiences in Paris. I got treated wonderfully, sweetly and kindly. Super nice.

[@Baminokrat]

Une fois à la préfecture de Paris, j’ai croisé un gars qui venait refaire sa carte de séjour. Moi je venais faire mon permis et j’avais pas la 74eme copie de mon justificatif de domicile ou ja ne sais quelle autre connerie. J’allai donc faire dite photocopie grâce a la photocopieuse à pièces que l’administration avait généreusement mise à la disposition des administrés. Mais , évidemment, je n’avais pas assez de pièces de monnaie. Le gars me regarde dans les yeux et me dit d’une voix forte et avec un accent que je n’oublierai jamais : « quand tu viens à l’administration tu prend de la monnaie, quand tu viens a l'administration tu prends TOUJOURS de la monnaie". Depuis ce jour ne ne vais jamais dans un bâtiment public sans une poche pleine de monnaie. :-)

[@sharky98]

5:22 Bah, ça explique pourquoi les Français ont autant de congés et de fériés! Pour avoir plus de temps pour courir d'un bureau fermé à l'autre 😂

[@noemie1323]

Salut ! Un grand merci pour ta vidéo ! C'est un travail colossal et ton humour sur l'administration française était juste parfait. Un vrai cauchemar bien connu de tous ! En France, un autre sujet incontournable : les grèves. Un véritable art avec ses pancartes, ses défilés et ses slogans. On est connus pour râler et faire grève tout le temps ! C'est assez comique pour un étranger, mais c'est ancré dans notre culture. Et grâce aux grèves, on a obtenu des droits importants : les 35h, les congés payés, la sécurité sociale, le droit de grève lui-même, l'égalité hommes-femmes, la protection de l'environnement, le droit à l'avortement... C'est vrai que ça bloque le pays et ça agace certains, mais c'est un moyen essentiel pour le peuple de se faire entendre. Le soutien aux agriculteurs il n'y a pas si longtemps en est la preuve ! Le sujet est vaste et a peut-être déjà été traité. Si c'est le cas, mea culpa ! En tout cas, bravo pour ton travail ! C'est du grand art !🙂

[@kolerick]

I have 2 guesses on why the administration is so complicated: - they almost never update their old policies to integrate with the new ones. Each time a law is passed and they have to apply it, they don't take a look at the old practices and adapt them... - the administration is run by civil servants. They do want to justify their existence and salaries and at the same time, make it look like they always need more. And they will strike if you rock the boat a little too much in a way that would maybe make them more efficient and so, some of them redundant... and the 2 reasons are not exclusive of each other

[@johnbarker8305]

I remember that one year with a massive heat wave when 25,000 elderly French died because there were literally no doctors to treat them, technicians to fix their AC, etc. the French would rather let a grandma genocide happen than NOT leave for vacation

[@KPDigitalTravel]

I love this. I like your 'disclaimer' at the beginning. I live in Vietnam and have purposely chosen to do so but if I say anything 'negative' about living here, there is always some 'holier than thou' expat know-it-all that will respond with "if you don't like it, than go back to America!". How can you make videos about how different things are if you aren't allowed to comment about how different things are? Maybe we all should prerecord a "NO, REALLY...I LOVE IT HERE!" disclaimer to plug in every time we talk about negative differences. 🤣

[@sarumanork-orphanage5612]

I mean..... you're in Paris, that's a 20% misanthropy on top.

[@mamarijke]

I love France. I went on holiday there from when I was a child. My dad understood how to befriend the French. It's an art. Within an hour after meeting, my dad was drinking wine in the kitchen of some french farmer or lord of a castle. My holidays were fantastic.

[@Medsas]

regarding the shop, it could just a regular employee that works without commission, if the manager is not there, they might not want to do their job😅

[@aeolia80]

I applied for a 10 year residence in France back in September (my visa was also expiring that month too), I tried to apply 4 months before that but my prefecture didn't say they changed to online applications until 3 months after I applied just for an appointment to apply, lol. I had taken a language test and everything to be sure I'd qualify for the 10 year residency too. But because I was extremely late submitting mine, and then a bunch of holidays happened, and then immigration reforms happened, it's almost like they have forgotten about me, though I contacted ANTS and they said it's still being "procesed". I'm on my second "récépissé" already, lol, those things only last 3 months. I swear if I don't hear anything in a year I'm gonna scream, lol, I already know I might owe more immigration taxes because I submitted late, but my gawd!!!! the store owner thing is not just in Paris, lol, I was on vacation in Die (small town in the southern Alps, tons of tourists from Germany and Netherlands there, this little town has just too many tourists for it's size), and I saw an antique store with clothing from the early 1900s, and I was like, ooh, I'll get something for my mom because she loves this stuff. I was basically chased out of the store by the owner, even though I was speaking to her in French, trying to explain I was looking for something for my mom, that I understood how the clothing items were made, but this older store keeper was a complete B!t&H hahhahahaha, so true, I'm not joking. She kept asking me what I was looking for and why was I there in her store, and not in a nice way, but in a way where she didn't want me there.

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

This video needs more views, it's too funny.

[@jamest3047]

Loic your videos are superb! I'm a Canadian living in Catalunya just south of the French border and dude! You nailed (at least for me) both cultures! Hilarious!😂😂❤

[@silviamadrigal6362]

Love your videos and sense of humor!!

[@brianparkhurst1019]

The marie of my little village, pop. 700, is fantastic and the people for the department ,64, are very pleasant everytime that I've had to deal with them. Maybe it's the clean mountain air/less stress of the south. The paperwork is there, but they always seem willing to help.

[@MomentocomFernanda]

The renting an apartment part looks a lot like Brazil! No kidding. 😅

[@josephturner7569]

After using it for 5 years and not leaving the country since BC ( before covid) I had my Carte Vitale cancelled. I was told I had not given certain requested information which I had hand delivered and had checked just the month before.I The result is that I had to start from scratch. Still waiting. And accruing reciepts for reimbursement.