Never been a great fan of northern industrial France and I usually try and drive though it quickly to get to Germany or wherever else. Most of the rest of France is lovely though. I've stayed in some western villages near Colmar (close to Europa Park) which have been jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The food that way is also astonishing in terms of quantity and quality.
I have a friend who lives in Chartes and that is a lovely town. We went to her birthday party with a load of locals who were all kind and friendly to us. I asked her once if the French have the same feeling of rivalry for the English as we do for them and she said that France is more interested in its rivalry with Germany (no idea if that's a widespread stereotype or not?)
I've also been down to Nice and the southern coast which is a bit pretentious to be honest, not my kind of scene, but nice enough.
Going to the Loire Valley for a week in early July and that is looking gorgeous. Lots of lakes and woodland and chateaux everywhere.
Having said that, Metz is probably the worst place I've ever been to. We drove past an abandoned block of flats with one side torn down and the rooms exposed to the air and...people were living there. Felt very sketchy.
I have come across some animosity about 'having to speak English' but not as much as is the British preconception. TBH, I completely agree, if people can't be bothered to even attempt your language you have a right to be miffed. On the other hand, my French is awful. I never had a single French lesson at school (which is shameful when you consider I live an hour and a half from the ferry). But I at least have a go.
Things I like about France:
- Lots of stonkingly beautiful countryside and old villages
- things seem a bit more chill in terms of health and safety/restrictions (like when we went to the Pointe du Hoc and I couldn't believe you can just walk about on all the old WWII sites with all the barbed wire everywhere - in the UK that'd be behind a rope with National Trust shoving cream teas at you from the side).
- There's very little traffic outside of the cities and actually, Paris is not that difficult to navigate round, I find it much easier than London)
- there are tonnes of places to pull over along the main roads (not always full service stations but lots of places with just a picnic site and/or toilet)
- Lots of places are dog-friendly, especially in the south.
- The sterotype of the French accent sounding romantic to English ears is true to some extent
Things I dislike:
- You can't take dogs into national parks, which kind of scuppers any mountain walking plans
- the amount of silly laws in place for drivers (you currently need a high visibility vest for everyone in the car, two warning triangles, a breathaliser kit, a pollution sticker telling you what emission level the car is...it's nuts). And before the ferry, the gendarmerie lie in wait specifically to fine unsuspecting Brits who don't have all the correct stuff. No other country I've been to does this
- the whole nationalistic thing (having a quota for French language music airplay - is that even a thing any more?)
- the obsession with tabbouleh. Just WTF?
- France is the absolute worst place to be veggie. Even Asia is easier. Pretty much every meal has meat in it except for salad and ratatouille.
Wow, that was a bit longer than expected!
