Say ‘Bonjour’ If You Live in Rural France.
If you live in France or are visiting France, in our neck of the Calvados woods, you have to say speak your best French and say ‘BONJOUR’
As you enter any French Establishment, turn to everyone and say ‘Bonjour’
We have a fantastic boulangerie in the village next to the farm. I go there each day it is open to get croissants and pain au chocolat for guys working on the farm. The lady who works there says ‘Bonjour Madame’ to me as I enter the shop, and she insists I speak French and reply ‘Bonjour Madame’ in return.
I have been in the shop when she has reprimanded a visiting Parisien which is hilarious.
I always say ‘Bonjour’ when entering any office, shop or establishment.
I had an appointment at Caen hospital one day, which is enormous. I had to take the elevator, and the whole population of the elevator, around 20 people, greeted me with ‘Bonjour’. I was told and I said ‘Bonjour’ back and ‘Au Revoir Mesdames et Messieurs’, on exit.
It is just polite. So, whilst on that topic, when in France, it is very important to try to speak French.
It Is Very Important To Try To Learn French If You Live In Rural France
Now you know that saying Bonjour Monsieur or Madame is important, don’t then say to the French ‘do you speak english?’.
That is not going to go down well
I once met a woman, on a flight back to the UK, who had lived in Nice for over 3 years. She boasted proudly that she did not speak a word of French. If you are looking at buying property in France you will find property people saying it is not necessary. But in my experience is that this is not the case. If you want to live in France, my advice would be that you have to learn to speak French.
I am so grateful to say that I have been lucky enough to live in France for 7 years now and the first thing I learnt was, nobody was going to speak English to me. My advice to you is that you have to make an effort and try to speak French.
At the very least understand the French, when they talk to you.
So, to start with, I really had to trust my gut whether this person in front of me, talking a million miles per hour, was a good person or a bad person. Was he/she having a laugh, or was he/she trying to help me? My gut instinct is precious and valuable, and even though I sometimes did not get the finer detail, that worked for a while.
To get better at understanding spoken French, I started to listen more to French TV and I used the subtitles. I avoided the news because I avoid the news. On French TV they seem to have many programmes where they just sit around a big round desk and talk endlessly. It is fascinating. Listening to them talk and watching the subtitles slowly permeated my brain. So I can understand much more now.
Now, until they use words like TONTO, which is a Normandie word that can be used for a multitude of reasons! Then I am lost!
And then with my new found confidence, I will speak, in French. And the audience in front of me will go quiet. And, they will say ‘qu’est-ce qu’elle dit?’ (What is she going on about?)
Now, I am grateful and I try my best to make sense when I talk in French. And, I am helped by having a team, that I work with, that is kind and passionate about their work. They are also patient with the Directrice (me) who is trying her very best to talk to them in their own language.
Also, remember this, there will be French people that are determined NOT to understand you when you speak French; even though you are trying your best and are probably making perfect sense. But you have to continue.
If you are in business, then that gives you the signal that these are people are probably to be avoided!
So, for a lovely life living in rural France, get learning French and say ‘Bonjour’ to everyone and start understanding and talking French. It will pay enormous dividends to you and yours.
Enjoy your life living in France.