During February vacation, I traveled to Paris, France to visit my dad and grandparents, who live in the city. I had not been to Paris since before Covid, almost three years ago, so both the city and I had changed a lot since the last time I had made the journey across the Atlantic. I love going to Paris because it gives me a chance to experience very different scenery than I get to experience here in Natick, and although France is similar to the United States on a global scale, as both are modern, industrialized, western countries, I get to experience a different language and culture. As I walked around the city, I noted the differences between the two cultures, the upsides and the downsides of both countries. Now it is time to reflect and compare these two cultures and nations. 

Food: Breakfast

It is no secret that, like the U.S., France is famous for its food. The French are often known for their exquisite cuisine and their peculiar dishes like snails or frog legs. However, my comparison is not about the luxury dishes found in fancy restaurants that none of us would ever eat; this is about the everyday food that the average person in that country would be likely to eat and enjoy. For me, the winner is obvious: France. When it comes to food, France leaves the United States in the dust, and it isn’t even close. You only have to look as far as breakfast to see why. Here in the U.S., breakfast is known as “the most important meal of the day”, however it is also the most daily skipped meal in the country. That is probably because the options consist of bagels—great—or more commonly, stale donuts from the historic pastry shop, Dunkin’ Donuts. Compare this to France where I would wake up everyday to the smell of fresh pastries made that very morning from the local pastry shop, the boulangerie. When you walk into a boulangerie you are instantly hit with the indescribable smell of the combination of fresh croissants, chocolate or butter, along with the smell of warm bread, chocolate, and sugar. Your eyes widen as you see all the delicious pastries in the window. The only negative is deciding what you are going to pick. Don’t get me wrong, Dunkin’ is good, but compared to the local boulangerie, it isn’t even in the same galaxy.

Food: Dessert

Just like with breakfast, the U.S. just can't compete with French desserts. France just has too much variety. The United States has good desserts like cheesecake, apple pie, and other sweets, but once again, France is in a different league. Yes, you can get many of the same desserts you could get here in the U.S, but it simply isn’t the same. The tiramisu, the chocolate mousse, the raspberry sorbet, the cheese and crackers, even the ice cream just tastes better. And what I like about France is that they eat slowly and really enjoy their food instead of slurping it down in fifteen minutes like Americans. Even after their long dinners that go deep into the beautiful Parisian night, dessert is always an obligation, no matter how much food you just consumed. That is a mindset I can get behind. 

Style

Another thing the French are famous for is fashion. When it comes to fashion, the French and the Americans are very different. I wouldn’t say I have a favorite out of the two, but I find the differences very interesting. Everyone knows the luxurious French brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel, but again, this comparison is about the common person. However, I notice that this culture of high fashion affects even the common folks in France. You will rarely see a French person in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, unless it is a full Adidas tracksuit that was most likely made in China. Wearing casual clothing like sweatpants is seen as lame and of poor taste, so you will often see French people, even teenagers and children, in jeans or khakis or cargo pants, with a nice shirt or expensive coat, on just an average day. Here in Natick, kids wear sweatpants and sneakers and call it drip. The biggest difference is what kids wear to school. What I respect about the U.S. is that the desire is not always to look cool, but instead to just be comfy. You will often see kids pulling up to school in oversized sweatshirts, slippers, and, even better: pajamas. The idea of wearing pajamas to school in France is unheard of. Over there, you would be ridiculed for wearing such a thing. Nonetheless, like I said before, I like how Americans just aim to be comfortable. France’s try-hard mentality of always having to look your best can definitely get tiring. 

Beauty

America is ugly. The cities are ugly and have no personality or character. None of them have  rich architecture that dates back multiple centuries, and many of them look rundown and musty. It is impossible to compare the average U.S. city to European cities, which are thousands of years old, with amazing architecture that goes back to the Renaissance or earlier, that entices you with a piece of history on every street you walk on. For me, Paris is the pinnacle of the historical city. Literally every street has a personality of its own, every corner is somehow interesting: the buildings are old but beautiful, the cafés are charming, the bridges are complex, and the fountains are distinctive. I could walk through Paris for hours, which just clearly cannot be said of so many American cities. To walk around Paris is to experience history in person. The point has to go to France here. 

Music/TV

Whenever I go to France I really enjoy watching the television and listening to the music because it is interesting to see what is popular in mainstream culture in a foreign country. I try to listen to the most popular songs and watch the most common TV shows to see what people in France would be experiencing in their daily lives. Of course, nothing beats American music. Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. has a lot of bad music but the influence of American musicians and styles on the rest of the world is unparalleled. Even in France, the majority of songs on the radio are the same ones we hear here, the ones made by American artists. France has a lot of great music as well, but it just cannot be compared to the scale of American music. 

Also, I find that the new generation of French artists is particularly bad. Almost all of the mainstream songs in rap and pop are filled with lyrics that don’t mean a single thing, not to mention how they blast your ears with terrible autotune. However, when it comes to TV, I have different thoughts. Let me elaborate. In the U.S., streaming services have become so popular that cable TV has become literal garbage. There is never anything good to watch, and the shows that are on are terrible. In France, although streaming services are very popular, they have not given up on cable completely just yet, so they put in a lot more effort in producing good television. I find that in France, there are many more options of what to watch, and just a higher quality of shows in the first place. However, since TV is dying and many people are just fine with their Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus, this may not matter at all, and overall the US may have the edge here. 

France and the United States are powerful countries that influence the entire world, and for me, it is fascinating to compare their different cultures and ways of living. It is up to you to decide which country you think has the edge in the topics discussed, as well as to compare the cultures of other countries of Natick High School Students. In the end though, I don’t think it is necessarily all about which country’s culture is better, but instead about recognizing the differences, strengths, and weaknesses of different countries in key cultural aspects that affect our lives every day.