I am a US citizen living in Portugal, I've never seen a drive through banking option here either, but life is slower and every one walks. (Probably why everyone is so fit!) Plus with mass transit life is less hectic Our bank is very scam and fraud proof, we are sent a message with a code to enter for every transaction. We can also pay so many bills at the ATM. I also like that people in Europe aren't so air conditioning crazy. It's bad for people bad for the environment. Enjoy your videos!
This, point 2 made no sense to me. Outside of the US no one uses paper checks, describing it as something "you can do" in the US but not in other countries is missing the point, not to mention low key promoting car dependency. Also, baking apps are a thing now?
I LOVE that you emphasise that no one way of life is better than the other, it's just some different ways of doing things ;) Thanks for making your videos, they're really well done.
Not sure i agree tho, half the points she mentioned are due to the general car dependency in the US which is everyone from urban planners to health professional and environmentalists can tell you it's bad
After a week of walking by "Mexican" Restaurant in France, I decided to try it I laughed at the decor and regretted the choice after one bite. I kept telling myself it was just for the oddity. Thanks Diane for reminding me.
@@RB-zr9jt I used to work as a cook in an American/Mexican restaurant they imported all the chilles from Mexico, used authentic ingredients, sadly french people can't handle spicy, this is why you won't find many true Mexican restaurants
@@michealrosen I'm not a typical Frenchman then because I do like spicy food. When I was still a young man, as I was staying in Southern California for over a month, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Baja California with a local Mexican who took me to places where tourists don't usually eat. That was so good!! Now years have passed by, I've tried various Mexican or TexMex places in France and in Belgium where I now live but none of them came close to what I ate in Baja California or even on the U.S. side of the border. If I ever go back to that part of the world, I'll also try to find that beachside place near Puerto Nuevo, a simple cabana type of place, but I ate the best lobsters of my life there, simply wrapped in tortillas and some kind of spicy guacamole - and for a ridiculous price then. Fresh lobsters that you would choose from the aquarium still alive, yummy! Don't know if this place still exists, or if it has been spoilt by mass tourism.
I visited Paris in the late nineties and had the best Mexican meal of my life. It was at a restaurant called “Tex Mex” next to my hotel. It was part of a small franchise. To this day, I haven't had a chili as good as what was served there.
You can actually go through "conduite accompagnée", as a student driver, starting from 16. It doesn't let you drive alone, though. And about cashback, it kinda makes sense: shops are billed a few percentage points on each card payment. Giving you back cash will actually cost them money. Maybe it works differently in the US ? Shops you're very familiar with may accept to do that, but it's uncommon, and may lead to accounting and balance issurs. It is common practice in belgium, though.
For US drivers license holders, make sure you have one from a state that has reciprocal exchange with France. My state does, so no test required, no driving school, just submit an application to exchange the license along with your driving record, and eventually you will get your French license.
@@beauthestdane and after 20 yrs. experience in the U.S., I flunked the written test, full of trick questions. They want to make sure you have spent a fair part of your savings to pay for those driving schools that prepare you for all those tricks.
@@enjoyingmyvodka1013 No, I believe the current list is : Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Hampshire, Michigan, Kansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, Delaware, Ohio and Virginia
In France at 16 you can do the "conduite accompagnée" which means you can drive with an adult in the car (not any adult though it has to be someone with enough driving experience) . You still have to take the driving test to obtain your driving license at 18 though.
As an Australian (with a French partner) I completely relate to your reactions as I see my partner laughs about how easy our banking is compared to France. My partner needed to visit his bank when we were in France to make a deposit. I think ok, easy we will drop in any time while shopping. Nope! He had to make an appointment, press a door bell to enter an air lock and be buzzed in. No machines at any of their counters - I was so confused haha. I remember how shocked he was when I withdrew $150 cash from my supermarket while paying for groceries 🤣. We have fun looking at the differences and love our life in Australia, but appreciate how things can be done differently or improved.
Also, had an issue trying to explain to cashier in Germany that my debit card was not a credit card (no credit cards allowed at this shop). He kept saying it was I think because we stamp Visa or MC on debit cards in Aus, but that just allows you to use your debit card as a credit card if you want to here. Credit cards are usually seperate to debit cards in Australia ie i carry two cards, my partner says in France its in one card? Will have to watch ur video on it to see if its similar.
We don't really have credit cards in France. We have mainly two types of cards : - cartes de retrait : you only can withdraw cash from your account, and at your bank agency (may have some fees if you go to another bank). - cartes de paiement : stamped Visa of CB (gived their other name, carte bleue), also called carte bancaire. They are not credit card because you have to have the money on your account to use them. Credit card (see "crédit revolving") are way less numerous, but there are some, like Sofinco or Cetelem, for example
Canada uses the handheld terminals all the time as well. I haven't had a waiter walk away with my card in ages. I've had a chipped card for quite a few years as well. A friend of mine, who was helping her mother in the US, once told me that she found he found the US banking system rather difficult after having been away for so long. In Canada you can pay all of your bills, including your taxes, online through your banking app. She found that when she was in Maryland, paying her mother's various bills took a little more leg work.
In France more and more restaurants ask you to pay at the front desk. But overall it's a good practice to never let your credit card taken away from your view. In France you can have your credit card numbers taken to pay on the Internet, or have rhe magnetic track used for unwanted payments. Not all transactions in France are secured by the chip and PIN code. I'm just so disconcerted by the fact American people let other people do what they want with their credit card... Cash back doesn't exists in France for at least two reasons : Every operation with a credit card terminal has the cost, which is a percentage of the amount. So OK, we should do cash back and raise the prices up. But is also is a Bank Operation, for witch you need a bank licence.
I can only speak to my experience but I’ve noticed handheld terminals or terminals that sit in the table are gaining in popularity in the US. They are pretty handy! You can pay right at the table and grab your receipt without waiting on the check.
Hi Diane. When you move to France, as soon as you got your long term visa you got one year to convert your driving license into a french one for free (maybe not for ALL nationalities but a lot really). In France you don't have cash back because the shops pay a commission when you pay by card (I know it's crazy) that's why you can find some shops that don't accept payment by card under a certain amount. You can have a kind of driving license when you're 15y/o but you have to drive with an adult older than 21y/o who got his license since more than 3 years (means he's not an "apprentice" anymore). I love your videos, keep the good job.
Hi! Diane!! I just wanted to say bonjour from my desert home , Las Vegas Nevada in the breathtaking Mojave desert!! 🌞🌵 Love France and adore your videos💕
omg content!!!! I love your videos, they're so informative and educational. And you are so well spoken. Pls keep making them and enlighten those of us who wish to know more about France.
About the desert, I live in Ohio, and I think it's easier, cheaper and much more interesting to go from France to Tunisia or Morocco and visit the Sahara Desert than to go on a vacation from Ohio to Nevada or New Mexico for the same thing. I'm lucky enough to have done both! Also, N.Africa is much more exotic and memorable than the South-West. Every urban area of the US looks the same as any other anywhere in the country. The copy/paste urbanism is depressing! 😞
Handheld credit card scanners are not secure, the restaurant can use one that gives them your card info. It's less likely a single restaurant employee would obtain a compromised scanner, but they do exist.
In France the law is very protective if you are debited when you have not typed your PIN code. The bank MUST refund you ! Even if you typed your PIN code, the bank have to refund you but minus xxx euros (200 euros if I remember well).
there is an equivalent of cashback in supermarket, you just need to ask for a "carte de fidélité", you can found them in "Super U", "intermarche", "monoprix" ....
Oh, the tacos, that made me LOL! I've seen the pictures outside the restaurants, and I can't bring myself to try one :) After a year, I'm almost over my addition to spicy hot foods. I like the glasses you're trying out: the shape is interesting, and it's very flattering on your face.
Interesting! When I got my license in Texas decades ago, you could get your license at 14 if you had taken driver‘s education; otherwise, you had to wait until you 16. About 4 years later, they raised both age limits to 16 and 18, respectively. Things have changed now, but I don‘t know what the ages are. When I decided to get my German license after living here for 27 years without license or car, I had real problems with the lessons (which, looking back, I think had to do with the teacher), failed the driving test the first time, and paid about €4k for the experience! Cash back has not existed in Germany. However, I have been told by friends that at least one supermarket chain here has started doing it. I have not tried personally; about the only time I use cash is as gifts in birthday cards. I pay with the app on my phone. Checks? They disappeared in Germany when the euro was introduced in 2002.
My experience in France was a mix of either bringing the scanner to the table, or you go up to the checkout to pay, but either way, card never leaves your custody.
16 only allowed for light motorcycles with maximum 125cc, for bigger motocycles it's 18. Mexican food in France is very rare, because.. Mexico is far away..., here whe found commonly Italian ristorante, but also diverse Asian , Libanese, Turkish, Greek,etc...
There IS déserts in France : le désert des agriates, and others that i have forgot the name but there was also the Sahara bac then beafore the civil war.
Over here in Zagreb, Croatia there are few drive-by ATMs, but not drive-through tellers. Cheques are no longer used, but one is more or less _expected_ to have a mobile banking app on their smartphone. (Yes, in today's culture having a smartphone are becoming more or less mandatory 😞) Then again, it _is_ useful to get notification about charges on your card (debit, charge or credit) immediately.
@@OuiInFrance Yes same concept but I've never seen this actually. I think people are not getting into it, and small businesses refuse to play the "bank role". It's better for them to have less cash to manage.
I'm still surprised each time I visit my family in France and see they still use checks. I've been living in Belgium for many years and I have never used or seen a check here. The normal way of paying bills here is with debit or credit card, or bank wires via PC banking or bank apps. As for Mexican restaurants, I've traveled in California and Arizona, as well as Baja California; in France or in Belgium I never found anything "Mexican" or even Tex Mex that compares to what I ate on this trip.
My mom bought an appartement 8 years ago (in Belgium), she paid the deposit with a check. This year she is buying a house and the notary simply asked her to wire the amount. Apparently the biggest portion of people who use checks in Belgium are people who don't have a bank account or can't own one. Roughly 30 000 people don't have a bank account.
The reson why France still use cheques is mostly because of banks shenanigans. By law, French banks must provide at least one payment method for free. OFC French banks (the older brick-and-mortar ones) choose checks because even if checks are still used it's the least common method to pay. Well, the second to last compared to money wiring. And why is that? It's because, until very recently (and I mean the past 10/15 years) money transfert via wire was an atrocious experience. In the worst case scenario; you had to schedule an appointment with your "conselor". Very unlikely to get an appointment in the same day, or even the same WEEK. Then you meet them, either you file the paper or they do it for you, then they would have to scan it or enter it in the computer (yes, they really wrote it down on paper THEN type it in the computer) then it had to be "checked" to see if you had the money, then if the received account existed, which may take a day. And only THEN they would wire the money. In the best case scenario you could do it at the bank's guichet, so you skipped the appointment part but it was still tedious and take up to 4 days to be completed (if you did it on Friday afternoon. Because I guess, bank computers don't work week-ends too?) Now in the past 10 years you can do it online, but even then, most of the time, it's only on a smartphone app. If you have a dumbphone or a too old smartphone? Too bad, the app won't work, go to the bank, because the online site may not allow you to wire money. Or it would allow you but only after sending you a paper letter with a code to confirm that you want transfert money. And this is why wiring money is just non-existant in France. Banks just make what should be a smooth, streamlined process into a bureaucratic nightmare. On the other hand, cheques have advantages, like it's the usual way for parents and grand-parents to gift money if they do'nt want to give cash. When I got my driving licence, instead of paying the 800€ cost at once, I made 4 cheques of 200€ that the driving school cashed each month (which BTW I heard isn't really legal, because it's akin to making a credit or something)
In the US we're mostly using chip cards. This started 6-7 years ago. Not all are chip though. My HSA card is my only swipe. I couldn't tell you how many times I've inserted it in the chip reader and felt dumb.
I remember how surprised I was when we went to Mexico City about 10 years ago and learned they, street taco vendors, put fries in the tacos. It's the style, don't know when it started. I've lived in other parts of Mexico and never saw it before. I had seen it here in San Diego, they put fries in breakfast burritos. I don't eat those but I've had a bite of my husband's and they're good!
I used to work for a American/ Mexican restaurant as a cook for 3 years in paris, the place used chillies and chipotle imported from Mexico, and a Mexican lady used to have a company that made corn tacos for us.
In the Netherlands cheques don't exist, so we don't miss not being able to deposit them with an app on our telephone. Most banking is done on internet.
I think "cash back" doesn't exist in France simply because most stores wouldn't want to take the risk of being scammed. They already have to deal with fake "ticket restaurant" and counterfeit money. ATMs suffice and more people are paying electronically anyway.
In Belgium when you pay by card in supermarkets you can ask the cashier to add an amount in euros to the amount you owe and they will hand you this amont in cash. Very handy as banks have started to drastically reduice the number of ATMs over the last months much to people's anger. You ask the cashier "pouvez vous ajouter X euros à ma note". X sbould be like 10, 20, ... ll the more so now that banks have been suppression ATMs in large numbers over the last months much to peuples ouvrage !!!
@@Rachel-rs7jn That’s more tricky than that. Yes, you could have true mexican food, if you have a big community of Mexicans. But, if they want to sell it to other people aswell, maybe they would made tex-mex things because that’s what clients are waiting for. (What they though is mexican and love and are used to). Could work for anything.
Yes there is. There are many great Mexican restaurants in American cities, run by people from all over Mexico and Americans who have studied the cuisine.
@@KD-vb9hh I (a Mexican) haven’t had the pleasure to go to any. One of the worst food experiences I’ve had was in “the best Mexican restaurant” in Texas, pretty near my country. You might be right, but personally can’t back that up
Despite the negative differences in France, since you have lived in this country for nearly 10 years as you say so, what would be that one reason or may be the major differentiator that would make you want to opt for a French citizenship? And Diane FYI with or without the glasses you’re simply becoming more beautiful every video! 🥰
Lol.Have to agree with the gentleman. You are growing more beautiful. You are as they say 'growing into your face' . You've got great bone structure and an oval shape and as a person develops life experience that lends something special to their face. Isn't that wonderful?! You'll never lose your beauty. Every woman's wish 😂😂
1:40 - Heh, when i was working in Paris in '04, during an unusual summer heatwave, they were selling those portable A/C units from the back of trucks. There were queues for them. Even decent hotels I stayed in had those portable units, with a place to plug the wide "pipe" for hot exhaust built into the window pane. Weird...
All of this and I would extend to all kinds of drive through including pharmacy being everywhere. 24 hour stores. Discount stores like Marshall’s. Over the counter medication is way easier to get including skin products. Things open 7 days a week. Highways withoit tolls are the norm here not the exception
Point 2 to 5 are rather desirable if you put things into perspective. The year is 2022 already, and I think we have realized how unsustainable our way of life is, i.e. for the matter here driving everywhere you go and climate-controlling every place you stay in. This is not to say you could do without these comforts in the US without any change. In France houses are better insulated and public transit is more developed, and I hope France keep marching in this direction.
It's true. I haven't see a video of your in ages. Then they started showing up again yesterday. I thought you had decided to take a break after you lost your mum. I didn't know about the loss of your sweet dog. I am so sorry about that. I love all animals. I do have both the like and Bell clicked, so i should be getting notifications🤷♀️ Anyway, glad you're showing up on the feed again
I love your new glasses! Thanks for the discount code. Glasses are my fashion 'accessory' of choice so I am definitely going to visit the website to 'see' what's on offer! To the best of my knowledge, all debit and credit cards (all official ID for that matter) are chipped in Canada too.
Thank you!! Hope you find a pair you love ;-) Just to clarify, both my credit and debit cards in the US are chipped but the credit card does not require a pin to use
Here in Itally cashback on credit card is not legal. And no one would give you cash on that because the store pays percentages on credit card purchases, so if you appear to have spent €20 in that store and the cashier gives you €20 in cash, the store will receive 1/2/3/4 % less (it depends on which credit card).
My friend has had his bank card (debit) scammed a few times. Apparently a couple of Christmases ago he shopped in a store in Paris, then one in New York an hour later!! The bank think it was cloned at the ATM, quite common in UK too.
If the architect honor his profession you never need air conditioner. .look at some old building in Vietnam or Hawaii you never need air conditioner but still cool
I had a decent burrito in Lyon (Go Mex in the Confluence shopping center), but I was kind of desperate for some cumin and chili by then so I may not have been the best judge. I was in France for two weeks as student. I had no idea it was possible to get sick of butter and bread, but when it's literally a part of every meal...I was glad to go home to my spice rack.
Completely get it! When I'm back in the US, I'm so happy to get a fresh donut or a cupcake and I don't go nuts for French pastries. It's funny what we get used to ;-)
Canadian credit cards had the chip several years before the USA. I was aware of that because I worked at the front desk at a hotel where we had quite a few American visitors. Lately, however, since the pandemic, banks have upped the limit on the Tap feature on their cards, so I rarely have to use my PIN number. I would assume that raises the risk if your card is stolen.
Thank you for recommending Zinff. Have just taken a look at their range and bought a few. Sadly the code you gave wasn't accepted, but I'm happy enough with the price. Thanks again
With cash back in the UK we have request it and it is not an option in all shops. Supermarkets are the only place I think I have requested it. I wish AC was more common in UK and europe wide!
Hie. 1- Deserts: they don" t exist in Europe; 2- A.C. : O think that one goes for all the European countries (Be cool for the planet 👌) 3- Drive-thru banks:... that's barbaric. 4- Driver licence: have you seen the narrow roads in Europe? 5- Cheap licence: Licence is expensive, cars are expensive, gas is expensive. Take the train ;) 6- Credit Cards: well... that's it. 7- Real Mexican Food- Why?!! It's on the other side of the Atlantic. 8- If you want cash, go to the ATM. Too much money in the shop, is a bad thing for security. All you said is not just France. It goes fir most of European countries... at least.
some omissions concerning the French driving permis; there are about a dozen US states with reciprocity agreements with France where you can exchange your US DL for a French version within your 1st year of residency. Also, if you speak French fluently, you can ask to take the code (written portion) as a candidat libre and avoid the driving school for this step. 3rd, if you are an experienced driver then you can greatly reduce or even skip the required 20 hours of driving lessons. I paid around €700 for my abridged program with a driving school (5 hrs of driving plus le code and permis); coming from the US from a state without reciprocity. So there are options that make the process much less than the quoted 2,000€.
On the desert thing you can come live in my hometown of Albuquerque New Mexico and live in a desert. Complete with xeriscape and if you want green grass you have to have a sprinkler system or be out watering your grass every day!!!
My father [when he was still living] and I both had our credit cards compromised in a restaurant in the US so I prefer the French method of payment. Since you have Capital One, have you had problems with 2-step authentication or do you maintain an American phone number in France as well. They seem to be only using authentication via [US] cell phone these days and I am wondering how expats are handling that.
I cannot answer for this bank, but I am an expat with bank accounts (and cards) in more than one country. In my case, the bank has several apps, one for each country, and I can download each on my phone. The authentication is managed through the app (not through a specific phone number). I just need to use the app corresponding to the country of the card I am using.
most all US debit cards now days is chip or tap/proximity. Since the pandemic started lots of places are even accepting smartphone payments now (apple pay, google pay, etc) where before i had mostly only saw that for online purchases
We don't sweat through our clothes for the hell of it, though. Air conditionning has a huge environmental cost and is making global warming a lot worse. By using these massively, you are creating more of a reason to use them. Drive through are also less of a thing in general because we don't use cars half as much as Americans do. Again, cars are a huge source of pollution. We try not to use them when it is not necessary. Here your bank is very seldom farther away a dozen minutes away from your house by foot, so you walk there. It's a way to save the gas money, avoid the pollution and move a bit. Doing a lot of stuff without getting out of your car is not great for a lot of reasons and, from France's point a view, really not worth it .🤷♀
When eating at most chain sit down restaurants in the US, there are little terminals on the table that you can order your meal from , play games on and also pay at the end of a meal. The terminal will even give the payer the option of a printed receipt at the table, having the receipt either emailed or texted to them. They are quite commonplace. All credit cards are chip and pin as well as all major bank debit cards. At most Bank Atms , after the customer is finished making their transaction, they are asked if they want a printed receipt, no receipt or emailed receipt. All banks and credit card companies offer alert signup options for alerts to be emailed and/or texted to customers. i've had my atm card canceled automatically a few times over the years, most recently in fact, at the beginning of this year, when fraudulent activities have been detected or at the very least, restricted until I could attest to the fact I was the one that made the charges.
I never go to a bank, we can do everything online or through the banking app, also, you can ask for cashback at the register, but it's not automated on the machines
Despite some hot days once and a while, I have never been motivated enough to purchase an AC unit. With climate change and all, it might be a good idea. Checks are so old fashioned and should have been phased out years ago but France and the U.S. have clung on to them. When I lived in Germany, nearly everything could be done with direct to banks bank transfers using IBAN numbers.
We don't use checks in Belgium anymore. Our most common way of paying bills is on line via bank apps, including taxes and parking tickets. Cash back does exist in Belgium, but being originally French I just don't think of it, I go to the ATM to withdraw cash.
Thank you! I will say that over the years, I've seen more and more Mexican stuff. Just last week, I found for the first time ever refried beans in a can!
Mexican restaurant in France is like a spanish restaurant in Burma. Of course it has nothing to do with the original food. Mexican people living in France are so scarce.
Yes, very. I am used to driving a small 2 seater, although not that small, but still for getting around town it seems like a viable option, and easy to park too.
You can go to the Almería desert in Spain and it probably would be a shorter trip than the one you would do to visit a desert in the United States. I always find it funny when Americans come to Spain and they want to eat tacos. That's American food!
Pour le permis de conduire à 18 ans, je rappellerai simplement qu'on apprend pas à conduire sur des voitures automatiques qui sont plus faciles à conduire et sinon le plus proche qu'on a du désert il y a aussi "la mer de sable" c'est un parc d'attraction, le plus vieux en activité en France et destiné surtout aux familles avec de jeunes enfants de moins de 14 ans mais avec des thématiques et spectacles plutôt sympathiques. Le site repose sur une curiosité géologique, la mer stampienne qui laisse des traces d'îlots, de lagunes, de bancs de sable au coeur de la foret d'Ermenonville dans l'Oise. Le parc propose 3 univers : « Le désert de l'Arizona » avec sa dune, « Le canyon du Colorado » sur la conquête de l'Ouest et « La vallée du Mississippi ». J'y était allé petit et je crois me souvenir qu'on prenait un petit train à travers le "désert" qui se faisait attaquer par les indiens...
I do miss Mexican food. There was a restaurant in Rennes when we first moved there. We went and the food was delicious but quite spendy. We went back a second time with our son and he loved it as well. When we went back for a third time, the restaurant was closed.
The most common "non french" restaurants are italian: the Italian and in general the mediterranean (also Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, north African, up to Asian mostly Vietnamese or Japanese) food is very popular in France...But yes mexican food is relatively rare here, the most known you can found is the "Chili con carne"
It's starting to have authentic mexican restaurants in France, but it's rare. And that's right, french tacos (facos ? it's so wrong to call this tacos, that we pronounce "tacos" by the way, not "taco" because it would sound like "tacot" which is an old and broken car), are awfull, I don't understand why we have this.
I am a US citizen living in Portugal, I've never seen a drive through banking option here either, but life is slower and every one walks. (Probably why everyone is so fit!) Plus with mass transit life is less hectic Our bank is very scam and fraud proof, we are sent a message with a code to enter for every transaction. We can also pay so many bills at the ATM. I also like that people in Europe aren't so air conditioning crazy. It's bad for people bad for the environment. Enjoy your videos!
This, point 2 made no sense to me. Outside of the US no one uses paper checks, describing it as something "you can do" in the US but not in other countries is missing the point, not to mention low key promoting car dependency. Also, baking apps are a thing now?
I LOVE that you emphasise that no one way of life is better than the other, it's just some different ways of doing things ;)
Thanks for making your videos, they're really well done.
Not sure i agree tho, half the points she mentioned are due to the general car dependency in the US which is everyone from urban planners to health professional and environmentalists can tell you it's bad
After a week of walking by "Mexican" Restaurant in France, I decided to try it I laughed at the decor and regretted the choice after one bite. I kept telling myself it was just for the oddity. Thanks Diane for reminding me.
Best Texmex in France sadly is Chipotles.
@@RB-zr9jt I used to work as a cook in an American/Mexican restaurant they imported all the chilles from Mexico, used authentic ingredients, sadly french people can't handle spicy, this is why you won't find many true Mexican restaurants
@Rob Brink TexMex is more bland than New Mexico red or green chile on everything. Food from Mexico is different in different parts of the country.
@@michealrosen Yes it's generally true that the French don't take to really spicy food.
@@michealrosen I'm not a typical Frenchman then because I do like spicy food. When I was still a young man, as I was staying in Southern California for over a month, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Baja California with a local Mexican who took me to places where tourists don't usually eat. That was so good!! Now years have passed by, I've tried various Mexican or TexMex places in France and in Belgium where I now live but none of them came close to what I ate in Baja California or even on the U.S. side of the border. If I ever go back to that part of the world, I'll also try to find that beachside place near Puerto Nuevo, a simple cabana type of place, but I ate the best lobsters of my life there, simply wrapped in tortillas and some kind of spicy guacamole - and for a ridiculous price then. Fresh lobsters that you would choose from the aquarium still alive, yummy! Don't know if this place still exists, or if it has been spoilt by mass tourism.
I visited Paris in the late nineties and had the best Mexican meal of my life. It was at a restaurant called “Tex Mex” next to my hotel. It was part of a small franchise. To this day, I haven't had a chili as good as what was served there.
Funny, chilli isn't even a thing in Mexico. :)
You can actually go through "conduite accompagnée", as a student driver, starting from 16. It doesn't let you drive alone, though.
And about cashback, it kinda makes sense: shops are billed a few percentage points on each card payment. Giving you back cash will actually cost them money. Maybe it works differently in the US ? Shops you're very familiar with may accept to do that, but it's uncommon, and may lead to accounting and balance issurs.
It is common practice in belgium, though.
For US drivers license holders, make sure you have one from a state that has reciprocal exchange with France. My state does, so no test required, no driving school, just submit an application to exchange the license along with your driving record, and eventually you will get your French license.
And do it quickly. I had a Cal. license and was OK here for 1 year only. I waited too long and had to re-do the training and tests.
@@billglass5160 Yep, you have 1 year max to exchange it.
@@beauthestdane and after 20 yrs. experience in the U.S., I flunked the written test, full of trick questions. They want to make sure you have spent a fair part of your savings to pay for those driving schools that prepare you for all those tricks.
Is Texas one of those states ?
@@enjoyingmyvodka1013 No, I believe the current list is : Colorado, Connecticut, Florida,
Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Hampshire, Michigan, Kansas, South Carolina, Kentucky,
Delaware, Ohio and Virginia
In France at 16 you can do the "conduite accompagnée" which means you can drive with an adult in the car (not any adult though it has to be someone with enough driving experience) . You still have to take the driving test to obtain your driving license at 18 though.
Exactly, same in the US. The learner's permit in some states is 14.5 or 15!
As an Australian (with a French partner) I completely relate to your reactions as I see my partner laughs about how easy our banking is compared to France. My partner needed to visit his bank when we were in France to make a deposit. I think ok, easy we will drop in any time while shopping. Nope! He had to make an appointment, press a door bell to enter an air lock and be buzzed in. No machines at any of their counters - I was so confused haha. I remember how shocked he was when I withdrew $150 cash from my supermarket while paying for groceries 🤣. We have fun looking at the differences and love our life in Australia, but appreciate how things can be done differently or improved.
Also, had an issue trying to explain to cashier in Germany that my debit card was not a credit card (no credit cards allowed at this shop). He kept saying it was I think because we stamp Visa or MC on debit cards in Aus, but that just allows you to use your debit card as a credit card if you want to here. Credit cards are usually seperate to debit cards in Australia ie i carry two cards, my partner says in France its in one card? Will have to watch ur video on it to see if its similar.
We don't really have credit cards in France.
We have mainly two types of cards :
- cartes de retrait : you only can withdraw cash from your account, and at your bank agency (may have some fees if you go to another bank).
- cartes de paiement : stamped Visa of CB (gived their other name, carte bleue), also called carte bancaire. They are not credit card because you have to have the money on your account to use them.
Credit card (see "crédit revolving") are way less numerous, but there are some, like Sofinco or Cetelem, for example
Canada uses the handheld terminals all the time as well. I haven't had a waiter walk away with my card in ages. I've had a chipped card for quite a few years as well. A friend of mine, who was helping her mother in the US, once told me that she found he found the US banking system rather difficult after having been away for so long. In Canada you can pay all of your bills, including your taxes, online through your banking app. She found that when she was in Maryland, paying her mother's various bills took a little more leg work.
I'm in Maryland and I can pay any of my bills online. You just need the info from the bill and you add the bill to your online banking portal.
In Canada, many restaurants let you pay at the front desk.
In France more and more restaurants ask you to pay at the front desk.
But overall it's a good practice to never let your credit card taken away from your view. In France you can have your credit card numbers taken to pay on the Internet, or have rhe magnetic track used for unwanted payments. Not all transactions in France are secured by the chip and PIN code.
I'm just so disconcerted by the fact American people let other people do what they want with their credit card...
Cash back doesn't exists in France for at least two reasons :
Every operation with a credit card terminal has the cost, which is a percentage of the amount. So OK, we should do cash back and raise the prices up.
But is also is a Bank Operation, for witch you need a bank licence.
I can only speak to my experience but I’ve noticed handheld terminals or terminals that sit in the table are gaining in popularity in the US. They are pretty handy! You can pay right at the table and grab your receipt without waiting on the check.
Yes, definitely becoming more and more popular!
Hi Diane. When you move to France, as soon as you got your long term visa you got one year to convert your driving license into a french one for free (maybe not for ALL nationalities but a lot really). In France you don't have cash back because the shops pay a commission when you pay by card (I know it's crazy) that's why you can find some shops that don't accept payment by card under a certain amount. You can have a kind of driving license when you're 15y/o but you have to drive with an adult older than 21y/o who got his license since more than 3 years (means he's not an "apprentice" anymore). I love your videos, keep the good job.
Hi! Diane!!
I just wanted to say bonjour from my desert home , Las Vegas Nevada in the breathtaking Mojave desert!! 🌞🌵
Love France and adore your videos💕
Love to hear about scams in France. Another video! Thank you for all the effort you do for bringing us France to us.
OK cool, I'll start thinking about the scam video for later in the season! So glad you enjoy my channel!
you also have "la mer de sable" in Ermenonville
the French don't use checks that much anymore, as wiring money across the SEPA zone is free
omg content!!!! I love your videos, they're so informative and educational. And you are so well spoken. Pls keep making them and enlighten those of us who wish to know more about France.
About the desert, I live in Ohio, and I think it's easier, cheaper and much more interesting to go from France to Tunisia or Morocco and visit the Sahara Desert than to go on a vacation from Ohio to Nevada or New Mexico for the same thing. I'm lucky enough to have done both! Also, N.Africa is much more exotic and memorable than the South-West. Every urban area of the US looks the same as any other anywhere in the country. The copy/paste urbanism is depressing! 😞
I guess you don't check out the natural world of the deserts. There is so much beauty in the American deserts htat you're missing.
Handheld credit card scanners are not secure, the restaurant can use one that gives them your card info. It's less likely a single restaurant employee would obtain a compromised scanner, but they do exist.
In France the law is very protective if you are debited when you have not typed your PIN code. The bank MUST refund you !
Even if you typed your PIN code, the bank have to refund you but minus xxx euros (200 euros if I remember well).
there is an equivalent of cashback in supermarket, you just need to ask for a "carte de fidélité", you can found them in "Super U", "intermarche", "monoprix" ....
Oh, the tacos, that made me LOL! I've seen the pictures outside the restaurants, and I can't bring myself to try one :) After a year, I'm almost over my addition to spicy hot foods. I like the glasses you're trying out: the shape is interesting, and it's very flattering on your face.
Thanks so much!
Cashback exits in all the supermarket in Norway. If you ever travel back there, it may help you to know about it
Interesting!
When I got my license in Texas decades ago, you could get your license at 14 if you had taken driver‘s education; otherwise, you had to wait until you 16. About 4 years later, they raised both age limits to 16 and 18, respectively. Things have changed now, but I don‘t know what the ages are. When I decided to get my German license after living here for 27 years without license or car, I had real problems with the lessons (which, looking back, I think had to do with the teacher), failed the driving test the first time, and paid about €4k for the experience!
Cash back has not existed in Germany. However, I have been told by friends that at least one supermarket chain here has started doing it. I have not tried personally; about the only time I use cash is as gifts in birthday cards. I pay with the app on my phone.
Checks? They disappeared in Germany when the euro was introduced in 2002.
I think I was 15 for mine in Mt. Was no speed limit in MT. then. "Reasonable and Proper", I think was the term. Many moons ago!
My experience in France was a mix of either bringing the scanner to the table, or you go up to the checkout to pay, but either way, card never leaves your custody.
exactly, that way you can always keep an eye on it
You can be card scammed even if you kept an eye on your card all along
@@cmolodiets Absolutely, but it is easier with no chip + pin and out of sight.
16 only allowed for light motorcycles with maximum 125cc, for bigger motocycles it's 18. Mexican food in France is very rare, because.. Mexico is far away..., here whe found commonly Italian ristorante, but also diverse Asian , Libanese, Turkish, Greek,etc...
There IS déserts in France : le désert des agriates, and others that i have forgot the name but there was also the Sahara bac then beafore the civil war.
Over here in Zagreb, Croatia there are few drive-by ATMs, but not drive-through tellers. Cheques are no longer used, but one is more or less _expected_ to have a mobile banking app on their smartphone. (Yes, in today's culture having a smartphone are becoming more or less mandatory 😞) Then again, it _is_ useful to get notification about charges on your card (debit, charge or credit) immediately.
There's a Carrefour City in my neighbourhood (I live in Toulouse) that offers a cash back service 😊😊
Awesome!! Same concept as US? Done right at register?
@@OuiInFrance Yes same concept but I've never seen this actually. I think people are not getting into it, and small businesses refuse to play the "bank role". It's better for them to have less cash to manage.
I'm still surprised each time I visit my family in France and see they still use checks. I've been living in Belgium for many years and I have never used or seen a check here. The normal way of paying bills here is with debit or credit card, or bank wires via PC banking or bank apps.
As for Mexican restaurants, I've traveled in California and Arizona, as well as Baja California; in France or in Belgium I never found anything "Mexican" or even Tex Mex that compares to what I ate on this trip.
Paris has some great, authentic Mexican restaurants. Outside of that - only find it at my house ... ;-)
My mom bought an appartement 8 years ago (in Belgium), she paid the deposit with a check. This year she is buying a house and the notary simply asked her to wire the amount. Apparently the biggest portion of people who use checks in Belgium are people who don't have a bank account or can't own one. Roughly 30 000 people don't have a bank account.
The reson why France still use cheques is mostly because of banks shenanigans. By law, French banks must provide at least one payment method for free. OFC French banks (the older brick-and-mortar ones) choose checks because even if checks are still used it's the least common method to pay. Well, the second to last compared to money wiring.
And why is that? It's because, until very recently (and I mean the past 10/15 years) money transfert via wire was an atrocious experience.
In the worst case scenario; you had to schedule an appointment with your "conselor". Very unlikely to get an appointment in the same day, or even the same WEEK. Then you meet them, either you file the paper or they do it for you, then they would have to scan it or enter it in the computer (yes, they really wrote it down on paper THEN type it in the computer) then it had to be "checked" to see if you had the money, then if the received account existed, which may take a day. And only THEN they would wire the money.
In the best case scenario you could do it at the bank's guichet, so you skipped the appointment part but it was still tedious and take up to 4 days to be completed (if you did it on Friday afternoon. Because I guess, bank computers don't work week-ends too?)
Now in the past 10 years you can do it online, but even then, most of the time, it's only on a smartphone app. If you have a dumbphone or a too old smartphone? Too bad, the app won't work, go to the bank, because the online site may not allow you to wire money. Or it would allow you but only after sending you a paper letter with a code to confirm that you want transfert money.
And this is why wiring money is just non-existant in France. Banks just make what should be a smooth, streamlined process into a bureaucratic nightmare.
On the other hand, cheques have advantages, like it's the usual way for parents and grand-parents to gift money if they do'nt want to give cash. When I got my driving licence, instead of paying the 800€ cost at once, I made 4 cheques of 200€ that the driving school cashed each month (which BTW I heard isn't really legal, because it's akin to making a credit or something)
In the US we're mostly using chip cards. This started 6-7 years ago. Not all are chip though. My HSA card is my only swipe. I couldn't tell you how many times I've inserted it in the chip reader and felt dumb.
I remember how surprised I was when we went to Mexico City about 10 years ago and learned they, street taco vendors, put fries in the tacos. It's the style, don't know when it started. I've lived in other parts of Mexico and never saw it before. I had seen it here in San Diego, they put fries in breakfast burritos. I don't eat those but I've had a bite of my husband's and they're good!
All major US banks offer some form of mobile paper check deposits. The smaller banks may not.
I used to work for a American/ Mexican restaurant as a cook for 3 years in paris, the place used chillies and chipotle imported from Mexico, and a Mexican lady used to have a company that made corn tacos for us.
Sounds great!
In the Netherlands cheques don't exist, so we don't miss not being able to deposit them with an app on our telephone. Most banking is done on internet.
I think "cash back" doesn't exist in France simply because most stores wouldn't want to take the risk of being scammed. They already have to deal with fake "ticket restaurant" and counterfeit money. ATMs suffice and more people are paying electronically anyway.
In Belgium when you pay by card in supermarkets you can ask the cashier to add an amount in euros to the amount you owe and they will hand you this amont in cash. Very handy as banks have started to drastically reduice the number of ATMs over the last months much to people's anger. You ask the cashier "pouvez vous ajouter X euros à ma note". X sbould be like 10, 20, ...
ll the more so now that banks have been suppression ATMs in large numbers over the last months much to peuples ouvrage !!!
“Authentic” Mexican food isn’t really that common in the US either 😅
That would be the Tex-mex thing
commoner in Cal.
Depends on where you are. If you have Mexican people in your community, you can definitely find authentic Mexican food! 😊
@@Rachel-rs7jn That’s more tricky than that. Yes, you could have true mexican food, if you have a big community of Mexicans. But, if they want to sell it to other people aswell, maybe they would made tex-mex things because that’s what clients are waiting for. (What they though is mexican and love and are used to). Could work for anything.
Yes there is. There are many great Mexican restaurants in American cities, run by people from all over Mexico and Americans who have studied the cuisine.
@@KD-vb9hh I (a Mexican) haven’t had the pleasure to go to any. One of the worst food experiences I’ve had was in “the best Mexican restaurant” in Texas, pretty near my country. You might be right, but personally can’t back that up
Despite the negative differences in France, since you have lived in this country for nearly 10 years as you say so, what would be that one reason or may be the major differentiator that would make you want to opt for a French citizenship?
And Diane FYI with or without the glasses you’re simply becoming more beautiful every video! 🥰
Thanks Cyrus! I talked about why I'm not currently a French citizen in this recent video: ua-cam.com/video/4Ky7EfrOvt8/v-deo.html
Lol.Have to agree with the gentleman. You are growing more beautiful. You are as they say 'growing into your face' . You've got great bone structure and an oval shape and as a person develops life experience that lends something special to their face. Isn't that wonderful?! You'll never lose your beauty. Every woman's wish 😂😂
Excellente vidéo Diane. J'ai beaucoup appris !
Drive through bank? That's nuts. Unchipped cards that you let someone take away? More nuts.
Loved this one!!
So glad! Thanks for watching!
Drive through are for McDonald’s only. BNP does allow cheques through their online banking app.
These are my favorite glasses!
Hello Diane I really like and enjoy your vlogs , I love your glasses and I think they make you look very smart and studious .😊
Thank you!
1:40 - Heh, when i was working in Paris in '04, during an unusual summer heatwave, they were selling those portable A/C units from the back of trucks. There were queues for them. Even decent hotels I stayed in had those portable units, with a place to plug the wide "pipe" for hot exhaust built into the window pane. Weird...
All of this and I would extend to all kinds of drive through including pharmacy being everywhere. 24 hour stores. Discount stores like Marshall’s. Over the counter medication is way easier to get including skin products. Things open 7 days a week. Highways withoit tolls are the norm here not the exception
In Belgium we don't have cashback but you can ask the cashier to debit a certain amount. My mom does it sometimes in grocery stores.
Point 2 to 5 are rather desirable if you put things into perspective. The year is 2022 already, and I think we have realized how unsustainable our way of life is, i.e. for the matter here driving everywhere you go and climate-controlling every place you stay in. This is not to say you could do without these comforts in the US without any change. In France houses are better insulated and public transit is more developed, and I hope France keep marching in this direction.
I heard they have drive thru Gyms in the USA.
It's true. I haven't see a video of your in ages. Then they started showing up again yesterday. I thought you had decided to take a break after you lost your mum. I didn't know about the loss of your sweet dog. I am so sorry about that. I love all animals. I do have both the like and Bell clicked, so i should be getting notifications🤷♀️ Anyway, glad you're showing up on the feed again
Le dune "Sleeping Bear" en Michigan est plus grande que Pilaf
I love your new glasses! Thanks for the discount code. Glasses are my fashion 'accessory' of choice so I am definitely going to visit the website to 'see' what's on offer!
To the best of my knowledge, all debit and credit cards (all official ID for that matter) are chipped in Canada too.
Thank you!! Hope you find a pair you love ;-)
Just to clarify, both my credit and debit cards in the US are chipped but the credit card does not require a pin to use
There is a desert in France. The Casse Desert on the Col d'Izoard. It's small but still classed as a desert
I noticed your glasses right off. They are très chouette!
Thank you!
Here in Itally cashback on credit card is not legal. And no one would give you cash on that because the store pays percentages on credit card purchases, so if you appear to have spent €20 in that store and the cashier gives you €20 in cash, the store will receive 1/2/3/4 % less (it depends on which credit card).
My friend has had his bank card (debit) scammed a few times. Apparently a couple of Christmases ago he shopped in a store in Paris, then one in New York an hour later!! The bank think it was cloned at the ATM, quite common in UK too.
A number of stores have started charging for getting cash back.
If the architect honor his profession you never need air conditioner. .look at some old building in Vietnam or Hawaii you never need air conditioner but still cool
*10:20** It was supposed to happen in France several years ago... I don't know where they made it and if it worked well.*
I had a decent burrito in Lyon (Go Mex in the Confluence shopping center), but I was kind of desperate for some cumin and chili by then so I may not have been the best judge. I was in France for two weeks as student. I had no idea it was possible to get sick of butter and bread, but when it's literally a part of every meal...I was glad to go home to my spice rack.
Completely get it! When I'm back in the US, I'm so happy to get a fresh donut or a cupcake and I don't go nuts for French pastries. It's funny what we get used to ;-)
Yes, I've taken to bringing chili powder with me to France so I always have it! 😄
A few years ago I spent a week in Paris and I can't imagine needing a car to get around the city.
Definitely don't need one!
Canadian credit cards had the chip several years before the USA. I was aware of that because I worked at the front desk at a hotel where we had quite a few American visitors. Lately, however, since the pandemic, banks have upped the limit on the Tap feature on their cards, so I rarely have to use my PIN number. I would assume that raises the risk if your card is stolen.
Exactly! My sans contact feature is limited to 30 euros on my French card
@@OuiInFrance Now it's 50€ on most French cards, it has been for months ^^
Pretty much all the banks have mobile deposit in the US.
so so convenient! i love it
Thank you for recommending Zinff. Have just taken a look at their range and bought a few. Sadly the code you gave wasn't accepted, but I'm happy enough with the price. Thanks again
I confirm that cash back does not exist in France (I was amazed to discover this cash back feature in the US)
Driving lessons + exams are like 3-4 k euro in the Netherlands help
You can get your permit in AZ at 15 1/2 and full license at 16
In Denmark we don't have cheques, and we can do our banking without getting out of bed (netbank is wonderful 😊💐)
That's great! Sounds very efficient. Would love to visit someday
With cash back in the UK we have request it and it is not an option in all shops. Supermarkets are the only place I think I have requested it. I wish AC was more common in UK and europe wide!
How handicap accessible is it in France.
You don’t often need air con in France!
Hie.
1- Deserts: they don" t exist in Europe;
2- A.C. : O think that one goes for all the European countries (Be cool for the planet 👌)
3- Drive-thru banks:... that's barbaric.
4- Driver licence: have you seen the narrow roads in Europe?
5- Cheap licence: Licence is expensive, cars are expensive, gas is expensive. Take the train ;)
6- Credit Cards: well... that's it.
7- Real Mexican Food- Why?!! It's on the other side of the Atlantic.
8- If you want cash, go to the ATM. Too much money in the shop, is a bad thing for security.
All you said is not just France. It goes fir most of European countries... at least.
In line with Drive-thru Banks there are drive-thru Pharmacies and tons of drive-thru restaurants!
Yes, convenience is king!
some omissions concerning the French driving permis; there are about a dozen US states with reciprocity agreements with France where you can exchange your US DL for a French version within your 1st year of residency. Also, if you speak French fluently, you can ask to take the code (written portion) as a candidat libre and avoid the driving school for this step. 3rd, if you are an experienced driver then you can greatly reduce or even skip the required 20 hours of driving lessons. I paid around €700 for my abridged program with a driving school (5 hrs of driving plus le code and permis); coming from the US from a state without reciprocity. So there are options that make the process much less than the quoted 2,000€.
On the desert thing you can come live in my hometown of Albuquerque New Mexico and live in a desert. Complete with xeriscape and if you want green grass you have to have a sprinkler system or be out watering your grass every day!!!
My father [when he was still living] and I both had our credit cards compromised in a restaurant in the US so I prefer the French method of payment. Since you have Capital One, have you had problems with 2-step authentication or do you maintain an American phone number in France as well. They seem to be only using authentication via [US] cell phone these days and I am wondering how expats are handling that.
I cannot answer for this bank, but I am an expat with bank accounts (and cards) in more than one country. In my case, the bank has several apps, one for each country, and I can download each on my phone. The authentication is managed through the app (not through a specific phone number). I just need to use the app corresponding to the country of the card I am using.
most all US debit cards now days is chip or tap/proximity. Since the pandemic started lots of places are even accepting smartphone payments now (apple pay, google pay, etc) where before i had mostly only saw that for online purchases
I was surprised to hear that you still use checks in the US. I’m from Denmark. I don’t think I have heard of anyone using checks here since the 90’s 🤗
They exist but aren't used too much. France, on the other hand, well they are used quite frequently!
@@OuiInFrance that’s an interesting fact 🤗 thanks for the answer ❤️
Great video as usual. UA-cam has been delivering your videos on a regular schedule.
Thanks for letting me know, Ken, and thanks for watching ;-))
Yes Diane I have notifications on but not always getting your videos.
Very odd
Good day. Paper checks are not used anymore in Europe.
Still very alive and well in France!
@@OuiInFrance oh, ok, thank you.
We don't sweat through our clothes for the hell of it, though. Air conditionning has a huge environmental cost and is making global warming a lot worse. By using these massively, you are creating more of a reason to use them.
Drive through are also less of a thing in general because we don't use cars half as much as Americans do.
Again, cars are a huge source of pollution. We try not to use them when it is not necessary. Here your bank is very seldom farther away a dozen minutes away from your house by foot, so you walk there. It's a way to save the gas money, avoid the pollution and move a bit. Doing a lot of stuff without getting out of your car is not great for a lot of reasons and, from France's point a view, really not worth it .🤷♀
And drive-in banking is not existing as well
When eating at most chain sit down restaurants in the US, there are little terminals on the table that you can order your meal from , play games on and also pay at the end of a meal. The terminal will even give the payer the option of a printed receipt at the table, having the receipt either emailed or texted to them. They are quite commonplace. All credit cards are chip and pin as well as all major bank debit cards. At most Bank Atms , after the customer is finished making their transaction, they are asked if they want a printed receipt, no receipt or emailed receipt. All banks and credit card companies offer alert signup options for alerts to be emailed and/or texted to customers. i've had my atm card canceled automatically a few times over the years, most recently in fact, at the beginning of this year, when fraudulent activities have been detected or at the very least, restricted until I could attest to the fact I was the one that made the charges.
Never seen the table terminals in the US. Which chains in particular? (def not seen them in France)
We can deposit cheques online in Scotland
I never go to a bank, we can do everything online or through the banking app, also, you can ask for cashback at the register, but it's not automated on the machines
You mean in the US?
@@OuiInFrance ah no, Belgium, sorry 😅
Despite some hot days once and a while, I have never been motivated enough to purchase an AC unit. With climate change and all, it might be a good idea. Checks are so old fashioned and should have been phased out years ago but France and the U.S. have clung on to them. When I lived in Germany, nearly everything could be done with direct to banks bank transfers using IBAN numbers.
We don't use checks in Belgium anymore. Our most common way of paying bills is on line via bank apps, including taxes and parking tickets. Cash back does exist in Belgium, but being originally French I just don't think of it, I go to the ATM to withdraw cash.
You’ve just injured All lyonnais when saying that french tacos isn’t Good (me too i love it)
Great points, Diane. Oh how I miss Mexican food living in France!
Thank you! I will say that over the years, I've seen more and more Mexican stuff. Just last week, I found for the first time ever refried beans in a can!
So true about good Mexican food. A bit of a mystery considering how much food is valued.
Mexican restaurant in France is like a spanish restaurant in Burma. Of course it has nothing to do with the original food. Mexican people living in France are so scarce.
Cash back at stores is not something we do, even in Paris. We simply get cash at the atm if we need some.
Yep, I haven’t got notifications eighter. So many youtubers complain about this same thing. I don’t know what’s coses it🤔
In France you can drive without a license if you drive a sans permit vehicle, they are limited in max speed and max power among other things.
Yes but in this case it is a tiny car!
Yes, very. I am used to driving a small 2 seater, although not that small, but still for getting around town it seems like a viable option, and easy to park too.
bonjour I will be traveling to Montpellier in August because of your videos
Awesome, enjoy it!!
@@OuiInFrance merci
You can go to the Almería desert in Spain and it probably would be a shorter trip than the one you would do to visit a desert in the United States.
I always find it funny when Americans come to Spain and they want to eat tacos. That's American food!
Unless you were already in the US, that is
@@OuiInFrance IDK, depends where in the US!
In Corsica there is the "désert des Agriates", a desert more because of the number of people than because of the climate.
Pour le permis de conduire à 18 ans, je rappellerai simplement qu'on apprend pas à conduire sur des voitures automatiques qui sont plus faciles à conduire et sinon le plus proche qu'on a du désert il y a aussi "la mer de sable" c'est un parc d'attraction, le plus vieux en activité en France et destiné surtout aux familles avec de jeunes enfants de moins de 14 ans mais avec des thématiques et spectacles plutôt sympathiques. Le site repose sur une curiosité géologique, la mer stampienne qui laisse des traces d'îlots, de lagunes, de bancs de sable au coeur de la foret d'Ermenonville dans l'Oise. Le parc propose 3 univers : « Le désert de l'Arizona » avec sa dune, « Le canyon du Colorado » sur la conquête de l'Ouest et « La vallée du Mississippi ». J'y était allé petit et je crois me souvenir qu'on prenait un petit train à travers le "désert" qui se faisait attaquer par les indiens...
Cash back is common in Germany
Although it looks like SAW-NER-AN desert, it's actually pronounced with long O vowels and a short A vowel... SO-NO-RAN ;)
Super vidéo, comme d’habitude x
Rien à voir avec la banque, as-tu déjà fait une vidéo sur la bise en France ?
merci et oui: ua-cam.com/video/yjf-qw1OMrI/v-deo.html
I love French tacos 😂 meat , cheese and potatoes all wrapped together? All the way 😅
I do miss Mexican food. There was a restaurant in Rennes when we first moved there. We went and the food was delicious but quite spendy. We went back a second time with our son and he loved it as well. When we went back for a third time, the restaurant was closed.
awww bummer!
The most common "non french" restaurants are italian: the Italian and in general the mediterranean (also Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, north African, up to Asian mostly Vietnamese or Japanese) food is very popular in France...But yes mexican food is relatively rare here, the most known you can found is the "Chili con carne"
It's starting to have authentic mexican restaurants in France, but it's rare. And that's right, french tacos (facos ? it's so wrong to call this tacos, that we pronounce "tacos" by the way, not "taco" because it would sound like "tacot" which is an old and broken car), are awfull, I don't understand why we have this.