Thread 2829912

Which parts of the country should I go to in order to get a taste of old school France? I am aware Paris is now a shithole but surely there are some areas that are still fairly beautiful and safe?

>>2829912 (OP)
nice

>>2829912 (OP)
Loire valley (following the castles from Angers to Tour)
Morbihan (Vannes, Guerande, La Baule, but avoid the rest of Britanny like Rennes or Brest)
Perigord

Paris gets a bad rap. There are plenty of nice neighborhoods in the city. Muslims don't drink alcohol, so you don't see them in the neighborhoods with a bars. St Germain and the Marais are great.

But the answer to your question is Annecy. I'd also recommend a lot of the small cities and towns on the Rhine. Selestat, Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Colmar, Eguisheim and Kaysersberg. Strasbourg is cool too.

The Pyrenees

>>2829967
This or Massif Central (Cantal, Haute-Loire, Aveyron...). It's rural, hilly (sights), beautiful, not crowded, central so quite typically french.

Annecy is an expensive overcrowded tourist trap even if it looks good. Bretagne is nice but filled with parisians and quite culturally distinct. Alsace is also not exactly what most people would imagine as "typically French". Loire Valley is okay but too centered around castles.

>>2829979
The best places are typically going to be the most crowded. Expensive is relative. Annecy is significantly cheaper than Paris. You can find a hotel in Annecy for 75 euro any day of the week. A fantastic pizza at Voglia is 10 euro. A beer is 5 euro anywhere in town. I was there in 2023. There are a few prettier cities in France, but none in a better location.

>>2829979
>Massif Central
Big parts of Massif Central are just depressing.
Good scenery to go hicking (ie Puy de Sancy), but the towns are horrible.

>>2830009
>I've visited the place once, trust me bro
>Annecy is significantly cheaper than Paris
>a pizza at Voglia is 10 euros
Why are people on this board so consistently and confidently wrong
>>2830046
Massif Central isn't for big cities, but if you want old school France you shouldn't go to big cities anyway. Plus I don't enjoy spending my vacations in cities tbqh

>>2830049
Forgot to mention that the menu at la Voglia sells pints of beer for 7 euros too. Yet another case of >let me tell you about your country

To be honest France is kind of a joke in the in-the-know, real elite traveler scene. I went there last year ironically and I was laughing the whole time at everything.

>>2830053
At least it looks like you had a good time

>>2830053
>real elite traveler scene
kek

>>2830009
>The best places are typically going to be the most crowded
Yeah bro let's all go take selfies at the Mona Lisa and the Mannekin Pis, totally worth it

>>2830049
The photo you posted shows a cheese pizza for 8.50. What am I missing?

I definitely believe that you're French. Only a French person could be so instantly hostile and unlikeable. There are at least 30 places in Annecy where you can get a 5 euro pint. You can also purchase beer or wine for cheaper at a grocery and drink it outside. Sounds like you don't know much about your own country.

>>2830049
Are things so grim in France that a 13$ pizza is unaffordable for the locals?

>>2830132
who the fuck gets a pizza and only gets a cheese pizza?

>>2830153
its more so the fact that the guy blatantly lied

>>2830153
>Are things so grim in France that a 13$ pizza is unaffordable for the locals?
yes, literally.
Minimum wage is 9.40€ an hour there, compared to $15 in the US.

>>2830132
The basic pizza is the margherita - and yet no one here eats margheritas, people would at least go for the 15 € ones.
>>2830153
When your monthly salary is below 2 k€ and your rent is 1 k€, 15 € feels like quite a hefty amount for a pizza. But also this >>2830154
>>2830133
>waaaaah I can't spread lies on fourchins! le bad frenchman
retard

>>2830224
Minimum wage is 7.25 in the USA

>>2830153
Honestly? Yes. There is a reason why people have been protesting since 2018. The prices of rents and groceries have doubled if not tripled, while wages are remaining stagnant.
It was possible to rent a 20m2 studio apartment for 350€ a month 10 years ago, now it's minimum 650€ in any place that has jobs. A pack of pasta used to cost 0.50€, now it's 1.50€. Meanwhile, as a junior software dev I used to earn between 1500€ and 2000€ after taxes, and compared to most of my friends working at shitty jobs I was rich. If my salary was indexed over inflation, I would have earned 3000€ a month.
Of course, the situation isn't as terrible as some Eastern Europe countries, and it's a phenomenon that happens all over the world, but now, I'm seriously considering moving out to a country with a lower CoL if I can get the same salary there. France is declining fast due to huge inequalities, and there is no sign it will get any better.

Oh and special mention to restaurateurs complaining that nobody comes eat at their overpriced restaurants while paying their employees like shit and making them do unpaid overtime. It's the French business mindset in a nutshell.

This is an important thread. France, Paris in particular, was until recently one of the premier travel destinations in the world. Everyone wanted to go there, now everyone wants to stay away because it is perceived as a dangerous shithole, infested by African and gypsy scammers, maghreb gangsters and violent islamists. All set amongst crumbling infrastructure, regular protests and blocked streets and an increasingly authoritarian state. Surely though France can't have fallen so low in such a short time? There must be some parts of France, and Paris that are still safe and worth visiting? This should actually be a serious matter of discussion for /tv/.

>>2830236
>Minimum wage is 7.25 in the USA
nah, if it was the case, Americans would be riddled with denbts and living in their cars.

>>2833605
Th minimum wage in the US depends in the state. Right now in California, it's $16.50, but it's actually $20 for fast food workers. It also increasing to $18.00 in 2026. The whole west coast on the US is over $15/hour now.

The problem in Europe is runaway inflation. The cost of goods are going up, but not salaries. Airbnb and mass immigration are driving up rental prices. And they tax the shit out of people who make 100K to pay for the immigrants.

>>2830154
Looks like he was right on. He said 10 and the menu says 850.

>>2829912 (OP)
Chamonix if you’re into the mountain scene

>>2833736
I love Chamonix, but the actual city is mostly just ski shops and new restaurants. It's not really very French. There are some little towns nearby in the valley that feel more French. Really any of them.
If you're into skiing and snowboarding, a trip to the French Alps is a no brainer. It was one of the best trips I've ever taken in Europe. There are so many condos that the prices are actually really reasonable. Go mid-week for like half the price of a weekend.
To the French retard who says Annecy is as expensive as Paris.... LOL. Just LOL. No, it's really not. As several others have pointed out, it's a very reasonably priced city. Not at all like Paris. I highly recommend a night or two there.

>>2829912 (OP)
I thought Normandy was quite soulful desu. Felt a lot like England, weirdly. Was quite simple just striking up conversation with random locals. Basic French helped immensely. I liked the rawness of the coast up there, too. Mt St Michel is fucking cool.

>>2834052
>No, it's really not
Once again >let me tell you about your country
Have you even seen the image which tells that the cost of living in Annecy is only 5.6% lower than Paris (14.5% incl. rent)? Basically the same shit

Is Toulouse nice?

>>2834094
Prefer winning personally.

>>2834094
it's bieng!

>>2834094
No, Nice is in the southeast. Toulouse is in the southwest

>>2834094
No it's a shithole. France has collapsed and is not safe. Go to the midwest or Appalachia.

>>2834094
>Toulouse
I was there twice, it's a beautiful french city to just walk around. There's old abbeys, a nice museum, idk, tons of cool stuff to see. Sadly the river hasn't really been integrated into the city, there's nothing to do there, and you can cross the bridges on foot but it's kinda pointless (as opposed to Prague or Budapest, for example). Lots of daytrips to do from there (Albi, Carcassonne)

Will just briefly rate the cities I've been to, having lived in France for 6 years
>Rennes
7/10
>Angers
6/10
>Tours
5/10
>Orleans
5/10
>Blois
6/10
>Poitiers
5/10
>La Rochelle
5/10
>Bordeaux
6/10
>Limoges
5/10
>Toulouse
6/10
>Lyon
7/10
>Marseille
3/10
>Paris
7/10 (8 if you can stand multicultural tourist trap cities)
>Bourges
6/10
>Chartres
5/10
>Reims
5/10

>>2834094
No, it's quite dirty and the brick architecture is ugly compared to the tuffeau of the rest of France.

Is it truethat restaurants in France are hostile to solo diners? That keeps me from going there tbqh.

>>2834070
I definitely believe that you're French because you're insanely lazy and uninformed. There are bound to be cheap apartments in any large city. But those are not places you want to live in. When people say "Paris is expensive", they aren't talking about the Muslim ghettos. The cheapest apartments you're going to find in the 8th Arrondissement in Paris are going to be around 1000/month. A comparable apartment in Annecy would be half that at 500. Since you're getting your information from photos, now you have a photo telling you that you're wrong...again.

>Paris is now a shithole
It has always been.

>>2834417
Nah. The French are all poor. They go solo to the cafes and buy a cappuccino and take 3 hours to drink it. That's the culture. If you're buying food, you're spending 10 times what the average French person spends in a month in a cafe. They'll be happy to have you.

>>2834120
You've never been to France bro. You're the type of moron who jumps in the Paris threads and tells people to go to Gatlinburg instead. There's no arguing with that level of stupidity.

>>2834451
Your so called muslim ghettos aren't in Paris so they don't count in the stats I gave, try harder

>>2834451
>map of Krakow defaulting on the sidebar

>>2834474
lmao well spotted

The thing about France is the French love to complain about everything, ESPECIALLY about France. This place is too dirty, that place is too expensive, that place is cheap for a reason, it's too rainy there, it's too hot there, there there are too many tourists, nothing to do there, food is overrated here, not worth seeing this, transit is bad here, immigrants are here, students are there, this region is boring, too many old people, too many leftists, too many chuds, blah blah blah. If you ask two French people about one place in France they will both give you different reasons why they hate it, and often those reasons will contradict. The thing you will learn about the French is they never have anything nice to say about anywhere. It's just their national character.
You have to experience the place for yourself you can't take their word for it. The problem with the internet now is that somebody reads such and such a place is terrible and everyone especially Americans repeat it ad nauseum.

>>2829966
It looks like a nice place to settle down in. Is it easy to get Indian groceries there?

>>2834458
Because it would make a lot more sense to drink 3 or four cappucinos in the space of 3 hours, right?

>>2834540
No, Indian food and groceries are terrible in France in general

Burgundy is "poor" and fairly homogenous. Dijon has a beautiful city centre, and the people of Burgundy are friendly and have a poor grasp of english.

>>2834549
>friendly and have a poor grasp of english.
i see it as a quality.

>>2834549
Burgundy has both richfags (wine makers) and poorfags (farmers) like all other places, and tourism tends to be developed around the richest activities. Most tourists mostly see the rich side of things (wineries, monasteries and monuments, city centers, homeowners renting their 5th home on airbnb).
I'm also quite sure that it's far from being the poorest area in the country

>>2834549
Burgundy wine is overrated. If you're Julia Child in the 1960s yeah it's fine but there are way better wine producing areas in France.

>>2834557
Burgundy wine is kind of boring. If you're Julia Child in the 1960s it's fine but there are way better wine producing areas in France. Poorest area is the north near Belgium, only reason to go there is for WW1 and 2 stuff.

>>2834575
I'm pretty sure that Limousin and the surrounding areas are poorer

>>2829912 (OP)
Any recommendations on things to do or places to stay or dishes to eat in Nice?im headed there end of may.

>>2835509
>Nice
Nice

I enjoyed visiting Paris.

>>2835521
Sorry Autocorrect

>>2835509
May is the best month to visit desu. There is a local folkloric celebration (Fête des Mai) in the Cimiez roman arena and garden, with traditional dances and shiet (picrel). Cimiez also has roman ruins and the Matisse museum to visit. If you like modern art try the MAMAC. Climb the Castle Hill to see the sunset from the waterfall outlook, walk around the port, quai Rauba Capeù, place Masséna, promenade and old town, see the market in Cours Saleya. You can check out the Russian cathedral or Phoenix floral park if that's your thing, attend a classical show at the local opera house. For nightlife, just hit local bars in the old town, lots of live music.
If you enjoy hiking visit the backcountry with the Mercantour national park (1.5-2 hours drive). You can start bathing in the sea, Villefranche-sur-Mer has some of the best spots you can easily reach using the train. It's a gravel beach unlike Nice (pebbles), you can also find sand in Antibes and other places. You can also walk along the sea around cape Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat or Antibes. Visit the perfume museum in Grasse...


For eating try to book a table at Chez Acchiardo for good local dishes, or Lu Fran Calin, or L'Escalinada.
Regarding dishes there are many local ones to try. Ratatouille is from Nice but you should probably have dishes that are harder to find elsewhere.
For eating on the go, socca is great, pan bagnat is a nice sandwich (buy it at kioske Tintin, many places do it wrong especially the chain stuff), and you HAVE to try pissaladière.
Petits Farcis are great starters, Beignets de courgettes too.
For main courses, daube niçoise or raviolis niçois à la daube are god tier. There is a dish literally called merda de can (dogshit) because of the appearance kek. Gnocchi are also good, you can also ask the waiters if you want to try something else.
Also try the tourte aux blettes (tourta de blea) for dessert, drink shots of ice-cold limoncello or have an ice cream at Azzuro.

>>2835722
Checked and big thanks anon,awesome info that I will make use of.

>>2835722
Based poster.

>>2829912 (OP)
I quite enjoyed Avignon and Arles.

>>2836005
Arles is nice, I've heard Aix-en-Provence is also worth a visit. Montpellier as well.

>>2836006
I did a 2 week road trip through Provence about 7 years ago and hit Aix, Arles, Nimes, Cassis, Avignon, Orange, Gourdes and Roussillon. We paid less than 200 for the rental car for the whole trip. It was a hybrid and got insanely good mileage. It's easy to drive around with little traffic and the smaller cities all have cheap or free parking. I liked every place we stopped in. There are Roman ruins all over that area. The Pont Du Gard is unreal. Nimes and Arles both had really nice Roman arenas and we practically had the place to ourselves because we were there mid-week in September.

The wine is cheap and fantastic. I'm sure some French homo will jump in and say "No it's not. It's expensive." But you can pick up a bottle of wine in most grocery stores for around 3-4 euro.

With that said, Spain is better in literally every way. I did a similar trip last year through Andalusia. Seville, Cordoba and Ronda shred any city in Provence. Driving up in the mountains between Cadiz and Malaga is some of the prettiest driving I've done anywhere in the world.

>>2836013
>we practically had the place to ourselves because we were there mid-week in September
You'd get a pretty different experience in summer, the whole south of France is packed during this period. Good choice.
Did you also visit Spain during this time of the year? I wouldn't want to go to southern Spain during summer, it looks hot as fuck

I want to visit Paris mainly to see the Haussmannien buildings, Les Invalides and Sainte-Chapelle
Is it true that you can buy used books for cheap in Paris? I collect La Pléiades and I spend about 30-50 euro per book shipped to my country Australia

>>2836029
Also I'm considering a trip to Normandy because Maupassant is my favourite author and I've started to read d'Aurevilly
Is it worth going at the same time as my Paris trip?

>>2836030
It's just a short train ride away, don't know why you wouldn't go if you've already flown all the way from Australia

>>2836032
What the fuck it's only 1 hour on the train to Rouen
Thanks anon, I should have looked at a map

>>2836014
I don't remember if this was Arles or Nimes. But there were maybe 20 people in the whole place.

We went to Spain the last 2 weeks of September. It was between 80-85 every day and would get literally perfect when the sun went down. We had amazing weather. But the week before, it had been close to 100. And the weeks after, the rains hit and flooded everything. Had it been 100 when we were there, I would have gone right to the beach and we would have driven up the coast instead. Fuck the heat

>>2836155
That's definitely Nimes. Arles doesn't have hills.
Having travelled southern France last year, I can confirm that Nimes is really enjoyable. I also really liked Perpignan. Foix is lovely as well, though much smaller. Even Carcassonne is kino, though you need to get there early - I got there at 8AM and had the walls to myself, but whrn I left at 1030 the place was a madhouse.
Nevertheless, none of these places are as good as Le Puy, though that's in the center and not the south.

>>2830049
Meh, I'm used to work at Val d'Isère.

>>2836029
>Is it true that you can buy used books for cheap in Paris?

>I'm traveling in France!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwvDWBAYqqE
here's the guide tour.