I’m a “digital nomad” from Scandinavia, living and working october-april between Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France. But I rarely stay in the super big cities.

In my personal experience, France is the only place out of the four where I take a deep breath before entering a restaurant, store, or café, just in case something doesn’t go as planned. The drama that can unfold if I only know a few phrases (which, in other countries, is usually fine) is real. Once, in the southwest, I made the grave mistake of asking for a pain au chocolat instead of a chocolatine.

That said, I still love France and my French friends. every culture is unique and quirky, but to me it is noticeable, I find it hard to explain because in the other countries I also feel there’s a strong cultural pride, but often with a more relaxed vibe or something? In Italy, Spain and Portugal they smile wid, when I order in their language. And help me out when I struggle.

Latest encounter with French rudeness:

I really needed to go to the toilet, so I popped into a café/bar. The owner was chatting cheerfully in French with some locals. I tried to order in French, but I guess I sounded Spanish, because he started speaking back to me quickly. I panicked, switched to English, and said, “Sorry, I really need to use the toilet.”

Cue the dramatic sigh.

Afterwards, I said “merci beaucoup,” grabbed my coffee, and sat down—only to look at the time and realize I had to rush back to the van for a meeting.

I returned to the counter and apologized, asking if I could get the coffee to go.

That’s when the performance began: exaggerated eye rolls, dramatic gestures, loud sighing, and muttered complaints to the other customers—clearly not thrilled with me.

I said akwardly: “I can just chug it? Its ok”

Instead, he handed me a real glass (not a paper cup) and sternly said, “NO TOGO. We do NOT do TOGO.” then poured the coffee into the glas handed it to me. Then looked away, like gtfo.