France (FR)
France is a unitary semi-presidential republic and the EU's most visited country, renowned for its world-class cuisine and wine, the iconic City of Light that is Paris, the French Riviera, iconic Alpine ski resorts, and a generous social state offering universal healthcare, extensive family benefits, and strong worker protections.
Daily Life
Practical day-to-day information for living in France.
🛒 Supermarkets
German-owned discount chains. Excellent value, especially for wine and bakery. Growing share of French market.
The "big four" French hypermarkets. Carrefour Market and Intermarché Express are smaller urban formats.
Urban mid-range supermarkets. Monoprix is slightly more upmarket with a strong own-label range. Note: Casino Group sold all its French supermarkets (366 stores) by Q1 2025 — stores were rebranded as Intermarché, Auchan or Carrefour.
Frozen food specialist — extremely popular in France for high-quality ready meals.
Specialist in fresh produce, cheese, meat, fish. Often cheaper and better quality than supermarkets.
Organic/bio supermarkets. More expensive, strong ethical focus.
Opening Hours
Supermarkets: Mon–Sat 8:30/9am–8pm typically. Small city shops often close 12:30–14:30 for lunch (pause méridienne). Pharmacies: Mon–Sat 9am–7:30pm with lunch closure. Most shops close Sunday afternoons outside tourist zones (ZTI).
Sunday Rules
Sunday opening is regulated by the Code du travail. In designated tourist zones (ZTI) — central Paris, Marais, Champs-Élysées, airports, major stations — shops open. Outside these, most shops close Sundays; boulangeries open Sunday mornings. Supermarkets typically open Sunday 9am–1pm (varies). Plan grocery shopping for Saturday.
Recycling
France uses a colour-coded bin system governed by local communes. Yellow bin (bac jaune) for packaging, paper and cardboard (all now mixed in most communes under "extension des consignes de tri"). Green/white for glass (verre). Brown (bio-déchets) mandatory since January 2024 for all households under AGEC law. Grey/black for general waste (ordures ménagères). Check your commune's exact rules at triercestdonner.fr or your mairie.
Dining Out
Lunch formule (menu du jour) offers great value: €14–22 for 2 courses. Dinner: €25–45 per main at a bistro. Brasseries serve all day; restaurants typically only at service times (12:00–14:30 and 19:30–22:30). Water is served free on request (carafe d'eau). Bread is free and refilled.
Utilities & Internet
Electricity: EDF (Tarif Bleu — regulated) or free-market providers (TotalEnergies, Engie, Enercoop, OHM Énergie). Gas: Engie, TotalEnergies, Eni. Set up online with your RIB. Broadband: Orange (ex-France Télécom), Free, SFR, Bouygues Telecom. Fibre (fibre optique) widely available in cities — up to 8 Gbit/s in Paris.
Cultural Tips for Expats
- → Always say "Bonjour Madame/Monsieur" when entering a shop or office. Skipping this is the #1 cultural faux pas.
- → Meals are sacred and social. Do not eat while walking or on public transport.
- → Strikes (grèves) are a French institution — SNCF, RATP, airlines, schools all strike periodically. Check news the day before any important travel.
- → Don't discuss salaries or money — considered deeply private and vulgar.
- → August is la grande coupure — Paris empties, many shops, bakeries and restaurants close for 2–4 weeks.
Quiet Hours
Noise rules (tapage nocturne and tapage diurne) are enforced under the Code de la santé publique and municipal arrêtés. Unlike Germany, France does not have federally fixed quiet hours — rules depend on your commune and building règlement de copropriété. Day-time excessive noise (tapage diurne) is also prohibited. Fines start at €68 (amende forfaitaire) and can reach €450 for an infraction de 3ème classe.
All audible noise to neighbours: music, TV, loud conversations, power tools, washing machines. Exact hours set by commune and building rules — check your contract.
Repeated or intense daytime noise can also be an offence under Code de la santé publique R.1337-7 if it disturbs neighbours disproportionately.
Drilling, hammering, sawing. Many communes ban DIY work entirely on Sundays. Check your mairie.
- •Running a washing machine on a spin cycle at 11pm.
- •Hosting a pendaison de crémaillère (housewarming) without warning neighbours in advance.
- •DIY drilling at 9am on a Sunday.
- •Loud conversations on the balcony late at night — common source of neighbour complaints.
- •Playing music with the windows open, even during the day.
- •Using a garden strimmer or mower on Sunday afternoon in residential zones.
First: verbal complaint from a neighbour, or a médiation by the gardien/syndic. Persistent: police municipale can issue an amende forfaitaire de 68€ on the spot. Serious: a contravention de 3ème classe (€450 fine) issued by the commissariat. Repeated violations: grounds for expulsion under articles 1728 and 1729 of the Code civil if you are a tenant. The procès-verbal becomes part of your tenancy record.
Postal Services
La Poste is the French state postal operator (now partially listed). It handles letters, parcels, and also operates La Banque Postale (a major retail bank), mobile services (La Poste Mobile) and identity services (L'Identité Numérique). Chronopost is La Poste's express parcel brand. Official letters from préfecture, CAF, impôts or tribunal are delivered with a lettre recommandée — always worth opening immediately.
La Poste operates Consignes Pickup lockers and collection points at some 10,000+ Relais Pickup shops across France. Colissimo, Chronopost and Mondial Relay all offer pickup-point delivery, often cheaper than to-home. Track parcels via La Poste app.
For identity verification online, French residents use "L'Identité Numérique La Poste" (a free service linked to FranceConnect+). You activate it by visiting a bureau de poste once with your ID; thereafter it is used for sensitive online services including AssuranceMaladie (Ameli), impots.gouv.fr and caf.fr. FranceConnect+ is required for tax residence certificates, Carte Grise, and several high-value procedures.
Lettre recommandée avec avis de réception (LRAR) — "LR/AR" — is the standard legal proof of delivery in France. Used for: rental notice to landlord, formal complaints, tax disputes, employment termination. From €5.70 (domestic). Your recipient must sign for it and the signed slip returns to you. Since 2019, Lettre recommandée électronique (LRE) has the same legal weight — cheaper, via laposte.fr.
When moving, set up a réexpédition du courrier (mail forwarding) with La Poste. From €37/6 months (same address) or €62/12 months. Order online at laposte.fr/reexpedition or at any bureau de poste. Notify impôts, CPAM, CAF, bank and employer directly — the forwarding is only a safety net.
- →Non-La Poste parcels (Mondial Relay, Chronopost, UPS, DPD, GLS) all have their own apps — use them for fastest tracking.
- →Sunday post: no delivery. Saturdays: reduced service (letters only, not parcels in most communes).
- →Junk mail: a "STOP PUB" sticker on your letterbox legally reduces unaddressed advertising by up to 90%.
- →Set up an Identité Numérique on arrival — it unlocks many government services and avoids repeated queuing.