eating habits essay in french

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France food culture: One of my favorite eating habits

on life in France

You don’t have to go to France to know that the French take mealtime seriously. From seeking out quality ingredients to cooking from scratch to long, leisurely Sunday lunches, French eating habits are no joke. One aspect of French culture that I’ve adapted to and admire is the fact that the French make it a priority to sit down and enjoy their meal whether it’s haute cuisine at a French restaurant or simple French cooking at home. Let me tell you why I’ve embraced French eating habits, especially this one.

French eating habits & France food culture

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I eat fast. It’s instinctive. I know that no one is going to steal my food, yet somehow I mimic my dog’s eating habits more than my French husband’s. I think I first started to pick up the pace while working in NYC. Rushed corporate lunches and tiny lunch breaks meant that eating was something I did on the fly and was more of a task and not a social occasion. I’d eat quickly before jetting off to the next thing.

After moving to France, I wanted to untrain myself of this bad habit and pick up the eating habits in France. What’s the rush? Why do we always have to be multitasking?

France has helped me slow down on all fronts. My life is simpler . I rarely have people to see or places to be. There’s no 6:02 a.m. Midtown Direct train to catch these days. At mealtime, I try to take time to enjoy my food. It’s the France food culture habit I love the most. Eat slowly. Eat simply. Enjoy.

Be present in the moment.

But before I get too into this post, let me point out that NOT all French people are star chefs who prepare their family’s daily meals from scratch. French people aren’t born with innate food knowledge and don’t know all about cheeses and wines like the back of their hand. Eating habits in France are learned.

I almost feel silly having to say that but sometimes people assume that France is some kind of utopia where its citizens do everything perfectly. No, that’s not the case. It depends on the person and their upbringing and interests.

French people DO eat McDonald’s and France’s frozen food store Picard is a favorite for a reason. Not everyone buys fresh produce at the marché for homemade French meals. Not all French people have long, drawn-out meals made from the healthiest ingredients. Check out what the French eat for breakfast .

To a degree, that idealistic mealtime notion from days past has faded from view in recent years. French food culture is changing.

Overall, the French prioritize mealtime and quality food which ties into the eating habits in France overall, but there are exceptions. Sometimes it’s necessary to eat on the go. I’m careful on my blog to not idealize French culture to the point of being ridiculous .

The French are not perfect — no one is, right? — so to put all French things up on a pedestal for the sole fact that it’s French would be bizarre. But when it comes to French meals and eating, I do feel the French get a lot right.

That’s not to say Americans get everything wrong. I’m not saying that at all and French food habits aren’t superior to all the rest. It’s not so black and white. Many Americans prepare healthy food and make mealtime a priority. It’s just that in France, I feel it’s more widespread and ingrained in the culture. It’s less about what the individual decides to cook and more about what the society does as a whole.

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In France, the importance of a proper sit-down meal is still alive and well for the most part. The proof is in the culture.

Take, for example, the following points about French eating habits and French food culture

Facts that affect French eating habits:

• Stores close at lunchtime and tend to close earlier in the evening than stores in the USA. This allows employees to spend mealtime at home with their families, if they so choose.
• Many stores are closed on Sundays, especially in small towns. There’s no option to pick up overtime hours if the store isn’t even open! This allows for downtown with family or to just relax.
• School-age children have time to enjoy their lunch at school. At my high school, my lunch break was barely 30 minutes long. French kids get well over an hour (or even 2) for lunch. Schools have cafeterias that prepare wholesome food.
• Fewer fast food places and prepackaged food options in general (though this is changing)
• Employers often encourage a “true” lunch break for employees. That’s not to say that NO French people have a rushed lunch at their desk, but the overall mindset is that lunch is to be enjoyed.
• Dinnertime tends to be later in the evening, at least by American standards, and there aren’t as many extracurricular activities for kids after dinner and stores tend to be closed, so there’s time to unwind/not as much to do after dinner outside the home.

I think in our fast-paced American society, it’s been drilled into our heads that we need to be productive and constantly achieving. Achieving what? I don’t know. We’re made to think that we should be doing something and we shouldn’t waste time. Because of that, mealtime goes by the wayside and is often an afterthought as we move through our day, crossing tasks off our to-do lists.

Maybe mealtime should be more of a focus, even on days when we’re busy and our minds are racing a mile a minute. In France, mealtime is the main event. The act of sitting down to a meal forces us to take a mental time out and change gears. It forces us to focus on those around us. It makes us appreciate the simple things in life like the taste of the food before us.

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From a health perspective, it’s proven that eating slower is better for digestion and to stave off weight gain. Also, when you eat a leisurely meal, your body has time to register when it’s full. It takes about 20 minutes for your mind to tell your stomach that you’re satiated. Eating more slowly prevents overeating.

So have French food habits rubbed off on me? Have I learned to slow down in France  and enjoy my meals? Has French food culture caused me to change my ways?

I’ve definitely made progress and that’s a step in the right direction. I think it’s important to take stock of what’s important to you in life and then do your best to honor those things and live your life accordingly.

Not everyone is going to want to eat long/leisurely meals at the table all the time and that’s fine. Other times, if we aren’t in a rush, why not slow down and take the time to savor a moment with family and good food?

We’re all different and live unique lives. Learning how other cultures do mealtime might spark something within us and change our habits for the better . I’m on my way to nailing those French eating habits…. 

Have French eating habits and French food culture caused you to re-evaluate how you cook and/or eat?

P.S. No, you won’t get fat in France !

P.P.S. Are you craving French food in the U.S.? myPanier is your one-stop shop. Check out my review of this online French grocery store .

For more info on French culture topics, click over to this giant French culture roundup post !

PIN my eating habits in France post:

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October 29, 2018 at 6:37 pm

Living in a French village definitely made me a better cook because I have zero takeout options and the nearest supermarket is 20 minutes’ drive away (and has French hours–9 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Sundays). Also, for many years, both my husband and my kid came home for lunch. As you say, the entire culture elevates mealtimes and cooking and thus it’s easier to fall in line. And the same with taking time for meals. At least here in France profonde, your table at a restaurant is your table for the night. No turnover. Take your time. Stay as long as you want.

November 3, 2018 at 7:57 pm

Oh man, the closest supermarket is that far? I don’t think I could ever get used to that. I’m spoiled and have a supermarket a short walk away.

October 29, 2018 at 10:32 pm

I definitely kept my French eating habits, good and bad. Food was probably the main culture shock I had in Canada–not so much because it’s strange and exotic, but because people eat anywhere, anytime and they don’t seem to *care* about what they eat (or when they do, it’s extreme, like all these special diets).

November 3, 2018 at 7:59 pm

Yes, there’s definitely a 24/7 food culture. The availability of food is both good and bad. France brings it back to basics, keeps it simple. I like that.

October 29, 2018 at 11:22 pm

A 1 or 2 hour lunch break for school children is awesome here in Aus it is usually 40 minutes for lunch in high school and 30 minutes in primary so rushing through a meal is often learnt early on. My eldest daughter is often nagging her girls to hurry up and eat.

November 3, 2018 at 8:00 pm

Aww, seems like Australia is more like the US when it comes to mealtime!

March 8, 2024 at 9:13 am

Let me add a clarification: lunch break is 2 hours long, that’s true (typically 11.30am – 1.30pm), but real meal time is much shorter. Especially in urban areas, French primary school canteens are often too small to accommodate all the pupils at the same time. Pupils are welcomed in groups one after the other, which sometimes results in meal times of only… 30 minutes. For sure it’s a pity!

October 31, 2018 at 11:42 pm

I love this! And I love how you made a point that not all French people do mealtime the same way. The overall sentiment is different in France though, and that’s what I love about french culture. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it!

November 3, 2018 at 8:03 pm

Thanks for reading, Erica! It’s so true about not all people doing things the same way and a misconception I put to rest all the time. It’s nuts to me that the media can portray the French a certain way and then people who haven’t experienced the culture think all French people are amazing cooks, knowledgeable about all types of cheese, etc. It’s both good and bad. Bon week-end !

November 1, 2018 at 2:30 pm

Quite a few things changed when we moved to Rennes. My husband started eating dairy again was a big one. Now he LOVES the cheese here. I am not working, so I have the time to shop and to cook a nice meal on a daily basis. As someone else said, there are not a lot of take out options! I also love not being rushed at a restaurant. We tend to go out on Friday night and have found some real gems. One of the biggest things for me is the change in what I like. I got quite brave and tried some new foods when we got here. Some I liked and some I didn’t. I then started trying things I never liked in the US but love here. It’s become rather a joke between me and my husband.

November 3, 2018 at 8:05 pm

Speaking of takeout, I was SO happy when I recently saw that Perpignan was serviced by UBEReats. When I was down there for work, it was a lifesaver to have great healthy food delivered right to the conference center. I also saw Deliveroo and others in Toulouse, so maybe more takeout options will come to Rennes soon. I like options. 😉 That’s awesome you’ve found some nice restaurants by you. It’s all about discovery.

November 3, 2018 at 7:38 pm

You’re right in saying that not all French are “perfect” when it comes to mealtime. I’m French and I lived in Minnesota for a year, in two different host families. My first host mom made healthier, more balanced meals than my own parents! However, we do take our time and love eating. In Minnesota, I was an intern in a middle school and I remember with pain having to eat lunch in 20 minutes – in very odd hours, too: my lunch was from 10:52 to 11:15 or something! I teach English in a middle school in France now, and we all have an hour and twenty minutes to eat lunch. The kids have a little less time because they have to wait in line at the cantine, but it’s still way more than in the USA!

November 3, 2018 at 8:09 pm

Hi Morgane, yes exactly. As I mentioned my reply to Erica above, it’s crazy that some people really do think all French people are experts on food and great cooks. The short school lunch periods are horrible. I remember having 26 minutes in high school and if you were the first lunch period (there were 3), “lunch” was at like 10:30 or something silly like that. How do you like teaching English in France? Do the kids enjoy themselves and take it seriously?

November 6, 2018 at 5:58 pm

I am spending only 2 days in Caen with a UK friend in December, I am a real foodie & lovevgreat red wine & cheese with good hearty wholesome meals. Are there any restaurant, bistro, cafe chains that are particularly Good? unless someone is familiar with Caen restaraunts . Not too high a budget as my friend is not a foodie . Thank you so much xxxxxx

November 6, 2018 at 6:38 pm

Hi there, I’ve never been there but I have to say that trip advisor recommendations are usually pretty good so have a look in case no one replies. Have a great trip! Enjoy!

January 21, 2019 at 6:10 pm

One of my very favorite things about French culture. Once, when visiting about 15 years ago, my sister became ill. No option for tea where we were staying, so I began my quest. To Go was not a thing. I was told, “Sit. There is time.” I explained the problem and ended up bringing her a bowl of tea … no cups To Go … a complimentary pastry, and some sincere wishes for her swift recovery. My husband remains dubious, but this is one of my very favorite things about French Culture.

February 23, 2020 at 6:49 pm

I love the “Sit. There is time”reply! which I can’t imagine hearing in the U.S.! A friend and I met up in London and took the train to Marseille and then back up to Paris. Every restaurant was such a wonderful experience, including when we showed up at 7pm without a dinner reservation–in the Marais! LOL! It was a very small restaurant but the owner and his wife were absolutely delightful and offered us an early seat (of course no one else was there!), including bringing us a bottle of wine to enjoy while we waited. We offered to come back later but they insisted we stay as it was no problem. We spoke no French at all and were so thankful they had no trouble understanding us. Also, we were amused as we sat there watching as the restaurant started to fill up around 8pm. I’m so anxious to go back!

August 15, 2021 at 5:14 pm

I have not been to France but I loved dinner time in Argentina (BAs) … starts from 9.30pm and it is never rushed. While on holiday we ate late, walked for an hour or two, then stopped for a snack before walking home to bed. If only every food culture was so relaxed it would be such a happy world!!

August 15, 2021 at 5:18 pm

Oh, and stopping for a snack means sitting in a cafe having coffee and empanada at 3-4am … just blissful!

August 15, 2021 at 5:21 pm

April 18, 2024 at 5:07 pm

When I was growing up during the 60s and 70s in Mobile, AL, the downtown office and construction workers had a 2 hour lunch. It may have been because we were in the subtropics and some places had no air conditioning but it was common. My father would come home for lunch after which he would take a nap. His lunch was usually a hot meal perhaps warmed up from the previous night’s dinner.

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Of course, this is the subject we will be talking about at Ohlala French Coffee , so if you want to talk and share your eating habits and those of your country, you can join us in this conversation group in French.

The eating habits of the French :

Eating = pleasure.

If you've ever been to France or if you've been there, you've probably noticed that we have a very particular philosophy regarding the action of eating.

The French don't eat to feed themselves, but to please themselves. We like to eat well, we like to have flavors, aromas and taste. Food in France is an art. It is a pleasure to eat, but it is also a pleasure to eat with others.

Eating in France is something very social that brings people together. When you organize meals in France with family and/or friends, it can last for hours. We take our time, we eat, we talk, we laugh, we enjoy this time together to eat.

No (or little) snacking!

Snacking is eating outside of meals. In France, most of us are quite disciplined.

We have fixed meal times between 7 and 10 am for breakfast, between 12 and 2 pm for lunch and between 7 and 8 pm (sometimes 9 pm in the summer) for dinner.

Then, it happens, around 4 pm that we eat a snack or a snack, often a fruit or a cereal bar to last until dinner.

Breakfast is the most important meal

We often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and the French have understood this.

We are careful not to start the day on an empty stomach.

So, no, we do not eat croissants and pain au chocolat every morning, from time to time, but not every day.

Most French people like to eat toast in the morning with butter, jam or spread. They drink tea or coffee and also orange juice.

The doggy bag is not very trendy in France

It's pretty sad, but it's true. The doggy bag has had a hard time making a place for itself in France.

First, because in France the portions are smaller than in some countries, so it's rarer not to finish your plate.

And, it's a bit badly seen not to finish your plate in a restaurant. The chef can be offended. So, we do it, of course, we won't force ourselves to eat if we are not hungry anymore. But, we learn from very small to finish our plate, it is important.

Don't worry though, if you are in a French restaurant, and you can't manage to finish your plate, don't force yourself. Moreover, you are perfectly within your rights to ask for a doggy bag. All French restaurants are obliged to offer this service.

Eating organic and local

If French food is so good, it is mainly because we are very careful about the food we use.

Most French people try to eat organic and local food. It's more expensive indeed, but French people prefer to pay a little more in order to have better quality and "made in France" products.

Well, we are not perfect either, we sometimes eat processed or already prepared products. But, we can see in supermarkets, for example, shelves with "organic products" and "local products".

Terroir being what belongs to the region. The French like to buy products from their region.

More water than wine!

Are you surprised?

Yes, we sometimes drink water and mostly during meals.

The French are still the biggest wine consumers in the world, so yes, they drink a lot of wine. But, it is still in reasonable quantities, let's say a glass or two during dinner.

Of course, if it's a family meal or a meal with friends, the consumption of alcohol will be higher.

A fruit rather than a pastry

There are some excellent French pastries, but it's the same: you don't eat them at every meal.

Usually, as a dessert, the French will eat a yogurt or a fruit rather than a pastry. These are reserved for special occasions.

Some bad habits

Yes, the French, like everyone else, have some bad eating habits due, in particular, to the reality of everyday life and the society in which we live.

Even if yes, the French take the time to eat, this time given to the meal decreases every year.

. We then let ourselves be tempted by already prepared products which are often bad for our health.

In their eating habits, the French consume too much fat, sugar, salt, soda and alcohol.

And they do not eat enough starchy foods, fruit, vegetables, pulses and water.

Vocabulary of eating habits :

• A fixed time
• Having an empty stomach

• Eating organic
• Eating Local
• A prepared dish
• A local product

Now it's your turn to tell me what are the eating habits in your country, write it down in comment!

See you soon for new adventures, in French of course! 🇫🇷

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French Lessons

Manger sain : eating healthy in france.

The beginning of a new year is a perfect time for starting afresh and making resolutions. For many French people, it’s an opportunity to try manger plus sain (eating healthier). Although France is known for its great cuisine and good dietary habits, French people are still interested in improving their diet. Let’s find out about eating well and discover the language of healthy eating in France.

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Access to une nourriture saine (a healthy diet) is not only desirable, but it is a human right that every child should have, according to the United Nations'  Convention on the Rights of the Child :

Tu dois pouvoir bénéficier d' une alimentation suffisante, saine et équilibrée You must be able to receive adequate, healthy, and balanced nutrition Caption 20, Marie et Sakhoura Droits des enfants   Play Caption

Part of a healthy diet involves eating and drinking avec modération (in moderation):

Un petit peu de vin rouge... très sympa, donc on va aller juste à côté... -À boire bien sûr avec modération . A little bit of red wine... very nice, so we'll just go next door... -To drink in moderation , of course. Caption 31, Cap 24 Paris 2ème : Alessandro joue le Pique-assiette!   Play Caption

Not only is it necessary to pay attention to quantity, but also to quality. For some, that means changing habitudes alimentaires (dietary habits) and manger bio (eating organic). (The word bio , short for biologique , can mean “organic” or “biological” depending on context.)

Manger bio , c'est vraiment changer ses habitudes alimentaires . Eating organic is really about changing one's dietary habits . Caption 19, Alsace 20 Pourquoi le bio est-il plus cher?   Play Caption

Manger bio  requires choosing des produits bio (organic products) over produits conventionnels (conventional products):

Donc vous allez être pas seulement dans le fait que "Je me fais plaisir en achetant des produits bio et je remplace les produits conventionnels " So you're not only considering the fact that "I feel good about myself when I buy organic products and I replace conventional products " Captions 34-35, Alsace 20 Pourquoi le bio est-il plus cher?   Play Caption

Health food advocates recommend increasing one’s consumption of céréales complètes (whole grains), like the ones listed below, to achieve un équilibre alimentaire (dietary balance):

Donc on va revoir son équilibre alimentaire avec davantage de céréales , complètes , avec des légumineuses So we're going to check again the balance of our diet with more grains, whole grains , with legumes Captions 37-38, Alsace 20 Pourquoi le bio est-il plus cher?   Play Caption

They also recommend reducing la consommation de viande (meat consumption):

Réduire sa consommation de viande hebdomadaire Reducing your weekly consumption of meat Caption 41, Alsace 20 Pourquoi le bio est-il plus cher?   Play Caption

French people are now embracing la culture végane (vegan culture). According to Amal and Caroline, there has been a big shift in attitude toward meat. They explain that the Parc de la Villette, which used to be the site of a slaughterhouse, is now the site of a vegan festival held every year:

C'est le lieu de rencontre des festivals qui prônent la culture végane It's the meeting place for festivals that promote vegan culture Captions 82-83, Amal et Caroline Le Parc de la Villette   Play Caption

Not everyone is prepared to become vegan, but many are willing to reach a compromise. In the video below, Lionel cooks a delicious “dual” pizza with une partie végétarienne (a vegetarian part) and a part with meat, and he stresses that it is made entirely with produits naturels (natural products):

Alors je précise que... elle est faite complètement à partir de produits naturels . So I'd like to point out that... it is made entirely from natural products . Captions 14-15, Claude et Lionel La pizza   Play Caption

On en a fait deux parties : une partie végétarienne et puis une partie avec des lardons et du jambon. We made two parts: a vegetarian part and then a part with bacon cubes and ham. Captions 38-40, Claude et Lionel La pizza   Play Caption

Being human, we compromise and are prone to forget our resolutions and give in to temptation. In the following video, Lionel was enticed by a delicious barbecue and decided to reporter son régime (postpone his diet) for now:

Je ne sais pas. Ils feront du barbecue. Je crois que je vais reporter mon régime . I don't know. They will be having a barbecue. I think that I am going to postpone my diet . Caption 35, Lionel et Chantal "Faire barbecue"   Play Caption

To help you to digérer (digest) this information, here is a summary of the vocabulary from this lesson:

manger sain : to eat  healthy

consommer en moderation : t o consume in moderation

la consommation de viande : m eat consumption

une alimentation saine et équilibrée : h ealthy and balanced nutrition

les habitudes alimentaires : d ietary habits

un régime :  a diet

végan (masculine), végane (feminine):  vegan

végétarien (m.), végétarienne (f.):  vegetarian

les produits bio(logiques) :  organic products

les produits conventionnels : c onventional products

les céréales complètes : whole grains

Whatever your dietary preferences may be, Yabla has a wealth of food-related videos to help you achieve un mode de vie sain (a healthy lifestyle). You may also like to get A Free Sampling of French Food and Drink Words . Please stay tuned for our next lesson on what a bad diet looks like in French!

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French Food Vocabulary: Talking About Cooking and Eating in France

• Brian J. Donovan
• Categories : Learning french study guides & speaking tips
• Tags : Homework help & study guides

Mmm… French Cuisine

When it comes to French culture surrounding food, one thing that will probably never go away is the idea that a meal with family and friends is still very much a social event, and it’s got to happen as often as possible. And there’ll probably always be bread! As the world gets more modern and people get busier, though, daily life has forced eating habits to change in some ways.

Getting the family together for a regular meal is still a must for many families. It just may not be when it used to be…

Traditionally, in France, lunch was the largest and longest meal of the day, and just about everyone left work or school to go home for a lunch “en famille.” This was a time for eating, relaxing, socializing and getting ready to head back to work! Businesses even closed up for a couple of hours. Now, not as many people can get home for lunch, and some choose to continue working so they can get home earlier at the end of the day. This would make dinner the more important meal for them.

“Le fast food” and prepared/frozen meals have also become a part of modern life in France. And it’s not just “MacDo,” but French chains, as well. It doesn’t seem to be as much of a choice as in the States, but it’s there.

Now, here’s some of what you need to talk about food.

I. The Partitive Article

The partitive article is used a lot for talking about food. It’s the combination of the preposition “de” with the definite articles “le (l’), la (l’), les.” The partitive article is for an unknown amount or quantity, sometimes translated as “some.”

Its important to remember that de+le=du and de+les=des, but you don’t combine de+l’ or de+la.

Je voudrais du café. I would like (some) coffee.

Il veut de la crème. He wants (some) cream.

Roger veut des croissants. Roger wants (some) croissants.

This doesn’t mean you can’t use anything else. For example, to be more specific, if you’d like “the milk,” you can ask for “le lait.” Or, if you want two of something, you would use the number (deux croissants) instead of the definite or partitive article.

II. Expressions of Quantity

Apart from the partitive article, you may want to also learn expressions of quantity. The important thing to remember is that you use the preposition “de” after them (or d’ if going into a vowel/vowel sound).

Je voudrais une tasse de thé. I would like a cup of tea.

Il a une bouteille d’eau. He has a bottle of water.

Marc va boire un peu de café. Mark is going to drink a little coffee.

III. Likes and Dislikes

The French use the definite articles (le (l’), la (l’), les) for general likes and dislikes, where we drop them in English. Remember, here we’re speaking about liking something in general, as in “pasta” or “cheese.” In more specific cases, the definite article can translate as “the.” (Sophie doesn’t like the cheese that Mark bought.)

J’aime la pizza/le fromage. I like pizza/cheese.

Marie adore les pâtes. Marie loves pasta.

Marc déteste les oignons. Mark hates onions.

IV. Vocabulary for Food

Obviously, you’ll need to learn all the basic vocabulary for talking about food, and it may take some time—especially all the different fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, condiments, drinks, preparations… Start with what you like and don’t like, with your own personal experience, then branch out from there, so it’s not so overwhelming.

If you have allergies, you should definitely learn everything you need to know about that in French ( Je suis allergique aux noix. (I’m allergic to nuts.) Je ne peux pas manger de gluten. (I can’t eat gluten.)) and so on. You often use the preposition “à” plus the definite articles (le, la, les) with allergies.

When it comes to French cuisine (la cuisine française), some classics will never go away, so you’ll probably learn vocabulary for French dishes that have been around since forever!

One key to knowing about French cooking is to learn what all the preparation names mean. For example, “bourguignon” usually means a wine sauce—typically a Burgundy or other type of red wine. Also, a classic “Salade Niçoise” will have certain ingredients in it that you won’t find in all salads. Some of the travel phrase books you’ll see have a nice food section to help you with all that—especially French menus!

A. La Nourriture/Food

Some examples:

1. manger: to eat // avoir faim = to be hungry. J’ai faim. Vous avez faim ? // grignoter = to snack in-between meals

2. les repas (m): le petit déjeuner, le déjeuner, le dîner // Québec : le déjeuner, le dîner, le souper // un apéritif (cocktail), l’entrée (o)(appetizer), le plat principal (main dish), le dessert, un digestif (after dinner drink) // le goûter (snack) // la cuisine (cooking, kitchen), la salle à manger (dining room), un café, un restaurant

3. la table: mettre la table (to set the table), la fourchette (fork), la cuillère (spoon), le couteau (knife), un verre (glass), une tasse (cup), un bol, une assiette (plate), une serviette [de table] (napkin), une nappe (tablecloth), un napperon (place mat) // faire la vaisselle (to do the dishes)

B. Fruits & Vegetables

1. les fruits (m): une pomme (apple), une orange, une banane, une poire (pear), une cerise (cherry), une fraise (strawberry), une prune (plum), une pastèque (watermelon), une pêche (peach), une myrtille (blueberry), un ananas (pineapple), un pamplemousse (grapefruit), un abricot (apricot), un citron (lemon), un citron vert (lime), un raisin (grape) (a raisin = un raisin sec)

2. les légumes (m): une tomate, la laitue (lettuce), une carotte, une pomme de terre (potato), les asperges (f) (asparagus), une aubergine (eggplant), un oignon, le brocoli, un artichaut, les épinards (m) (spinach), le chou-fleur (cauliflower), les petit pois (m) (peas), le maïs (corn), le radis (radish), un haricot vert (green bean), le champignon (mushroom), le céleri

C. La Viande/Meat

1. les viandes: le poulet (chicken), le porc, le rosbif, le jambon (ham), le bifteck (steak), l’agneau (m) (lamb), le lapin (rabbit), le veau (veal), le saucisson (sausage), la dinde (turkey)

• les préparations: bleu/saignant (very rare), mi- saignant (rare), à point (medium rare), bien cuit (well done)

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20+ Easy Ways To Describe Your Daily Routine In French With Vocabulary & Example

• Post author: Elijah Logan
• Post last modified: August 21, 2024
• Post category: French Vocabulary / Popular Reviews

Are you struggling to describe your daily routine in French? If yes, then this article is for you.

Interaction with others is something you cannot avoid. As a French learner, there will be times when you will be required to make small talk or engage in entire conversations with others.

One of the most common things people ask while talking to others is their day and daily lifestyle or routine.

The lexicon of everyday activities is quite crucial in French. Thus you must boost your daily routine vocabulary to learn how to describe your routine, and what French daily life looks like.

To help you learn better, we have explained each part with practice examples.

So, let us begin and help you write your daily routine essay in French for everyday practice.

10 phrases sur la routine quotidienne en français. – 10 phrases about the daily routine in French.

• Je me réveille tous les matins à 6h00. – I wake up every morning at 6:00 a.m.
• Je me lave le visage et je vais me promener dans le jardin et faire du jogging. – I wash my face and go for a walk in the garden and jogging.
• Je rentre à la maison, je me douche et je me prépare pour l’école. – I come home, shower and get ready for school.
• Après le petit déjeuner, je pars pour l’école à 8h30. – After breakfast, I leave for school at 8:30 am.
• Je change de vêtements en rentrant de l’école à 14h. – I change my clothes when I get home from school at 2 p.m.
• Puis, après avoir mangé, je me repose un moment. – Then, after eating, I rest for a while.
• Je me lève à 16h00 pour faire mes devoirs. – I get up at 4:00 p.m. to do my.
• À 17 heures. Je sors jouer au foot. – At 5 p.m. I go out to play football.
• J’étudie régulièrement pendant 2 heures après être rentré à la maison. – I study regularly for 2 hours after coming home.
• Le soir, je dîne avec tous les membres de la famille devant la télé et à 22h00 Je fais mon lit et je m’endors. – In the evening, I have dinner with all the members of the family in front of the TV and at 10:00 p.m. I make my bed and fall asleep.

Avantages de suivre une routine quotidienne : Benefits of following a daily routine

• La routine quotidienne nous aide à travailler sur notre objectif et à l’atteindre. – The daily routine helps us work on our goal and achieve it.
• Nous évitons la procrastination. – We avoid procrastination.
• Nous apprenons quel travail est important pour nous et quel travail n’est pas important pour nous. – We learn which work is important to us and which work is not important to us.
• Nous obtenons une idée sur la façon de passer toute notre journée. – We get an idea of how to spend our whole day.
• Suivre une routine quotidienne nous permet de travailler avec une plus grande efficacité. – Following a daily routine allows us to work with greater efficiency.
• Notre confiance augmente. – Our confidence increases.
• La routine quotidienne nous fait gagner un temps précieux. – The daily routine saves us precious time.
• Notre stress est réduit. – Our stress is reduced.

Also Check: Mastering French Numbers 0 to 100

Table of Contents

What Does The French Lifestyle Looks Like?

Like what is generally shown in movies and television series, ordinary French people are not always riding away on their bicycles with a baguette under their arm.

The average lifestyle of France is not as stereotypical as Hollywood has made us believe with its portrayal of daily routine in French essays.

In France, most people work on the weekdays for only up to 35 hours which is mandated by French laws. The weekends are official to relax, plus there are plenty of holidays & vacation days to take advantage of.

This perfect balance between life & work provides an excellent opportunity for the natives to explore hobbies & personal growth.

Average Daily Life in France – Look At Their Lifestyle

Every country has its own daily routine that is followed by most citizens.

In France, adults & school-going children usually wake up by 7:00 in the morning. They can properly work on their morning routine to reach their schools & offices by 8:30 AM.

Suggestion: Read 5 Short Stories Written In French To Kick-Start Your Language Skills.

Like most countries, a typical workday in France begins at 9:00 AM. But unlike most countries, its lunch break can last up to two hours.

And the day usually ends around 6:00 PM. The remaining evening hours are spent relaxing and doing favorite activities.

Most French people typically have their dinner between 7 & 8 PM with the entire family. The weekends are all for family. People like to spend quality time with their family & friends.

People can finally relax on their days off because of French law called “Right To Disconnect,” which prohibits employees from reading work emails.

Thus you can see how well managed an average day is in France and how well people can handle their personal & professional life.

Explore Easy Breakage of Daily Routine In French In 3 Different Parts

The daily routine is an integral part of our life. It provides stability & comfort, allowing us to better manage our daily obligations and maximize time for personal activities.

Also Check: Learn Color Vocabulary in French with Examples of Color Usage

A day filled with proper rhythm & activities is not just limited to the morning. People do different daily activities, which is valid for French people.

In France, daily routine can vary depending on various factors, including age, profession, place of residence, and personal preferences.

Thus to help you understand better, below, we have divided the daily routine in French using reflexive verbs & examples into three parts: morning, midday, and evening.

1. Morning Routine/Activities With French Examples

Our mornings are filled with several activities, from waking up to getting ready for school, college, or work.

One of the crucial things you will notice while learning & practicing the French daily morning routine vocabulary is that it contains many reflexive verbs.

Don’t Miss To Checkout: Explore the 9 Most Beautiful Ways to Say Good Luck in French Language .

The reason is that your daily activities are described by you, making you both the subject and object for the verb.

Check out the most common morning routine vocabulary you must know:

• To Wake Up – Se réveiller
• To Get Up – Se lever
• Early – Tôt, / De bonne heure
• Late – Tard
• To Sleep – Dormir
• To Sleep In – Faire La Grasse Matinée
• To Be Early – Être en avance
• To Hurry, Rush – Se dépêcher
• To Wash Yourself – Se laver
• To Take A Shower – Prendre une Douche / Se doucher
• To Brush Your Teeth – Se brosser / Laver les dents
• To Put On Makeup – Se maquiller
• To Get Dressed – S’habiller
• To Change Clothes – Se changer
• To Put On Your Shoes – mettre ses chaussures
• To Have A Coffee – Prendre Un café
• To Have Breakfast – Prendre Le Petit-Déjeuner
• I wake up at 7 am – Je me lève à sept heures
• I exercise for half hour and then take my shower- Je fais du sport pendant une demi-heure puis je prends une douche.
• I get dressed and put on my makeup- Je m’habille et je me maquille.
• I take a shower before having breakfast- Je prends une douche avant le petit-déjeuner.
• I have a coffee and I hurry to my office- Je prends un café et je me dépêche d’aller à mon bureau.

2. Midday Routine/Activities In French Paragraph

If you wish to describe your daily routine in French correctly, you need to learn about the different parts of the day in French.

Following your morning routine, the next one is the midday routine. It is the time that most people spend outside the house. Some of you are in our schools or colleges, while others are working hard at your jobs.

This particular time of the day concludes everything you do, from leaving the house to returning to it.

When describing your afternoon activities, you mostly build the sentence stating you are going somewhere, eating something, taking a mode of transportation, doing an activity & more.

Check out the most common afternoon everyday vocabulary you must know:

• To Leave The House – Partir de la maison
• The Metro- Le métro
• The Bus- Le bus
• The Car- La Voiture
• The Train- Le train
• To Drive – Conduire
• To Work – Au Travail
• To The Office- Au Bureau
• To School – À L’école
• To The Library – À La Bibliothèque
• To The Gym – À La Salle De Spor
• To The Café – au Café
• To A Restaurant – Au Restaurant
• To A Friend’s House – Chez un/une ami(e)
• To The Doctor – Chez Le Médecin
• To The Dentist – Chez Le Dentiste
• To Have Lunch – Déjeuner
• To Work – Travailler
• To Study – Étudier
• To Go Grocery Shopping, Run Errands – Faire Les Courses
• To Go To The Market – Aller Au Marché
• I have lunch with my friends – Je déjeune avec mes copains.
• I take the bus to work- Je prends le bus pour aller au travail.
• I have a meeting with my clients- J’ai un rendez-vous avec mes clients.
• I go grocery shopping after work – Je vais faire les courses après le travail.
• I go to the gym after work – Je vais à la salle de sport après le travail.

3. Evening/Late-Afternoon Routine Activities

The evening or late afternoon activities describe everything you do, from when you leave school or work to when you go to bed.

Related: How to Say ‘What?’ in French : 7 Easy Phrases You Need to Know.

Below you will find some words that have the same meanings. Thus you can use them as a synonym.

For example, the verbs rentrer, revenir, and retourner all mean to return (mainly home) and thus can be used synonymously.

Check out the most common evening everyday vocabulary you must know:

• To Come Home – Rentrer/Revenir/Retourner À La Maison
• To Prepare A Meal – Préparer Un Repas
• To Have Dinner – Dîner
• To Cook – Faire La Cuisine/cuisiner
• To Set The Table – Mettre La Table
• To Serve The Meal – Servir Le Repas
• To Clear The Table – Débarasser La Table
• To Do The Dishes – Faire La Vaisselle
• To Do The Laundry- Faire La Lessive
• To Iron – Repasser
• To Do Household Chores – Faire Le Ménage
• To Clean – Nettoyer
• To Sweep – Balayer
• To Relax – Se Reposer, Se Détendre
• To Take A Nap – Faire Une Sieste
• A Novel- un roman
• A Newspaper- Le Journal
• To Music- De La Musique
• To The Radio- La Radio
• To Watch Tv – Regarder La Télévision
• To Go To Bed – Aller Au Lit
• To Go To Bed – Se Coucher
• To Fall Asleep – S’endormir
• I go home – Je retourne/rentre à la maison/rentre chez moi
• I rest a bit- Je me repose un peu.
• I watch TV – Je regarde la télé.
• I make dinner – Je prepare le diner.
• I do household chores – Je fais le ménage.
• I take a warm shower – Je prends une douche chaude.
• I go to bed at 10pm – Je me couche à vingt-deux heures.

What Does The Daily Routine Of French Students Look Like?

If you want to understand the true importance of everyday activities for French people, you can do it well by exploring daily routines in French examples.

Life of students is almost similar on every continent. The early mornings, back-to-back classes, a lunch break, a little hangout with friends, doing some errands & activities, spending time with family, dinner, & to bed.

Also Read: Explore 100+ Happy Birthday Wishes In French For Every Person .

Thus, if you want to learn to describe your or my daily routine in french for students, all you need to do is break down your tasks of the day and then put them together in a paragraph.

To help you learn better, we have an example of the daily routine of most French students that can help you understand better.

Here is a daily routine of a French student:

• Wake up early in the morning – Se réveiller tôt le matin
• Take a shower or bath – Prendre une douche ou un bain
• Brush teeth and hair – Se brosser les dents et les cheveux
• Get dressed for the day – S’habiller pour la journée
• Have breakfast, such as bread with jam, coffee or tea – Prendre son petit-déjeuner, par exemple du pain avec de la confiture, du café ou du thé.
• Go to school or university – Aller à l’école ou à l’université
• Lunch at noon, usually a hot meal- Déjeuner à midi, généralement un repas chaud
• Return to classes- Retourner en classe
• Running errands or other personal activities – Faire des courses ou d’autresactivités personnelles
• Dinner with family or friends, often lighter than lunch- Dîner en famille ou avec des amis, souvent plus léger que le déjeuner.
• Watching television, reading a book or spending time with loved ones- Regarder la télévision, lire un livre ou passer du temps avec des proches.
• Going to bed early to rest before the next day.- Se coucher tôt pour se reposer avant le lendemain.

Of course, this routine can vary depending on personal preferences and daily obligations.

Daily Routine In French Paragraphs Using Reflexive Verbs

Now that you know what a day in a French student’s life looks like, you can easily comprehend your life in the French language.

Also Check: Easy French Short Stories – Improve French Listening & Speaking Skills

Below is a paragraph explaining a student’s whole day’s activity, from waking up to going to bed.  We have an example in both English & French for you to compare & understand the words’ usage & meaning.

I wake up around 6 in the morning. I jog for about half an hour and then hop into the shower. 

After showering, I get ready for school or university. Proper dressing and good makeup are a must.

I eat a healthy breakfast with my family, which is generally cooked by my mother. I leave the house at 8 and take an 8:30 AM bus to reach my destination.

There are lectures all day, and in my free time, I eat lunch and practice my guitar skills.

After school, I hang out with friends for an hour or two and make sure I get home by 7.

As soon as I reach home, I take a warm shower to get rid of the day’s tiredness. Then I help my mom in the kitchen, and we always have dinner around 8 PM.

After that, I focus my attention on studying and usually go to sleep around 1 AM.

Je me reveille vers 6 heures du matin. Je fais du jogging pendant environ une demi-heure, puis je prends une douche. 

Après la douche, je me prépare pour l’école ou l’université. Une tenue correcte et un bon maquillage sont indispensables.

Je prends un petit-déjeuner sain avec ma famille, généralement préparé par ma mère. Je quitte la maison à 8 heures et monte dans le bus de 8h30 pour me rendre à ma destination.

Il y a des cours toute la journée, et pendant mon temps libre, je déjeune et je m’entraîne à la guitare.

Après l’école, je passe une heure ou deux avec des amis et je m’assure de rentrer à la maison à 19 heures.

Dès que j’arrive à la maison, je prends une douche chaude pour me débarrasser de la fatigue de la journée. Ensuite, j’aide ma mère à cuisiner et nous dînons toujours vers 20 heures.

Après cela, je me concentre sur mes études et je m’endors généralement vers une heure du matin.

French Daily Routine Vocabulary With English Translation

Now that you know what a daily routine is and its importance for French people via various examples, we have a treat for you.

Similar Post: Say Goodnight in Style: 9 Simple Ways To Wish “Good Night” In French With Examples & Pronunciation.

Learning never stops. And if you are learning a new language, you must keep brushing your brain to retain all the information.

Like saying hello in French or greeting in French, there is a bunch of French vocabulary related to the daily routine.

Knowing them will make it easy for you to easily converse with a fellow French speaker.

• Daily Routine – Le Quotidien
• Answer Messages – Répondre Aux Messages
• Brush Teeth – Se Brosser Les Dents
• Change – Se Changer
• Chat – Bavarder
• Dance – Danser
• Discuss – Discuter
• Do Homework – Faire Les Devoirs
• Dream – Rêver
• Dress up – S’habiller
• Drive – Conduire
• Eat Breakfast – Prendre Le Petit Déjeuner
• Eat Dinner – Dîner
• Eat Lunch – Déjeuner
• Fall Asleep – S’endormir
• Get Up- Se Lever
• Go Home – Rentrer À La Maison
• Go To An Evening Party – Aller À Une Soirée
• Go To Bed – Se Coucher
• Go To School – Aller À L’école
• Go To The Disco/Nightclub – Aller En Boîte
• Go To The Gym – Aller Au Gymnase
• Go To Work – Aller Au Travail
• Groom Oneself – Faire Sa Toilette
• Have A Coffee/Soda – Boire Un Café/Soda
• Have A Snack – Prendre Un Goûter
• Have Fun – S’amuser
• Hurry – Se Dépêcher
• Listen To Music – Écouter De La Musique
• Make Phone Calls – Téléphoner
• Meet Friends – Rencontrer/Retrouver Des Amis
• Prepare Dinner – Préparer Le Dîner
• Read The news paper – Lire Le Journal
• Rest – Se Reposer
• Shave – Se Raser
• Sleep – Dormir
• Study – Étudier
• Take A Shower – Prendre Une Douche
• take the bus/subway – prendre le bus/le métro
• wake up – se réveiller
• walk the dog – promener/sortir le chien
• walk (going on foot) – marcher/aller à pied
• walk/stretch one’s legs (taking a walk) – faire une balade/faire une promenade
• wash – se laver
• watch TV- regarder la télé

Top FAQs About Daily Routine Essay In French

What is routine.

The pre-established plan for doing any job is called the routine.

How important is routine in our life?

Routine is very important in our life, it motivates us to do any work on time which is useful for success in our life.

What should a student’s daily routine look like?

If we are students, we have to follow the daily routine in order to achieve our goals.

Discussing your daily life is the go-to way to start a conversation. 

If you wish to spark a conversation with a stranger or genuinely want to tell or know about someone’s day, you should learn how to converse about daily routine in french.

Knowing the standard terms related to almost all everyday activities will help you understand others better plus convey your thoughts clearly.

This article covers all the essential vocabulary with easy examples to boost your French learning of daily activities.

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Food & Drink

French eating habits: 7 rules for dining like a local

Want to impress your new local friends by dining like a true Frenchie? Then make sure you’re clued up on these seven unique French eating habits.

By Sophie Pettit

Updated 30-5-2024

Nothing makes you feel more integrated into a new country than eating like a local. And if you happen to be moving to France, there are several unique French eating habits that you should know about in order to pull it off. After all, the country has one of the most sophisticated and revered cuisines in the world; therefore, it’s only natural that it comes with its own set of dining rules and etiquette. So, if you want to leave your dinner guests with a dazzling impression, here are seven simple guidelines to help you.

1. Forget everything you think you know about French eating habits

2. expect to eat dinner a little later, 3. don’t expect to dine at fancy restaurants every night, 4. get ready to up your grocery shopping game, 5. never eat on the go, 6. quit snacking between meals, 7. be prepared for smaller portions.

Want to create some classic French dishes in your own kitchen? HelloFresh is a leading meal-kit provider that delivers innovative recipes from France and around the world straight to your doorstep. Choose from a range of recipes and let HelloFresh transform mealtime for you and your family.

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Let’s start with some hard truths. The most important first step you will need to take as part of your initiation into the world of French eating habits is ditching the stereotypes . That’s right, believe it or not, not every French person spends their day knocking back caviar and Dom Pérignon; all the while dressed in stripes and a beret . While it’s true the country is home to such frivolous delicacies as foie gras and frog legs, not everyone enjoys scoffing them – let alone every day. That said, when it comes to less extravagant food and drink such as wine, cheese, and baguettes, the clichés are pretty accurate.

Indeed, in France, you’ll find baguettes on most breakfast, lunch, and dining tables; not to mention restaurant baskets. In fact, the French are so mad about their baguettes that they have not one, but three different names for them! Unsurprisingly, they also drink a lot of wine , which accounts for  more than half  of their total alcohol consumption. The French also consume more cheese per capita than anywhere in the world; with every person eating around 30 kilos of it each year. That said, with such a grandiose selection to try; ranging from the staple brie and camembert to the fruity Compté or Brocciu, who can really blame them?

Unlike in some European countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, where people tend to enjoy an early evening meal at around 18:00, the French prefer to wait until later to eat their dinner. In fact, they typically don’t sit at the dining table until around 20:00 or even later. Families with young children might even start tucking into their evening meal as late as 21:00. Depending on where you have come from, this may take some getting used to when it comes to adapting to your new French lifestyle.

A guide to the marvels of French cuisine

This might involve shifting your body clock slightly to accommodate this typical French eating habit. But if you are already trying to combat jet lag , it’s always better to jump straight into the French rhythm – so to speak – rather than sticking to your old mealtimes. After all, this will help make the adjustment much easier on your stomach. But hey, just remember, it could always be worse. You could be living in Spain and having to wait until well past 22:00 to fill your grumbling belly!

Contrary to popular belief, not all French people can be found wining and dining at fancy restaurants every night of the week. In fact, generally speaking, they tend to prefer cooking at home rather than eating out on a regular basis. Furthermore, reservations at restaurants are usually only made for special occasions. And with so many mouthwatering French recipes to whip up in their own kitchens, it’s not hard to see why.

That said, if you happen to find yourself in Lyon , then that’s another story. After all, it would be a crime to miss out on all the exquisite haute-cuisine on offer in the gastronomic capital of the world . Cooking is a part of French people’s DNA, and this is understandable, given that the country invented amazing techniques such as braising, flambéing , and poaching. So why not take a leaf out of the French cookbook and whip up some top-notch meals at home? You never know, you could be the next Raymond Blanc!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the French are mad about food. So when it comes to shopping at your nearest French supermarket or grocery store or your local Auchan , be prepared to enter a world of sumptuous delights. French supermarkets come in all shapes and sizes. Furthermore, they sell an overwhelming selection of fantastic food and drink to try, buy, and fall in love with. After all, they don’t call it a hypermarché for nothing.

French supermarkets and grocery stores

Put it this way, when you live in France, supermarket shopping will never be a chore again. But to navigate the aisles with ease – and pleasure – it pays to learn some basic French terms and phrases. Fortunately, there are plenty of online resources, such as French for Dummies and Talk in French to get you started. Of course, you could always take it one step further and sign up for some French classes . No pressure.

If you want to make a good impression when you’re out and about in France, then walking down the street with half a baguette wedged in your mouth is definitely not the way to go. This is because French people never eat in transit. Therefore, munching on anything while walking around in public places is highly frowned upon. This applies to public transport, too. Indeed, scoffing your morning croissant while riding the métro to work will almost certainly attract some scornful looks.

French people consider it important to sit down at a table to eat and use proper etiquette. Therefore, you’re much better off saving your food – and your manners – for la table . But do not carry Époisses de Bourgogne on the Paris Métro, as this stinky cheese is officially banned. Check out these other weird French laws .

If you enjoy grazing throughout the day, then you might be in for a bit of a shock when you move to France. After all, the French are almost famous for not snacking, which perhaps explains how they manage to stay so slim . This may seem somewhat ironic, given that they created some of the richest pastries, desserts, and wine in the world! But if you want to truly adopt French eating habits – and keep your waistline in check – then it’s time to ditch the snacks. Sorry.

How to stay fit and healthy the French way

But don’t worry, you won’t be left starving off hunger pangs all afternoon. This is because lunch is known to be the biggest and most indulgent meal of the day in France. Unlike in some countries, where lunch involves grabbing a quick sandwich or salad, in France, it is a more substantial and leisurely affair. This often consists of a salad, bread, a main dish, and a dessert. This is also why they tend to eat dinner much later than some of their European neighbors. So if you truly intend to eat like a local, you can look forward to indulging in some seriously hearty lunches.

Okay, so we’ve left this one till last for a reason. After all, no one likes to be told they need to shrink down their portions; especially when they’ve just been told to quick snacking. But if truth be told, portion control is one of the biggest aspects of French eating habits that you will quickly observe. Whether they are eating at home or at a restaurant, French people generally opt for smaller portions.

Allianz Care

Moving country doesn’t just mean a change of scene – your diet usually changes, too. Trying new recipes, dining out, and experiencing another country’s cuisine is exciting, but what about your digestive system? Read Allianz Care’s report on their Expat gut health survey to understand how moving abroad affects nutrition.

But before you run for the hills or jet off to the States for the ‘supersize’ lifestyle, consider the positives. Because there is an upside to eating smaller portions. It means that you actually get to regularly enjoy all those delicious carb-filled foods while staying trim. Convinced yet? Well, maybe these mouthwatering French home recipes will sway it. Bon appétit!

Now that you’ve learned about some of the culinary delights of France, you may be wondering how moving abroad affects your digestive health. According to the Allianz Care Expat gut health survey report , many internationals find they need to adapt to eating out more, cooking less, and trying new ingredients. These changes can lead to digestion issues and increased gut-related symptoms.

The survey, which took responses from 3,000 expats of several different nationalities and resident countries, revealed that 77% reported a negative impact on their daily lives due to digestive symptoms. Additionally, expats often eat more processed and convenience food than in their home country, and find it difficult to source familiar ingredients. The insights in the report can help you enjoy your new country’s cuisine while maintaining a healthy digestive system.

Sophie Pettit

About the author

Born and raised in the UK, Sophie is an adventurous editor and journalist with a serious case of wanderlust. Before moving to the Netherlands, she spent eight years living in Hong Kong, heading up one of the city’s biggest lifestyle websites and exploring Southeast Asia at any given chance.

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3.1 Reading longer texts

In this section you will learn some tips to help you read longer texts in French. When you read longer texts, first look at the title, which will help you identify the topic and give you an idea of the content.

Illustrations (if there are any) may also help you to understand what a text is about.

Remember that there are usually a number of words in any text that are similar to those used in English. Using them as clues, you can often understand quite a lot of a text without resorting to your dictionary.

Aim to get the gist without attempting to understand every word. Use your dictionary if you need a more detailed comprehension.

Activité 14

Read the text Les Français et les repas .

Les Français et les repas

Qu’est-ce qu’on mange en France ?

Le petit déjeuner

• 2% des Français ne prennent pas de petit déjeuner.
• La plupart des Français boivent plutôt du café (59%).
• 11% boivent un jus de fruits et 5% mangent un fruit le matin.
• Seulement 7% mangent des céréales.
• 59% mangent des tartines avec du beurre et/ou de la confiture.
• Le week-end, 17% des Français mangent des croissants, des pains au chocolat ou des pains aux raisins.

Le déjeuner

• 68% des Français déjeunent généralement chez eux en semaine.
• La plupart des Français (66%) mangent de la viande (bœuf, porc, poulet…)
• 38% mangent des légumes.
• Seulement 3% mangent un sandwich.
• 4% prennent un plateau-repas dans leur canapé.
• 17% (surtout les hommes et les personnes de plus de 55 ans) prennent une entrée, un plat et un dessert.
• De plus en plus, on prend un plat unique à midi.
• Le soir, les Français mangent en famille.
• Ils mangent souvent un repas complet (entrée, plat, et dessert).
• Les personnes de plus de 50 ans mangent souvent de la soupe et du fromage.
• Un Français sur dix mange des œufs le soir.
• Normalement on mange du fromage et un dessert.
• On boit de l’eau ou du vin.
• Le repas préféré des jeunes, c’est le steak-frites.

Find the French for:

• breakfast, lunch and dinner
• one-course meal
• at lunchtime
• three-course meal

The correct answers are:

• breakfast, lunch and dinner: le petit déjeuner (breakfast); le déjeuner (lunch); le dîner (dinner).
• at home: chez eux
• one-course meal: plat unique
• TV dinner: un plateau-repas
• at lunchtime: à midi
• three-course meal: repas complet

Read the text Les Français et les repas again and decide if the following statements are true or false.

Few French people eat breakfast.

The correct answer is b.

The most popular breakfast drink is coffee.

The correct answer is a.

Cereal is not popular in France.

Most French people eat lunch at work during the week.

Most French people do not eat sandwiches for lunch.

Having just one course for lunch is increasingly popular.

In the evening, most French people eat just one course for dinner.

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14 healthy eating secrets from france.

Elizabeth Bard is American writer who, 15 years ago, went to lunch with a handsome Frenchman "and basically never went home." She lived with her husband in Paris for eight years before moving to Céreste, a tiny village in Provence, where they started Scaramouche , an artisan ice cream company. Her new book, Dinner Chez Moi: 50 French Secrets to Joyful Eating and Entertaining , is filled with tips, tricks, and recipes that have added a lot of joie de vivre to her daily cooking and entertaining. Here, she shares 14 French secrets to eating well.

1. The French don't snack.

By and large, adults don't eat between meals. Food has a defined time and place (three meals a day, plus coffee). The kids get an afternoon gouter each day after school, and the adults might join them on the weekends. The French don't eat while walking, driving, or working. I once had a homeless man tell me to watch my weight when he saw me speed walking toward the metro while chomping on a pain au chocolat.

2. French portions are way smaller than American portions.

Like a lot of newcomers to France, I used to wonder how the French can eat bread, cheese, dessert, and drink wine and still look the way they do. Some of it is basic math: A French portion is half what an American portion might be and takes three times as long to eat. It took me several years to learn to pace myself at a French dinner party. The French still serve meals in courses. The main course may not look like enough; you've had your aperitif and appetizer beforehand, and the cheese and dessert are still to come.

3. There's no takeout.

In my village of 1,300 people, at least. Because of this, I cook almost every night. A typical weeknight dinner in our house might be thick vegetable soup with bread and cheese or whole wheat pasta with a quick homemade tomato sauce. I make fish on Thursdays and Fridays, when I can buy it fresh from the market. I often buy whole fish, which is simple to broil—the skin protects the fillets. We are eating less and less meat—though in the winter months I make a weekly pot of braised lamb or pork that lasts two or three meals. Dessert is whatever fruit is in season, or a small pot of plain yogurt with a dollop of jam. You'd think since we own an ice cream shop, we'd have ice cream every night, but somehow we don't. I'm putting in a complaint to the management.

4. Herbal tea can curb hunger—and cure a cold.

My French mother-in-law introduced me to the idea of drinking herbal tea throughout the day. It cuts appetite and keeps me hydrated. Plain dried herbs like mint, lemon verbena, chamomile, fennel seed, and orange flower and licorice root are widely available. I use thyme tisane I buy at the local pharmacy (or fresh thyme) when I have a cold or a respiratory infection. After lunch or dinner, I'll often have a square of dark chocolate with my tea.

5. Sometimes traditional is better.

When it comes to food, the French are all about tradition and taste, not innovation or silver bullet solutions.

6. Don't be afraid of eating animals—and don't waste them either.

Every time I post a picture of a chicken, rabbit, or fish with the head on, at least one of my American readers gets really yucked out. I get it—I grew up buying meat under cellophane too. The French love a cute dog in a handbag as much as (maybe more than) the next person, but they are also pragmatic and utterly unsentimental about eating animals. They are also closer to the memory of the war years and rationing—so nothing (liver, tripe, oxtail, kidneys) goes to waste.

7. Soup is a magical cure-all.

Soup is thought to have magical properties in France. Sick? Have some soup. Want your kids to eat green vegetables? Try soup. Lunch is still the main meal of the day here, so a vegetable soup with some ham or cheese is a perfectly acceptable dinner. The French like their soup the Vitamix way—as creamy veloutés rather than the Chunky Soup of my childhood. I use my immersion blender more than any other piece of equipment in my kitchen. I usually make soup from a single vegetable—pumpkin, broccoli, or zucchini. I add the steamed vegetables to a base of onion sautéed in a generous amount of olive oil. The olive oil adds richness without using milk or cream—and doesn't hide the taste of the veggies.

8. Local can be more important than organic.

The French are a lot closer to their agricultural past than we are in the States, so most French people still know what a real strawberry tastes like. The locavore habit comes very naturally to us in Provence because we are living in the fruit basket of France. Neighbors leave bags of tomatoes and have us come to pick the cherries off their trees. When you know your local producers, as we do because we source the fruit for Scaramouche, our ice-cream company, we've found organic isn't always a guarantee of quality. The label is expensive for farmers to get and maintain, so there are many great products farmed under the label "agriculture raisonnée," which literally translates to "reasonable" (and environmentally friendly) farming. GMO fruits and vegetables are illegal in France.

9. Ancient grains aren't a trend—they're a culinary staple.

Petit épeautre (einkorn wheat) has been grown in Provence for thousands of years. Is the most ancient form of wheat (never hybridized). It is nutrient rich and contains a form of gluten that is more easily digestible for some with gluten intolerance. I use it in soups and stews—it gives you a nutty flavor and a creamy risotto consistency without the constant supervision. Einkorn flour is great for crepes or even cookies.

10. Dieting has no place here.

Preparing and sharing food is one of—perhaps the essential—pleasure of French culture. Healthy food in France comes from moderation. There are no forbidden foods, only excess is looked down upon. The French have never been afraid of fat, so a small portion is often very satisfying. For me, it's been a change of paradigm: What Americans call "dieting": smaller portions, less sugar (the French like their desserts rich, rather than sweet), a preference for seasonal fruits and vegetables, limited meat (it's really expensive)—the French simply call this "eating," and they do it with such gusto and flair.

11. Who you eat with is as important as what you eat.

Mealtimes are still family time in France. Families eat together—and the kids eat later (around 7 or 7:30), with their parents. Many people still drink a glass of wine with lunch or dinner. We drink water with meals, wine or Champagne with guests. The French love to entertain. In Provence, it tends to be long summer evenings in the garden or out on the terrace of a restaurant.

12. Good eating habits start young.

I'm pretty sure school lunch is how they create little French people—start with the lentil salad and move up from there. My 7-year-old son eats at the canteen every day. It's a three- or four-course lunch served family style at a round table: appetizer, main course, cheese, and/or dessert. There is only one choice; kids are not allowed to bring lunch from home. They can go home for the midday meal, but if they stay, they eat what's on offer. My son learned to eat things at la canteen that he wouldn't touch at home, like creamed spinach with hard-boiled eggs. There's something about being hungry at noon—and being with his friends—that makes all the difference.

13. Small markets trump grocery stores.

Each little village has a weekly outdoor market, sometimes it's only a few vendors. I get my fish at the Céreste market on Thursdays (we are lucky to have a fishmonger who drives the 150 kilometers from the Mediterranean Coast each week). I get my meat at the village butcher (there's always a line—so it's also the best place to catch up on village news—or to start a rumor…). I only go to the big supermarket once every three or four months, to get staples like toilet paper, cleaning products, chocolate, and canned sardines, and dry goods like pasta, quinoa, and oatmeal. I fill in my weekly staples like yogurt, eggs, and chickpeas from the small superette in the village.

14. Never say never.

Instead of no carbs, they will eat a small slice of cake. My mother-in-law doesn't refuse the side of fries with her steak tartare, but she always leaves some on the plate. Above all, the French are not afraid of their food; they love it, and they trust themselves around it. I think of it as the difference between "cheating" and "treating."

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Eating healthy and French food vocabulary

Updated: March 13, 2021 by Mylene in French Vocabulary Array  ▪ English Français  

Today, more than ever, it is important to stay in shape. The most important thing is eating healthy. Preparing and sharing food is one of, perhaps the essential, pleasures of French culture. In this article, you’ll discover the French food vocabulary for eating healthy.

Let’s talk about healthy food in French

To start, I’m going to give you four tips that will help you to eat healthily. You’ll discover the French culture and habits around food.

Here is the list of French vocabulary that I’ll cover in this article:

• Fruits of the spring season
• Vegetables of the spring season
• Starchy Food
• The benefits of local food
• Protein and dairy products
• The French meals

Eating healthy Tips (Video)

Check out this video in French that explains everything in this post. Click to watch French food vocabulary and tips .

To follow more updates, subscribe to the YouTube channel and follow me on Instagram .

1. Consume fruits and vegetables

The first tip is to have a preference for the fruits and vegetables in your dishes and if possible, the fruits and vegetables that are in season.

In spring , among the fruits in season that are available:

• la pomme: apple
• la poire: pear
• le pamplemousse: grapefruit
• la fraise: strawberry
• la cerise: cherry
• la rhubarbe: rhubarb
• la tomate: tomato

In spring, the vegetables in season are:

• le concombre: cucumber
• la carotte: carrot
• l’asperge: asparagus
• l’endive: endive
• les épinards: spinaches
• la betterave: beetroot
• la blette: chard
• la laitue: lettuce
• le petit pois: pea
• le navet: turnip
• le chou-fleur: cauliflower
• le radis: radish
• le poireau: leek

2. Eat in moderation

The second tip is to eat in moderation and in particular: starchy foods. Do not mainly eat pasta. You have to eat various starchy food.

I propose that you consume for example:

• le quinoa: quinoa
• la semoule: semolina
• l’avoine: oat

One benefit of starchy foods is that you can store them for a long time.

Leguminous vegetables are also a good choice. Here are a few ideas:

• des haricots rouges: kidney beans
• des haricots blancs: navy beans
• des lentilles corail: coral lentils
• des lentilles vertes: green lentils
• des fèves: beans
• des pois chiches: chickpeas

3. Cook more

The third tip is to cook as much as you can instead of consuming ready-made dishes such as canned food or frozen foods.

Avoid consuming a frozen pizza instead, if possible, cook a pizza yourself. Usually French take time to choose and buy les ingrédients (ingredients), and then they prepare les repas (meals). In other words, there’s space for food in the daily routine. You can learn more tips on the French Program  “ Nutrition Santé “.  By the way, you could read a recipe in French. It’s a very good exercise to improve your French.

Local can be more important than organic

French tend to aim for quality over quantity. Almost every village and town in the country boasts a bustling market featuring local sausages, patties of farm-made chèvre (goat), strawberries, and tomatoes in the appropriate season.

Each little village has a weekly outdoor market, sometimes it’s only a few vendors, usually on Wednesday or during the weekend. Typical French markets are a mix between the farmers’ market and a traders’ market, with stalls offering local produce straight from the farm standing alongside fruit, vegetable, cheese, chicken, cereals, fish, meat, or bread.

Eating local foods has many advantages:

• Taste: local products are simply as tasty as possible. The explanation is simple: local products are often harvested at maturity and shipped the same day. When they arrive in our basket and later on our plate they could not be tastier.
• Health: When you buy products from local agriculture and organically grown, you can be sure that there will be no trace of pesticides, antibiotic residues, or OGM (GMOs).
• Quality: The local products were cultivated on rich and dense soils, they were harvested at maturity, and a very short period of time elapses between harvest and sale. When we buy local fruits and vegetables, they are not only fresh but also full of vitamins and essential nutrients: they are more nutritious and bring to our body all their benefits.

4. Diversify what you eat

We already talked about fruits and vegetables and starchy foods. You can also consume protein foods such as in:

• la viande rouge: red meat
• le poulet: chicken
• les oeufs: eggs
• le poisson: fish

You can also eat dairy products such as:

• le fromage frais: fresh cheese
• les yaourts nature: plain yogurts
• le lait: milk

You have to consume all these products in moderation. Healthy food in France comes from moderation. There are no forbidden foods, the only excess is looked down upon. The only thing that you can consume without moderation is water.

Did you know that the French don’t snack?

In her delightful tale, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of this French paradox : how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy .

French tend to aim for quality over quantity and they don’t snack.

The meals in France

While the most important meal is le déjeuner (lunch), French people enjoy three main meals during the day.

Le petit déjeuner (7h-9h) – Breakfast

The French breakfast is usually a simple fare. It consists of sliced bread with jam and some coffee, tea or hot chocolate served in bowls. The first thing that you can find in a French breakfast is the bread. Most often, bread takes the form of the baguette. French people do not buy their baguette at the supermarket but at the bakery.

There are different kinds of bread:

• la baguette: normal baguette
• la tradition: tradition baguette
• le pain complet: wholemeal bread
• le pain de seigle: rye bread
• le pain céréale: cereal bread
• le pain de campagne: farmhouse bread
• la brioche: sweet bread

French breakfast is sweet:

• les biscottes: crispbreads
• un toast: toasted bread
• you can toast your bread with a grille-pain (toaster)
• you can make a tartine with confiture and/or beurre (butter) or miel (honey)
• un produit laitier (dairy product) like milk or yogurt
• you can also have a fruit

French usually drink:

• café: coffee
• jus d’orange: orange juice

Kids usually eat:

• chocolat au lait: hot chocolate
• céréales: cereals
• une brioche: sweet bread

French don’t eat croissant and pain au chocolat in the morning. They eat what they have in the kitchen. They usually buy croissant and pain au chocolat if they have guests at home or they want to bring something sweet to eat for their colleagues at work. Eating fresh croissant and pain au chocolat means going to the bakery in the morning and coming back to the house to eat them. Because there is no place in the bakery to eat your breakfast and French don’t eat while walking.

Déjeuner (12h-14h) – Lunch

French typically spend at least one or two hours over lunch. The French secret is to sit down with friends or family for a meal and to eat three times a day at regular intervals. French don’t eat in front of the television, and they eat slowly, enjoying both the food and the company. Adults don’t eat between meals.

Food has a defined time and place, three meals a day:

• l’entrée: starter
• le plat principal: main course
• le fromage (optional): cheese
• le dessert: dessert

Le goûter (16h-17h) – School snack

Kids get an afternoon goûter each day after school, and the adults might join them sometimes. The goûter is light and sweet: un fruit, une barre de céréale (cereal bar), une compote (compote) ou une part de cake (piece of cake).

Le dîner (19h-21h) – Diner

The French Diner is late but it’s light. They usually have a salade during the summer and soup during the winter. After that, French people usually have a dairy product such as cheese or yogurt.

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2 thoughts on “Eating healthy and French food vocabulary”

Very detailed article. I’ll keep this for further use. Thanks.

Hello Diana! Thank you for the comment. A très bientôt!

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French Vocabulary: Exercise and Healthy Lifestyles

Posted by Barbara Kruger on Thursday, October 1, 2015 · Leave a Comment  

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French Vocabulary: Exercise and Healthy Lifestyles le vocabulaire français: l’exercice et la bonne hygiène de vie

• Terms associated with healthy living and staying in shape .
• Engage with people in activities and physical fitness .

Good health is important for everyone, and getting exercise and having a healthy lifestyle  (l’exercice et la bonne hygiène de vie)  are key! Learn how to discuss healthy lifestyles in French!

une activité physique : physical activity

J’essaie de faire au moins une activité physique par jour. I try to do at least one physical activity per day.

le bien-être : well-being

Ils font attention au bien-être de leurs enfants. They  (masc.) pay attention to the well-being of their children.

la santé : health

À votre santé ! Cheers! (Literally: To your health!)

arrêter de fumer : to quit smoking

Mon père vient d’ arrêter de fumer . My father just quit smoking.

boire de l’eau : to drink water

Il faut boire au moins soixante-quatre onces de l’eau par jour. You should drink at least sixty-four ounces of water per day.

dormir suffisament : to get enough sleep

Quand il ne dort pas suffisament , il devient grincheux. When he doesn’t get enough sleep, he gets crabby.

éliminer le stress : to eliminate stress

J’aime faire de l’exercice pour éliminer le stress . I like to exercise to eliminate stress

être en bonne forme : to be in good shape

Les athlètes sont en bonne forme . The athletes are in good shape.

être au régime / suivre un régime :to be on a diet / to follow a diet

Ma soeur est toujours au régime ! My sister is always on a diet!

éviter les sucreries : to avoid sweets

J’essaie d’ éviter les sucreries . I try to avoid sweets.

faire attention à ce qu’on mange : to pay attention to what you eat

Quand il ne fait pas attention à ce qu’il mange , il prend des poids. When he doesn’t pay attention to what he eats, he gains weight.

faire de l’exercice : to exercise

Mes amis font de l’exercice au centre de remise en forme. My friends exercise in the fitness center.

faire le jogging : to jog / to go jogging

Le couple aime faire le jogging ensemble. The couple likes to go jogging together.

faire la marche à pied : to walk / to go walking

Je fais la marche à pied avec ma voisine. I go walking with my neighbor.

faire de la musculation : to work out / to lift weights

L’équipe fait de la musculation au gymnase. The team is working out in the gym.

faire des pompes (masculine) : to do push-ups

Les soldats doivent faire des pompes . The soldiers have to do push-ups.

faire la randonnée : to go hiking

La famille aime faire la randonnée aux montagnes. The family likes to go hiking in the mountains.

faire des redressements : to do sit-ups

Je n’aime pas faire des redressements . I don’t like to do sit-ups.

faire des tractions : to do pull-ups / to do push-ups

Il peut être difficile de faire des tractions . It can be difficult to do pull-ups.

garder la forme / garder la ligne : to stay in shape

Nous essayons de garder la forme . We try to stay in shape.

grossir / prendre des poids : to gain weight

Elle ne veut pas grossir . She does not want to gain weight.

maigrir / mincir / perdre des poids : to lose weight

Je suis au régime et j’ai perdu des poids ! I’m on a diet and I lost weight!

manger équilibré : to eat a balanced diet

Ma mère s’assure que nous mangeons équilibré . My mother makes sure that we eat a balanced diet.

manger sain : to eat a healthy diet

Il mange sain , avec plein de fruits et de légumes. He eats a healthy diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Qui aime faire des redressements? Who likes to do sit-ups?

Que faites-vous pour garder la forme? What do you (formal) do to stay in shape?

Quand font-ils de l’exercice? When do they (masculine) exercise?

Où est-ce qu’elles font du jogging? Where do they (feminine) go jogging?

Pourquoi est-il important dormir suffisant? Why is it important to get enough sleep?

Comment puis-je perdre des poids? How can I lose weight?

Combien de tractions peux-tu faire? How many push-ups can you (informal) do?

Quelles activités physiques préférez-vous? Which physical activities do you  (formal) prefer?

• Quizlet: French Vocabulary – Exercise and Healthy Lifestyles via Kruger
• YouTube/modernforeignlanguages@hampton: healthy lifestyle
• YouTube/monsieurpattinson: French – Santé
• YouTube/monsieurpattinson: Gangnam Style Parody – Je suis en bonne forme
• YouTube/Mike Elliott: Santé (Quand j’étais jeune)

Category: French Vocabulary Lessons · Tags: bonne , Exercise , francais , french , healthy , hygiène , Leçon , lesson , Lifestyles , vie , vocabulaire , vocabulary

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Broad Themes of Difference between French and Americans in Attitudes to Food and Other Life Domains: Personal Versus Communal Values, Quantity Versus Quality, and Comforts Versus Joys

1 Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Abigail K. Remick

2 Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Claude Fischler

3 Centre Edgar Morin, UMR 8177 EHESS-CNRS, Paris, France

Analysis of previous literature on the role of food in life in France and the United States suggests some fundamental differences in attitudes which may generalize outside of the food domain. Questionnaire results from French and American adults suggest that, compared to the French, Americans emphasize quantity rather than quality in making choices, Americans have a higher preference for variety, and Americans usually prefer comforts (things that make life easier) over joys (unique things that make life interesting). The American preference for quantity over quality is discussed in terms of the American focus on abundance as opposed to the French preference for moderation. The American preference for variety is reflective of Americans’ more personal as opposed to communal food and other values.

In recent decades, there has been increased interest in how cultural forces shape the human mind and human life, culminating in the development of a new subdiscipline in psychology, cultural psychology (Shweder, 1995 ; Kitayama and Cohen, 2007 ). Understandably, the focus has been on strikingly different cultures, primarily differences between East Asian or South Asian cultures and EuroAmericans (Markus and Kitayama, 1991 ; Fiske et al., 1998 ; Nisbett, 2003 ). In this study we contribute to the understanding of the link between culture and psychology, but depart from most prior work in two ways. First, we compare samples from two “cultures,” France and the United States, which are very much alike on many of the dimensions that have been the focus of cultural differences in the cultural psychology literature. Second, we focus on particular domains of life. Some of our items, and much of the stimulus for examining more general French–American differences, come from the work of ourselves and others on differences in French and American approaches to food.

It is our sense that there are substantial differences between French and Americans in the food and pleasure domains, and because the societies are relatively similar in many other respects, it may be possible to draw some finer distinctions in areas of difference. The comparisons and dimensions of difference that we propose to isolate may be of particular relevance in the domain of health, since both obesity (Laurier et al., 1992 ) and heart disease (Renaud and de Lorgeril, 1992 ) are notably lower in France than in the United States. There is a lower heart disease rate in France even though the French eat a higher percentage of calories as both fat and animal fat (Renaud and de Lorgeril, 1992 ). Both cultures are concerned with weight control and place great emphasis on being thin (Stearns, 2002 ). And as Payer ( 1988 ) writes, “The French concern with thinness may seem paradoxical in light of the French preoccupation with food. But it is not the quantity of food that distinguishes France from the rest of the world: it is the care taken with the quality and character of what is eaten” (pp. 55–56). The French have a low rate of obesity in the developed world, but they spend more time eating daily than any other country (OECD, 2009 ), and they spend more time during the day with food as a focus than do Americans (Kahneman et al., 2010 ). These findings indicate that there are certain cultural values and practices that allow the French to separate food and the pleasure of eating from the drive to be slim.

Our prior research, our acquaintance with the two cultures, and important historical writing on these two cultures (notably Mennell, 1996 ; Stearns, 2002 ; Levenstein, 2003a , b ) have led us to hypothesize some areas where there may be interesting psychological cultural differences. Some of these differences may transcend the domain of food and eating. One, that our prior research has indicated, but that the present study does not directly address, is the separation of the pleasure of eating from concerns about health and guilt about potential weight gains which is more characteristic of the French (Rozin et al., 1999 ). We expect that this enjoyment factor may be more general in France, and may be due, in part, to the historical role of Catholicism in France and Protestantism in the United States.

In this paper, we address three other themes that have emerged, in part, from our prior research. One is the idea that French have more communal food values than Americans, and that this may extend to other domains. We measure one aspect of this in the present study: the desire for variety across domains. A second theme is the focus on quality as opposed to quantity in the French. A third is a greater preference for joys (unique events) as opposed to comforts (activities or expenditure that make life easier) among the French. A fourth theme, also suggested by our prior work, and illustrated by smaller portion sizes among the French (Rozin et al., 2003 ), is a favoring of moderation as a guiding principle among the French, as opposed to abundance among Americans. This is illustrated by the popularity of all-you-can-eat restaurants in the United States, and the idea that one should stuff oneself on the national holiday, Thanksgiving. We do not directly address the moderation–abundance theme in this study, but our measure of quality versus quantity is closely related to it.

Personal Versus Communal Values

It is widely accepted that the pursuit of individual as opposed to collective values is a feature of Western, capitalist, and developed/wealthy countries (Markus and Kitayama, 1991 ; Kitayama and Cohen, 2007 ). This set of features essentially defines Western Europe, North America, and Australia/New Zealand. In any dichotomy derived from this type of consideration, France and the USA would always find each other in the same individualized category. Our distinction between personal and communal values is distinct from individualism–collectivism, but bears some relationship to it because shared values is a common feature of collectivism and communal values. Communal values in food can be conceived in two different ways. One is the path from communal to social: shared food, and eating and meals as occasions for social interaction. Food and eating seem to be a much more social event in France, empirically illustrated by the facts that: (a) meals take longer in France (Rozin et al., 2003 ; Krueger et al., 2009 ) and duration of the meal is positively related to the number of people eating in the group (de Castro and Brewer, 1992 ; Sommer and Steele, 1997 ; Bell and Pliner, 2003 ) and (b) that sociality is referred to more explicitly as part of the memory and experience of meals (Krueger et al., 2009 ; Remick et al., in preparation). It is an empirical question as to whether increased social involvement with respect to food generalizes to other French activities.

A second manifestation of communal values, the type that we will investigate in this study, has to do with shared values about what is good food. France has a longer history and a much better defined cuisine and sense of the role of food in life than does America. One consequence, we maintain, is that French seek less micro-variation in their cuisine, since there is more likely to be an accepted (best) form for any dish or food. While Americans expect to choose whether to have French fries, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, or home-fried potatoes with their steak, the French assume that steak goes with frites (French fried potatoes). We have already reported that in comparison to Americans, French prefer fewer ice cream choices and expect fewer choices at each course in good restaurants (Rozin et al., 2006 ).

There are many ways to operationalize communal values; in this investigation, we do so in terms of desire for variety in different domains. As far as food and commensality are concerned, a lower preference for variety expresses a stronger concern about sharing in the communal experience, not “sticking out,” hence a stronger sense of communal values. In the present study, by explicitly asking about desired variety in food and a number of other domains, we propose to both confirm the prior results for food, and see if they extend to other domains, as varied as shoes and automobiles.

Quality Versus Quantity, and the Related Moderation Versus Abundance

The abundance–moderation dimension maps, at least at one end, on to the quantity–quality dimension. Clearly, abundance is associated with quantity, although moderation need not be associated with quality. Absence of excess, related to both abundance and quantity, is a long-standing theme in French eating. French food is generally considered to be elegant, sophisticated, and graceful (Levenstein, 2003b ). Mennell ( 1996 ) draws the conclusion that the elegance and sophistication that we attribute to French food today originated from French gastronomic theory and the courtly model. Theorists wrote that gastronomy was about discrimination and moderation, with quality being more important than quantity. While daily French food is far from elegant, the influence of gastronomes in France impacted the manner in which the French regularly eat and inspired the value of moderation. Stearns ( 2002 ) makes a related point, actually linking moderation with esthetic desires, and hence quality. He notes that the French placed a strong emphasis on slenderness, fashion, and esthetics beginning in 1800, and still expected to enjoy high quality food. Therefore, great food without abundance became a necessity for them.

While the French dedicated themselves to discrimination and moderation, Americans were committed to abundance, or quantity (Stearns, 2002 ; Levenstein, 2003a , b ). Levenstein ( 2003a ) asserts that abundance is the American symbol of success and that food is the measure of America's abundance. Levenstein ( 2003a ) points to a few examples of America's abundance, including the American supermarket and the enormous food supplies received by American soldiers in World War II. The meat ration for American soldiers was 10 ounces of beef, 4 ounces of pork, and 2 ounces each of chicken and bacon per person per day. “Never in the history of warfare, it was often said, had an army been as abundantly supplied with food as this one” (Levenstein, 2003a , p. 89). American abundance did not stop with the soldiers, for as Levenstein ( 2003b , p. 7) states, “Virtually every foreign visitor who wrote about American eating habits expressed amazement, shock, and even disgust at the quantity of food consumed.”

There is direct evidence for the abundance–moderation or quantity–quality contrast in the American and French eating environments. French portion sizes are notably smaller than American portion sizes (Rozin et al., 2003 ), at the same time as French food is more expensive than American food. According to one estimate, the French spend a much larger proportion of their household income on food than Americans do (13.8 versus 5.7%; http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/cpifoodandexpenditures/data/2006table97.htm ). In the present study, we operationalize the quality–quantity distinction as a dimension, and ask individuals for their optimal point on this dimension for eight domains of life, including food, clothing, houses, and friends.

Comforts Versus Joys

Scitovsky ( 1992 ), in The Joyless Economy , draws a distinction between comforts and pleasures. (We prefer the word “joy” to Scitovsky's “pleasure.” Essential to Scitovsky's distinction is the idea that comforts are rather long in duration of action, whereas pleasures are much shorter in time, often almost momentary. We believe the word “joy” implies this short or phasic property better than the word “pleasure,” and make that substitution here and further on in this paper.) In Scitovsky's view, comfort seeking behaviors secure negative goods, such as freedom from pain, unpleasantness, or discomfort. Comforts, such as high quality mattresses, good air-conditioning, and automated controls in the home and the car, make life easier. They keep arousal at a moderate level. They provide a background for life. Joys on the other hand, are positive events, often unique occurrences, and are associated with increased arousal. Joys are usually occasions, like going to concerts, having a good meal, spending time with friends, and travel. They are in the foreground of life. They are more likely to involve social interactions. Scitovsky ( 1992 ) points out that joys and comforts compete, in that they push arousal in different directions, and since both cost money, they compete for expenditures. Scitovsky suggests that Americans prefer comforts much more than do Europeans. In a sense, he is claiming that American life is more comfortable, and European life is more interesting. Research on well-being, particularly on hedonic adaptation (e.g., Frederick and Loewenstein, 1999 ) and different temporal perspectives on pleasure (e.g., Kahneman et al., 1997 ) adds another perspective to the understanding of comforts and joys. Comforts are steady changes, and are just the kind of things we adapt to. We notice our air-conditioning only when it breaks. We rarely discuss how good last year was by referring to the quality of our air-conditioning system. Joys almost always involve a rather sudden change in affect and activity, and are much less likely to adapt. Furthermore, although both comforts and joys may contribute to experienced pleasure (probably less so for comforts), comforts add almost nothing to remembered pleasure, whereas joys are the very “stuff” of remembered pleasures. Most relevant is the distinction between experienced (“on-line”) and remembered pleasure. For example, a comfortable beach vacation generates many fewer positive memories than a varied travel experience, just as a very positive but often repeated experience, as pleasant as it may be in experienced pleasure, does not create new memories (e.g., eating the same delicious dish at the same restaurant many times probably creates just “one” memory), unlike a new experience.

It is our sense, in agreement with Scitovsky, that the French, more than Americans, value joys as opposed to comforts. We observe this in the higher number of gadgets in kitchens and other parts of the home in America, the much higher incidence of air-conditioning in America, and the fact that the ratio of hotel room to meal prices is much higher in America. (The latter statement assumes that usually, a meal is more likely to be a joy than a hotel room.) We instantiate this in the questionnaire for this study, with questions about the relative importance of comfort or stability versus joys or excitement, in general and in specific domains of life.

Participants

Brief one-page (two-sided) questionnaires were distributed to individuals waiting alone in major train stations in Philadelphia and Paris. This is a moderately representative sample, but it is biased in that individuals who were socializing, talking on their cell phones, or immersed in their work or a book were not approached. Additionally, some individuals refused to participate. Information about the number of participants in each country for each of the three questionnaires used is presented in Table ​ Table1. 1 . Data were collected from Americans in 2004 and 2006 and from the French in 2006. Including all the participants (from the three forms of the questionnaire), there is a modestly higher age in the French [mean age difference = 3.11 years; t (598) = 2.346, p  = 0.019] and substantially lower religiosity in the French [scale: 1 = not religious at all to 5 = extremely religious; mean difference = 0.49; t (582) = 4.872, p  = 0.000].

Characteristics of participants .

1 Religiosity scale is 1, not at all religious to 5, extremely religious .

Questionnaires

Three different questionnaires were distributed. The questionnaires were originally composed in English, and were later translated into French and back-translated. We did two things in addition to back-translation. First, two focus groups were run in each country prior to the designing of the questionnaire. One of their functions was to identify the actual terms and phrases used by the participants – the “native” language and categories, as it were. The second precaution consisted of systematic testing of various phrasings of the translated questions. We made several phone calls to native speakers and tried various forms, identifying possible misunderstandings or biases. One additional factor was multilingualism: one of the principal investigators was very fluent in the languages surveyed and so were several research associates.

The questionnaires were anonymous and approved by the Internal Review Board to protect human subjects at the University of Pennsylvania. In order to make the questionnaire brief and user-friendly we divided it into three different versions. The briefness was dictated by the fact that the questionnaires were distributed to people waiting in train stations. Each questionnaire occupied two sides of one-page. All versions included the same demographic items as well as items concerning frequency of dieting, and the importance of variety in different domains. The specific items relevant to the issues raised in this paper are discussed along with the presentation of the results on these items.

The two items that were included on all three versions of the questionnaire are described below. The item asking about frequency of dieting was: “How often do you diet for purposes of weight loss? a. never, b. sometimes, c. usually, and d. always.” Responses were coded on a scale of 0–3.

The set of items that measured desire for variety directly, included eight-items each directed at a particular domain. The same question was asked for each domain, as follows:

For some items you may like to have a lot of choices to pick from and for other items the number of choices may not be as important to you. Assign a number, from the options below, to each item based on how much choice you like to have. 1 = no choice, 2 = few choices (1–5), 3 = a moderate number of choices (5–15), and 4 = many choices (over 15).

The eight domains were, in the order asked: Cars, Cell phone plans, Fruits in a grocery store, Menu choices, Ice creams, Shoes, Blouses/shirts, and Health insurance plans.

In version one, participants were asked to write about their day yesterday and their dinner last night. We do not report these results here, but we do include the results from these participants on the common items on frequency of dieting and on variety.

Version two included some free associations not presented in this paper, and a set of items contrasting desire for quantity versus quality in a number of domains. The items read as follows:

There are some domains in your life where quality is more important, and others where quantity (how many you have) is more important, for you. Rate each of the domains or situations below as to the relative importance of quality and quantity for you. 1 meaning quality is of the highest importance and 5 meaning quantity is of the highest importance.

The domains included Money (quality refers to things like newness of bills, quantity refers to amount), Stoves (quality meaning one excellent stove, quantity referring to more than one stove), Meals, Shoes, Tickets (quality meaning excellent seats for a few shows/events, or quantity referring to poor seats for many shows/events), Friends (quality meaning a few very close friends, or quantity referring to many not as close friends), Houses (one great house versus two average houses, such as a summer home and a winter home), Food (your favorite food in a smaller quantity or more dishes of not quite as good food), Clothes, and Vacation (1 week at a luxury resort versus 2 weeks at a less expensive resort for the same price, in the same place). The money and stove options were included just to help calibrate responses. They are not included in the data analysis, and were inadvertently not included in the French translation.

Version three consisted of all multiple-choice items and included principally items having to do with comforts and joys. There is a subset of three of these questions written in parallel forms that address a specific subset of joy–comfort concerns. The items in this section include: (1) When I go to my favorite restaurant, I choose to order… A. my favorite item on the menu or B. a new item that I have never tried, (2) When I go to hear my favorite musical artist perform, I prefer to hear… A. my favorite piece/song or B. a new piece/song, and (3) When I travel, I usually choose to go to… A. my favorite vacation spot or B. a new vacation spot that is supposed to be excellent. These three items pit an almost certain positive experience and positive anticipation, with minimal creation of new memories, against a less certain positive experience and anticipation, but a greater likelihood of creating a distinct new positive memory. Alternatively, this can be seen to be about experiencing something familiar and positive (more like a comfort) or creating a new, hence perhaps more interesting and surely more memorable experience (more like a joy).Version 3 contained an additional 13 items that we believed were reasonable measures of the comfort–joy distinction. Therefore, altogether the questionnaire contained 16 items that were designed to tap into the comfort–joy distinction. We discarded three of the 16 candidate items, two because 95% or more of participants made the same choice for the item, and the other because of a problem in translation from English to French, that changed the meaning of the item (see Table ​ Table6 6 for a description of the remaining items). The remaining 13 items were all adjusted so that a maximum score of one indicated joy and a minimal score of zero indicated comfort.

French and American scores on 13 items bearing on comforts versus joys 1 .

* p  <  0.05, **p  <  0.01, ***p  <  0.001. N = 87 for USA and N = 106 for France. 1 All items scored on a 0–1 scale, with 1 equal to the maximum joy alternative. This is the second alternative in the questions listed, except for the two items indicated as reverse scored. 2 Items with more than two choices evaluated with independent t-tests. Items with two choices evaluated with X 2 . N = 185–191 across the 13 items. 3 “These are metaphors for life. Using the scale of 1–2, one being the most ideal and two being the second most ideal, rate the two that you want your life to be like. a. Lying on a feather bed; b. a roller coaster; c. a challenging puzzle; d. a pleasant trip to a foreign country; e. a gathering with loved ones; f. a great vacation; g. being locked up in a prison cell; h. an old and tired dance routine.” Score feather bed as comfort (negative) and roller coaster or challenging puzzle as  +  1 for joys. A first importance rank is scored − 2 for comfort and + 2 for joy, with values of − 1 and + 1 for second importance. For each participant, the three possible scores are summed. For purposes of combination with other scores, to put the score into the 1–5 range of the other scaled scores, we added three to the summed score .

We organize results in terms of the three major differences we explore: variety/communal values, quality versus quantity, and comforts versus joys. The exact questionnaire items used are presented in the text, tables, or table legends in the appropriate sections. Because of multiple comparisons, we use as a measure of significance a level of p  < 0.01, two-tailed. However, in the tables we mark 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001 boundaries. Combined variables are named for the theme they represent (abbreviated as VAR for collective values, Q for qualitative–quantitative, and CJ for comfort and joy) followed by a descriptive term of the subset of scores they represent (e.g., VARLG is variety preference for large items, VARALL refers to all variety items) followed by the number of items in the score, followed by AVG standing for average. Before considering the results from the three major themes that are the focus of this paper, we present the results on a single item, dieting frequency, to confirm a previously established difference (Rozin et al., 1999 ) and in that sense, to provide some validation of our samples.

Diet frequency

Dieting is substantially and significantly less frequent in the French and in males and there is no culture by gender interaction (Tables ​ (Tables2 2 and ​ and3 3 ).

Means (SD) on combined variables and DIETFREQ by groups .

1 Ns for the Diet Frequency and Variety items, included on all questionnaires, are between 266 and 302 for the four groups displayed. Ns for the remaining items are 94–106 for France, 79–87 for USA, 97–107 for female, and 81–88 for male. 2 Significance of French–American difference (t-test, two-tailed *p  <  0.05, **p  <  0.01, ***p  <  0.001). 3 Significance of Male–Female difference. 4 N = 583 for religiosity, n = 596 for diet frequency, n = 568 for variety variables, n = 188 for quantity variables, and n = 187 for CJ variables .

Sex × country ANOVA on combined variables .

* p  <  0.05, **p  <  0.01, ***p  <  0.001. 1 For significant differences, letter after indication of significance indicates the group that had a higher score (more variety, quantity, or joy) F = France, A = USA. 2 For significant differences, letter after indication of significance indicates the group that had a higher score (more variety, quantity, or comfort) F = Female, M = male .

Desire for variety

One set of items measured desire for variety directly, with eight-items each directed at a particular domain (see Table ​ Table4). 4 ). For all eight-items, the Americans scored higher on variety preference. The differences were all significant at least p  < 0.01, except ice cream, with six of eight significant at p  < 0.001 (Table ​ (Table4). 4 ). A factor analysis (SYSTAT, principal component, oblimin rotation) indicated a two factor solution. The first unrotated factor accounted for 35% of the variance, and after an oblimin rotation, the first factor explained 26% of the variance and the second explained 23% of the variance. The two factors could be easily interpreted as five small/perishable items (blouses/shirts, shoes, fruits, ice cream, and menu selection) and three more expensive/durable items (cars, cell phone plans, and health insurance plans). Separate scores corresponding to the two factor scores were created by averaging scores for the five small (VARSM5AVG) and the three large/durable (VARLG3AVG) items. The means for these scores and for a combined score for all eight variety items (VARALL8AVG) separately for French and Americans, and males and females, are presented in Table ​ Table2. 2 . Corresponding results from Analyses of Variance with Country and Gender as factors are presented in Table ​ Table3. 3 . The American scores are significantly higher ( p  < 0.001) for the averaged five small and averaged three large/durable items, as well as for a score made by averaging all eight-items (Tables ​ (Tables2 2 and ​ and3). 3 ). Although there is no gender effect for the full eight-item averaged variety measure, females show a greater preference for variety for the smaller items, and males show a greater preference for variety in the larger/durable items (Tables ​ (Tables2 2 and ​ and3 3 ).

French and American scores on all items bearing on variety [mean (SD)] .

* p  <  0.05, **p  <  0.01, ***p  <  0.001. N = 290 FRENCH, N = 298 American .

Given that the small item variety and large item variety scores correlate 0.41 (0.28 for France, 0.40 for USA), and that the Cronbach alpha for the eight-item scale is 0.73, the eight-item averaged score (VARALL8AVG) represents a general preference for variety, and at least one component of what might eventually be a measure of communal versus individual food values.

Liking for variety is weakly correlated with religiosity (0.11, p  < 0.01). This weak relation seems to primarily result from the fact that Americans are more religious and prefer variety more. Religiosity correlates with VARALL8AVG only 0.01 for Americans and 0.04 for French.

Quality versus quantity

In parallel to the measures on variety, the basic measure of the relative importance of quality versus quantity is a set of questions that directly address this contrast across eight domains (see Table ​ Table5 5 ).

French and American scores on quality versus quantity [mean (SD)] .

* p  <  0.05, **p  <  0.01, ***p  <  0.001. N = 98 for France, N = 90 for USA .

In seven of eight cases, the French score lower on quantity (hence higher on quality) than the Americans (Table ​ (Table5). 5 ). The one exception had to do with houses, where the French preferred (non-significantly) quantity more than Americans. Four of the remaining seven differences reveal a significantly higher quantity preference for Americans (at p  < 0.01 or better). A principal component factor analysis (SYSTAT) of these eight-items revealed a two factor solution. With an oblimin rotation, the first factor accounted for 34% of the variance and the second 21% of the variance. As with variety, the items sorted in terms of the type of entity; small/inexpensive (food, meals, clothes, shoes, and ticket) along with “friends,” versus larger/more expensive (house, vacation). “Friends” stands out as conceptually not belonging in either category, but falls statistically with the small/inexpensive factor. We created two factor scores by averaging the six components of the small/inexpensive factor (QSM6AVG) and the two components of the large/expensive factor (QLG2AVG). Since these two scores correlated 0.28 (0.29 USA, 0.42 France), and a Cronbach alpha on a scale that included all eight-items was 0.74, we also included the average of all eight-items (QALL8AVG). Americans were significantly more quantity oriented for the first (small item) factor ( p  < 0.001, Tables ​ Tables2 2 and ​ and3), 3 ), while the French were insignificantly more quantity oriented for the second (large item) factor (Table ​ (Table2). 2 ). The eight-item combined quantity score was significantly higher in the Americans ( p  < 0.01, Table ​ Table2). 2 ). None of the three combined quantity scores showed any significant effects of gender or gender by country interactions (Table ​ (Table3 3 ).

Since the French score higher on one item (house), it is unlikely that the French–American difference on quantity is simply a result of different biases in use of the scale. None of the three combined scores correlated significantly with religiosity. The overall eight-item quantity score correlated 0.24 ( p  < 0.01; 0.29 France, 0.30 USA) with the overall eight-item variety score, suggesting a link between a desire for quantity over quality and a desire for more variety.

Comforts versus joys

The third version of the questionnaire contained the questions that focused on the comfort–joy distinction. There is a subset of three of these questions written in parallel forms that address a specific subset of joy–comfort concerns (see Methods ). We predict, in accord with the hypothesis that the French are less comfort and more joy oriented, that they will opt more frequently for the new positive, but less certain experience. Our prediction holds, to different degrees for the three items (Table ​ (Table6), 6 ), with only one, for music, significant. The three favorite items inter-correlate positively (mean inter-item r  = 0.22, all positive and between 0.20 and 0.25), yielding a Cronbach alpha of 0.46. The three scores are averaged into a new score, CJFAV3AVG, which is significantly higher in the French (Table ​ (Table2). 2 ). There are no significant effects of gender or gender by country interaction (Table ​ (Table3 3 ).

We also analyzed the 10 additional items that measured the comfort–joy distinction. Of all 13 items, 10 yielded a higher joy score for French than Americans (Table ​ (Table6). 6 ). We are puzzled by the three that did not (Americans preferred more than the French a tropical hotel with a view as opposed to air-conditioning, a fulfilled as opposed to contented life, and a hotel plus theater tickets as opposed to a more luxurious hotel.) Of the 78 pairings of the 13 items, 18 were negatively correlated, the lowest at −0.17.

The 13 items (see Methods ; Table ​ Table6) 6 ) were subjected to a factor analysis. A principal component analysis (SYSTAT) with oblimin rotation yielded a four factor solution that accounted for 52% of the total variance, with the highest factor intercorrelation at r  = 0.13. The factors were not particularly easy to differentiate conceptually, but they showed strikingly different relations to country. Factor 1, which we will call Stimulation 1, included four items that focused on adding stimulation (to a hotel stay or in more abstract terms, see Table ​ Table6). 6 ). It was the only factor that showed a significantly higher joy score for the Americans ( p  < 0.01, Tables ​ Tables2 2 and ​ and3). 3 ). Two of the three items that scored higher on joy for Americans are in this factor, as are two others which showed almost identical scores. Factor 2, which we call Stimulation 2, has four items that are very similar, conceptually, to factor 1, again involving choices with more or less stimulation. All are about specific domains, two about food, one about music, and one about travel (vacations). This factor shows a very large ( p  < 0.001) difference, favoring more joy in the French (Tables ​ (Tables2 2 and ​ and6). 6 ). Factor 3 includes three items, none domain specific, and all of which explicitly address the idea of comfort as one of the alternatives. For this reason, we call it the comfort–joy factor. One item has to do with choice of metaphors for the ideal life (details in footnote 3 of Table ​ Table6), 6 ), and two are dichotomous items. One presents a choice of the ideal life as comfortable or interesting, and a second with a choice of happiness as either comfort or excitement. This factor shows the largest French–American difference, strongly favoring joy for the French (Tables ​ (Tables2 2 and ​ and6). 6 ). The fourth factor, which includes two items about hotel preferences, contrasting luxury, or stimulation, shows no difference between French and Americans (Tables ​ (Tables2, 2 , ​ ,3, 3 , and ​ and6 6 ).

An item that represents the average of all 13 items, CJALL13AVG (Cronbach alpha = 0.55), shows a significantly ( p  < 0.01) higher joy score for the French (Tables ​ (Tables2 2 and ​ and3), 3 ), but the country difference is smaller than the large differences on Factors 2 and 3, notably because the factor 1 items favor joy for the Americans.

On the basis of our knowledge of French and American culture and life, some historical writing about the two cultures, and our previous research, we proposed three potential general themes representing differences between French and American culture: Communal versus personal values, focus on quality as opposed to quantity, and greater emphasis on joys than comforts. We also linked a fourth theme, moderation versus abundance, in part, to the quality–quantity theme. We had gathered some evidence for higher French valuation of moderation, quality, and collective values in some of our prior work on food attitudes (Rozin et al., 1999 , 2003 , 2006 ). The purpose of this paper was to confirm these relationships within the food domain, extend the idea of joys versus comforts to the food domain, and then examine whether the three themes under investigation also appeared in other domains of life. We report evidence for a higher incidence of all three predicted differences (from the French perspective, communal values, quality, and joys) in food and in a number of other life domains. The results are highly significant, while at the same time, it is clear that there is a great deal of overlap between the French and Americans in valuation of these themes, and there are a few interesting “inversions” in particular domains.

The three themes that we have identified are not precisely defined, but rather are suggestions about clusters of beliefs or values. Through further conceptual analysis and measurements, it is hoped that more precise and empirically predictive formulations of the themes will occur.

The theme of communal versus personal values was instantiated in this study by desire for variety across domains. This is, of course, only one manifestation of this idea. What originally stimulated our thought about this theme was our own observations of the higher degree of ritualization of eating in France. We were impressed with, and documented (Rozin et al., 2006 ) the greater preference for a smaller number of choices in menus of French restaurants in France, and more particularly, that the main dish (usually meat with vegetables) seems much more often to be specified in detail in French restaurants (e.g., steak, French fries, and string beans) than in American restaurants (e.g., steak, your choice of potato, and your choice of vegetable). We interpret this as an example of the greater role of rules of appropriateness for food combinations (and particular sequences) in France, as well as greater respect for the chef as an arbiter of what is best to eat. As Lerner ( 1956 ) points out: “Frenchmen tend to be rigid in all matters associated with feeding…There is little deviation as to which wine goes with which food, and few venture from established rules” (p. 188; see also Fischler and Masson, 2008 ). Of our three themes, we expect that this one might be the most domain limited. We do not have the impression that French life is in general more “rule governed” than American life.

Quality versus quantity, as we have said, is related to the moderation versus abundance theme that our prior work on food portion size suggested (Rozin et al., 2003 ). Our results support generality of this theme. The one exception, houses, may be explainable in terms of another French theme, the focus on joys. The second house is typically a vacation house, and hence can be seen as a way to expand the diversity of life.

Joys versus comforts is, conceptually, the least well developed of our themes, and the items that we used to measure it are new, and need further work. Nonetheless, our findings support Scitovsky s ( 1992 ) proposal that comforts are relatively more important to Americans than to Europeans. There were three of thirteen items in which the predicted American preference for comfort did not appear. Two involved hotel choices, with the Americans preferring more than the French, a view to air-conditioning and a hotel plus theater tickets as opposed to a more luxurious hotel. The American preference for a hotel plus tickets as opposed to a more luxurious hotel may have tapped into the American inclination for quantity compared to the French value of quality. A luxurious hotel represents high quality, whereas a hotel room plus tickets implies getting a “bigger bang for the buck.” Americans may have liked this idea of receiving more for the same amount of money. A third hotel item, involving a trade-off between better food and more luxurious room, showed almost the same score for French and Americans. This finding conflicts with our previous finding of greater importance of food (versus luxuriousness of hotels) in our previous research (Rozin et al., 1999 ). The preference for a new versus familiar vacation site was also about the same for French and Americans. We cannot explain why the hotel/vacation context revealed a different set of preferences from other domains.

The item showing the strongest American–French difference favoring Americans on the joy dimension is “What do you desire your life to be like? Contented or Fulfilled.” Seventy-four percent of Americans endorsed “fulfilled” as opposed to only 34% of French. And this in spite of the fact that more French than Americans endorsed “interesting” as opposed to “comfortable” for another item inquiring about the ideal life. We cannot easily account for this in terms of connotations of the words used in the translations, and remain puzzled about this finding. It may indicate some important clarification of the meaning of joys and comforts. It is possible that “fulfilled” does not signify more interesting, but rather, more directly, achieving one's own goals (which may be for money or comfort).

As we composed items on joys and comforts, we became aware of the difficulty of making this distinction, as well as confirming for ourselves the importance of the distinction. Are joys necessarily more interesting, more likely to produce memories, more actively engaging, more social? Can a night watching television while sitting on a comfortable sofa be meaningfully classified as a comfort or a joy? It is surely comfortable and somewhat passive, but it also involves a set of distinct experiences, assuming that the television program (be it sports, quiz show, news, or drama) contains a set of unique experiences and potential memories. It is our view that the best way to develop and articulate the joy–comfort distinction is through exercises such as we carried out in this study: thinking up examples, and trying them out on people. Our 16 comfort–joy items, with one exception (meal as nutrition or family/friends) tap the relatively narrow distinction between interesting/memorable versus more routine occurrences. We believe this is an important component of the comfort–joy distinction, and perhaps the easiest to instantiate with discrete questions. But the comfort–joy distinction engages much more than memorable, including arousal, anticipation, and sociality.

French–American differences we have reported are confounded with Catholic–Protestant differences. Although it is unlikely that this difference in religion explains all of the French–American differences under consideration, it is also likely that it has some explanatory potential. The Protestant tradition is characterized by a greater emphasis on self-discipline, on control of the body, and on individuality (Weber, 1977 ; Whorton, 1982 ; Stearns, 2002 ; Puhl and Brownell, 2003 ). Pleasure is more likely to be confounded with sin and guilt among Protestants (Weber, 1977 ). Stearns ( 2002 ) has invoked Protestantism as a partial explanation of French–American differences in the food and dieting domain. Both Whorton ( 1982 ) and Stearns ( 2002 ) argue that many Americans believe it is the individual's responsibility to remain healthy, fit, and slim, and if the individual fails then he or she can be deemed irresponsible. Puhl and Brownell ( 2003 ) note that American values of strict discipline, personal responsibility, and strong morality are rooted in the Protestant work ethic that pervades American culture. As a result, Americans place high value on self-control and blame the victim for not succeeding. Levenstein ( 2003a ) suggests that Americans’ “fat-phobia” is connected to the Protestant work ethic, because Americans attribute being fat to a lack of individual control. Following from this, Americans have attached a substantial moral component to health, dieting, and fat. Whorton ( 1982 ) writes of the moral component Americans attach to health in general.

While almost our entire French sample is Catholic, there are substantial numbers of Catholics and Protestants in the American sample. As a preliminary effort to explore Protestant–Catholic differences, we examined the scores of American Catholics versus Protestants on all of the summary variables listed in Table ​ Table2. 2 . There were no significant differences at p  < 0.01 (two-tailed) or better.

This study surely raises more issues than it settles, both for methodological and conceptual reasons. Acknowledging the methodological problems associated with comparing views expressed in different languages, we suggest preliminary, exploratory qualitative work (e.g., focus groups) can help identify “native” idiomatic language and categories, thus eschewing some of the problems classically arising from translation, in particular wording that sounds foreign, unfamiliar, misleading, or even meaningless to some interviewees. Although we did use focus groups in some of our previous studies, we were not able to do so in this particular one.

The study began with some hypotheses based on knowledge of the two countries and some prior literature. We gathered samples of adults from both countries that supported these ideas and helped to clarify and refine them. But this is just a first and preliminary step: some ideas, some evidence for them, and some subsequent refinement of the ideas, as indicated in this discussion. We feel this is a contribution to cultural psychology in that it raises three types of cultural differences that have received little or no consideration before and provides some evidence for them. The evidence is not strong, and more conceptual work, better scales, and better and larger samples would be necessary to fully develop the three themes we present. More thinking and more data collection would be necessary to produce useful and coherent scales to represent each of our three themes. In particular, the comfort–joy distinction needs further exploration, at both the conceptual and empirical levels. This would include an extension of this contrast, to comparisons of other countries and cultures, and relating this distinction to economic/expenditure measures, and measures of quality of life.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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