I’ve started exploring further and here’s what I found.
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hey guys EG here so uh I’m headed out to uh get some lunch and explore a little bit so I’ll uh I’ll take you along with me and show you some of the streets in uh perelle walking along I think it’s about a mile I have to walk to get kind of towards the center interesting building getting towards like a Park area or something so not sure what that well I figured out what it [Music] was so this is cool apartments for rent they have 7 €5 a month for that lovely apartment and 730 a month for that one gee if only I could live here also let me show you this what a cool building love that apartment building just tucked away here blue means it’s raining and that’s the first view of the pasier a very famous landmark in parapo it’s raining so I’m going to head back to the Airbnb because uh don’t really want to walk in this too much I’m going to have to walk all the way back though so it’s good it was a very good lunch I’ll talk about it more when I get home yeah just have to do more video of this though St over there [Music] see hey hi EG here back from uh my exploration of the s v and uh having my crep and uh nice walk there and back probably walked about I looked at my steps it’s about was about a mile three quars total round trip so perfect walk for me um and so I’ll be able to go down to the salt um quite a bit um this weekend we’re supposed to have some rain so probably won’t but maybe by Monday I’m going to go my next task is to explore coffee shops where I can hang out I’d like to find a couple of places in town that I can just sit either inside or outside because it you know the weather should be getting warmer as the month goes on and uh but places that I can just sit and uh enjoy and have something to drink and maybe some lunch and uh you know wait hang out there for 3 hours even that would be great to do a couple times a week so uh I’m on the lookout for that I have a couple of ideas to go to on Monday so I’m going to do that so I’m going to share with you now someon sorry my little tripod is acting up there we go I’m going to share with you now some initial observations shall we say thoughts on things all France that I find interesting um well first of all this doesn’t just apply to France this is in Europe in general so I’m fascinated by uh the the money here um so it’s not hard to use if you’re used to Dollars and cents because it’s basically the same thing in Euros so a euro is like a dollar and and you have cents which equal up to a Euro so but they don’t have the same kind of bills and coins we do in the sense that they have I assume a $100 bill although I have not seen it they have a 100 possibly they definitely have a 50 a 20 a 10 and a five there’s nothing less than a 5e old bill which I find interesting because of course we have $1 bills in the US so here instead they have a twoe coin a one coin a 50 Cent um 50 cent coin and then down from there like a they don’t have a quarter they have a 20 cent They have a 10 a five I think they have a two and a one I have a over Supply let’s say of coin because you use the one and the two euro coins a lot just like you’d use like a dollar bill and so I got tons of change and I keep now trying to use it when I go to the market or this you know if I go to a Patisserie or something like that I want to use the coins as much as possible because I’m getting a big stack in my little change and uh it’s too much so that’s one observation I don’t I don’t know if it’s better to have it the way they have it or not to be honest so I’m not don’t get on me in the comments I’m not criticizing it I’m just noticing the difference and how it seems to result in getting a lot more coin I’ll keep you notified as to how I feel about it in future the other observation I have which again may not just be in France it could be throughout Europe where are the paper products people where are the paper products so if you go to the mche there’s there’s toilet paper plenty of toilet paper there’s some tissue like Kleenex type thing although in quality neither of them stand up to the paper products in the US and I know that people if you’ve traveled in Europe you already know this but where are the paper towels I know they must make them but they’re not at my mhe uh and uh I still have to go to some like larger stores that might have more variety and hopefully they will have them I don’t have any in my Airbnb there’s no napkins there’s no paper towels so every time I do something I have to just go rinse off my hands because there’s no towel and I have to tell you this is something I’m very spoiled about as an American I am I I have to admit it I’m spoiled I like the paper towels what can I say you use them for all sorts of things use them to wipe your hands like a napkin you use them to clean up messes you use them to clean off things like there’s so many uses for paper towels how can they not have too many of them I know they must have them but it’s hard to find them so this is another observation I’m making right now is that I I’m confused don’t I have to say it’s probably an environmental reason why they don’t they’re not using as many uh they’re not chewing through as many trees so that’s good for the environment I agree so again don’t jump on me in the comments I’m just observing and kind of going into a little bit of culture shock over not having paper towels and um share with me your experience with that if you’re living in Europe or you’re you know visiting for a long time and you’ve had the same issue I think if you just come here as a tourist you probably wouldn’t even notice because if you’re just staying in hotels or something like that you’d think oh I don’t need paper towels but there’s no paper towels well there are but I can’t find them so so that’s another observation um let’s see let’s do three let’s let’s do anytime I do observations let’s do like three observations okay so let me do another observation here which is that um there are no screens on the Windows there are no screens on Windows M I don’t understand I don’t like bugs in my place that I’m living and uh so I have not been opening my door at all because even though it’s technically still winter here there are bugs out there I’ve seen flies I’ve seen mosquitoes because this is the south of France and they do get a lot of mosquitoes I understand so I have seen this and I don’t want them in where I’m staying and fortunately it’s not hot yet I mean so I don’t really need to open the window or the it’s actually a sliding door but I’m like what the heck people why are there no screens please Somebody explain it to me in the comments why apparently in Europe there aren’t screens because I did not even think about that honestly never even considered that was going to be an issue so uh let me know if there are any countries that do have screens because I will want to go there I’m sorry I have to say this one I have to take a stand on you know I can be open-minded about the paper towels I can be open-minded about the currency differences I can get I can get through all that the screens thing oh M and uh I I don’t know I I’m speechless I’m speechless I don’t know how did we start developing screens for Windows in the the US and nobody else did it do they have screens in Canada I think they do anyway let me know the countries that you know of that use window screens or door screens because I’m sorry I don’t understand this living with bugs thing I don’t I don’t like bugs I I’ll tell you a quick story about that back when I was uh I think I was doing bement counseling this would have been 20 years ago and I had a client that wanted me to come by and have dinner with her and her husband and uh they lived they had horses they had like a little ranchette I would call it I guess they had about five acres it wasn’t real big but she had horses and I remember about their house that the windows were wide open and there were no screens and guess what the house was full of flies everywhere flies everywhere and I was so grossed out I could barely eat because While She Was preparing it I’m seeing them land on the chicken the Flies and I I just lost my appetite so uh it was a tough thing to get through and I have to say I never said anything to her of course I wasn’t going to offend her but I didn’t understand it I was like how do you just live with all these flies you know you watch movies about you know 100 years ago 200 years ago you don’t see flies in the movie do you no so they’re not very realistic are they because you know what everything must have been freaking covered with flies back then so real I have a real problem and I’m just I’m coming clean here I need to go to a 12-step meeting for people who hate bugs in their house because I’m a little freaked out about this now I’m hoping most of the airbnbs I’m staying at I if I remember correctly do have this one doesn’t but but a lot of them do have like a mini split so they have like heat and air conditioning if I have air conditioning I will be taking the air conditioning I will not be opening the window to the bugs so I’m sorry you’ve learned this about me if you feel the need to unsubscribe because I really freak out at the bugs in the in my dwelling uh feel free because I can’t back down on this one this one is hard for me this one is hard for me and you know what Lucy agrees do you want to see how Lucy feels about it let me let me show you let me just take you with me for a second let’s go over and talk to Lucy Lucy uh what are you saying she’s still having she has some difficulty sometimes with English but uh she’s basically saying she doesn’t like bugs either she doesn’t like bugs either and she really was hoping she said that in Machu Picchu they didn’t have too many bugs because of the elevation so so she’s not a fan and neither am I anyway say hi Lucy hola okay um so that’s that’s my three observations for today’s video I will pick up with this I think I’ve gone on way too long with this video I will uh pick up with the next video doing more exploring more observations more uh insights hopefully feel free to comment below be kind and I’ll see you you in the next video and uh don’t forget to give this video a like I don’t have you know those little things up on the wall for doing like and stuff so I have to remind you occasionally so please hit the like button anyway until next time be kind always and uh keep moving forward take care bye
40 Comments
6:45 Overall, very enlightening and good luck! 👍 However, I’m a bit confused. Paper products? Why would you need paper towels if you have towel towels? The only reason I can think of is having a roll in the kitchen for cooking and they are certainly available where you are if that’s what you mean. All the best!
Here in Canada we do not have a bill smaller than a 5 either. We have a loonie (1 dollar coin)
Toonie (2 dollar coin). And we also no longer have the Penny. 🙂
Screens for the windows exist, they are not everywhere. I guess most people prefer to have an open window instead of being behind a screen…
But generally people use curtains of different styles while opening the window to prevent (most) bugs from entering, or we use glued things very effective to catch flies in summer, or the good old "tapette à mouches".
I think in Europe in general you use a larger type paper roll for ”household” wiping. Otherwise multi use wipes and kitchen towels. In northern scandinavia we have mosquito nets for windows. Dunno what the deal with screens are in france. But im thinking if the french arent getting sick from flies landing on the food, neither will you. Embrace nature! Nature doesnt always feel convenient❤
Hi, Elder Gal, you'll find cheap paper towels at Intermarché, ask for "Essuie-tout Compact Top Budget", they come in a pack of 3 rolls. I use them daily.
As for screens, in French "moustiquaires" (pronounce "moostickair") you might find something at the supermarket Action for the moment at the gardening section.
No paper towels in Italy also!
I live in a Scandinavian country and we have huge amounts of mosquitos. Screens are very helpful. I suspect bugs are not as large a problem there.
Use a towel to dry your hands and a wettex to clean surfaces and such🎉
10:30 In my new apartment (not in France but close enough), screens have never been even considered. They used to be popular back in the 90s, but quite fortunately those days are gone. I see multiple good reasons to not have them: This passive building with its elaborate ventilation system makes life simple: you don’t open the windows, because you don’t need to. When you do open a window, because you want to, then yes, there are insects, especially the very welcome ones (mosquito hunters, mostly, such as dragonflies) who dwell in the dry environment on new buildings’ roofs, purposefully designed to attract such species. That said, screens block a huge lot of light for little to no benefit. They collect dust and look nasty when unmaintained, so they double your window cleaning bill every year. That would be justifiable if there was a hornet infestation or some such, but a reasonably functioning city / community is unlikely to have such issues.
Forget the papertowels. We protect our nature here in Europe.❤
In Canada we have toonies and loonies in coins. Out highest bill is five.
Yeah we have window screens in Canada. 😅
Paper towels are wasteful as are paper napkins; they don't have the paper manufacturing industry that the USA does. I'm in USA and only use cloth towels, napkins etc. better for environment
no screens, bc breezes take care of a lot of bugs; I lived in France for 6.5 yrs – no screens then in hte 70-80's. You can have screens made I'm sure.
Lived in Munich for 25 years and never ONCE even thought that I need a screen. Why? Screens are gross.
The algorithm brought me here and I’m happy it did!
I’d love to retire and explore coffee shops at my leisure. ❤
When I've traveled to the EU, the higher up you stay in a hotel or apartment building, the less bugs you'll see. Love your channel! It came up on my YouTube feed and am watching several of your videos. Enjoy and Bon Voyage!
Hello from Italy. I ran into your channel by chance, and here I am, very interested in your experiment. Well, it's not impossible to find paper towels but they're mostly for hotels and public spaces, so you can find them in specific shops which usually sell in great quantity and not in supermarkets or malls. We do have tablecloths too but usually they are for parties. We surely have the kitchen paper (you could use it as towels as well, and we use it to clean things, of course) and tissues vary in quality from brand to brand. I always use the same brand, and anyway they got worse in time because of shrinkflation. And, of course, in France you can have all sorts of screen, but maybe the b&b you're staying in chose not to use them. You can buy the cheap magnetic mosquito screens in hardware stores (or online). Curtains also do the job (at least in part)
I like my paper towells too!
I would buy some wash cloths, wash them out in a sink and hang to dry. I just found you today, im happy for you getting to France and enjoying life.
Have you seen the multiple hanging strings of beads, like a long curtain, that are sold to reduce flys in your home?
Have a wonderful day!
Deb from Michigan.
Lots of suggestions for you to keep flies out but you won’t be there long enough to go to the trouble or expense of most solutions. The essential oil trick sounds the best for short term. And I’m with you. Must have paper towels. I find it a hygiene thing as well as convenience. If I’m going to eat or drink from something I don’t want it dried with a towel that has been frequently handled and in your situation, frequent washing of cloth dish towels probably isn’t an option. Enjoy ❤️
Yes we definitely do have screens in Canada 🙂 I'm totally with you on the bug front.
I live in Ecuador, we do not have screens also. You can have them installed.
Paper towels, we save trees but use more water to wash them. I use reusable paper towels as long as I can in order to put off washing the cloth towels😊
I have my electric bug zapper on.
You might want to also look online for crime maps so you know what areas of cities to avoid. Some times police stations have these and of course Chrome translates most European language sites well. They usually differentiate between different types of crime and remember that most assaults are domestic. Im thinking you may want to watch for high theft.
Also regarding paper. It’s going to be hard to find or very expensive all over Europe. I travelled by backpack throughout Europe with my sister staying in private rooms at hostels (and some out of seasons tourist hotels in ski areas) about 12 years ago. Every where we went paper was used sparingly. We also had drying racks at all hotels and air bnb type places. Dryers were only lightly used. The machines were W/D combined and overall saving the planet was a priority, unlike the US. Often our room card keys turned on the light so as we left and took our key, out went the lights.
Yes,there are screens in Canada. Unfortunately our Canadian dollar is worth so much less than the Euro.
First time to see you here. Love your channel. You are right about window screens in France. 😊
Really enjoying watching your videos, EG. thanks for sharing.
Paper towels can be made from pulp from plantation timber and it helps to lock up carbon. So there is no legit environmental reason not to sell them.
The currency sounds similar to the British pound system.
No screens in the windows in the UK, either! I'm in NYC, and I find it very weird! Have been to Venice, and no screens there, either. Was more worried about the pigeons on the window ledge 🤣
Get yourself a Euro Rail Pass it will save you a lot of money, Allison!
We use terry towel to dry our hands after wash, and sponge to clean up. No disposable towel , no waste, only reusable things that you clean and recycle.
Mexico has screens on their windows. 😊
Considered those magnetic screen doors/windows? Very affordable and effective. And, surely there are some that are portable…for wherever you lay your head. You may get a couple french side-eyes.😉 But, no bugs!👍
I understand the coin problem. In NZ we have 10c, 20c , 50c, $1 and $2. Paper dollars start at $5. Even without the smaller coins it accumulates. Fly screens are very uncommon here as is American style central heating as we don’t have basements for a furnace. We use electric kettles to boil our water for tea and coffee and have heated electric towel rails. We also hang our washing outside to dry or use a rack if it’s not drying weather even though we have dryers as an option. Culture shock is real and it fascinates me that what people think is normal in their own country, others find strange.
Of course you can buy paper towels at the supermarket. People use more dishtowels in the kitchen. Americans are wasteful…look at statistics of how much more natural resources, electricity, gas and water Amercans consume per capita than in Europe.
In public places there're those air-blowers you'll have to stick your hands into 🙂
No screens ?? – they're closing windows and doors – and opening up for the climatiseurs/air conditioning, called CLIMs