Of course, the first thing you notice is the differences when you’re in a foreign country. We made this list of the most noticable differences we saw.

1. Transportation. Public transportation is much more widespread. Large and medium sized towns have it and cities often have many choices (buses and trams or subway for example). In most cases, Google maps can tell you what bus to catch at what time but sometimes we had to download a separate app, like in Lyon. On the other hand, roads are not as developed. Many times we had to travel through many small towns and on winding roads to get from city to city.

2. The snack foods. When we got home, the first thing the kids wanted to do was go grocery shopping and get some snacks they had missed. I was craving tortilla chips (the really thin ones) and fresh salsa. Cal wanted spray cheese (yuck!) and hot pretzels. Asa missed Goldfish crackers and Esme missed cheese balls (similar to Cheetos for those who are not familiar). We found that most French “snacks” were sweet. The did have chips and crackers but most people ate cookies or other sweet packaged snacks for their afternoon snack. Chips and crackers were usually served before dinner if at all.

3. Meal times. American meal times are as follows: breakfast around 8-10am (lighter during the week, possibly your “typical” eggs, bacon, pancakes on the weekend), lunch around noon (sandwiches, soups or salads are common), dinner around 5 or 6 pm, and many people have a snack or treat later in the evening/before bed. The French eat breakfast around the same time as us and they usually eat bread, croissants, cereal, juice and chocolate milk. Lunch can be sandwiches of you’re having a picnic but it is often a hot meal. Many French people have 1-2 hours of lunchtime and some go home for a hot meal. Goûter is afternoon snack which is eaten around 4pm. This is essential for kids who can’t go 7+ hours between lunch and dinner. Some adults eat goûter too (I know I needed it). Dinner is served no earlier than 7pm and sometimes as late as 10pm. Many times it starts with a snack and a drink (apéro) and sometimes includes several courses. After dinner many people eat yogurt and/or cheese.

Of course there are tons of differences we noticed but these were the ones I thought of immediately. I’m not pointing these out to say one way is better than the other. Personally, I liked eating late. I also liked the importance that the meal was given. A couple of times, Nova asked if French people could just “talk normal” in other words, in English. It reminded me that to a child “normal” has a very small range. On this trip, especially because we stayed with so many families, their definition of “normal” expanded. I’d like to be able to repeat this experience with another country sometime soon so it can be expanded even further.