The Intercultural Communication Course Blog

Authors: Amy Dalrymple (UVA), Melissa Edwards (ConnCollege), Alisha Faherty (ConnCollege).

Over our Fall Break we travelled to Paris for a few days. Being the tourists that we are, we visited and appreciated the main sites: the Tour Eiffel, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre museum and much more. We enjoyed the food, the shopping, and the culture. Throughout our travels we noticed a few differences and similarities.

The first difference was the one that hurt the most: the cost of living! Paris is certainly more expensive than Florence, however totally worth it. Eating out, shopping, transportation, and  lodging were real wallet drainers, but we did save money on museums since entrance is free if you are a student!

 

Both French and Italian cultures place a large importance on food. We found some significant differences in menus and the types of food available. In Paris there is a wide variety of international cuisine in addition to the many French restaurants. In Florence, while there are some international restaurants, for the most part Italian food dominates. In Paris we found that many menus contained a “snacking” section. We have not seen a large snacking presence in Florence, but Paris makes it very apparent that they like to snack based upon the plethora of small, light foods.

Despite the cultural differences, we found that our exposure to the French culture heightened our abroad experience. We LOVED Paris and will definitely be returning!