1. Too many loo seats damaged or vandalised - some public loos have stainless steel pots.
2. Agreed, but I've seen it used more and more today to try to slow traffic down (on a main road through a village, for example)
3. I like crêpes and galettes in moderation but can't stand the inevitable galette-saucisse at every event. But then every region has it's own "peculiarity" - I disliked the porc rillettes in the Pays de la Loire ! It doesn't help that I don't like meat - but Brittany does wonderful fish rillettes
4. Not only that, but you have to look very carefully at pricing for a bigger item : sometimes a bigger packet of, say, rice, will cost you more per kilo than a smaller one. This is quite frequent !
5. I haven't come across that before.
I agree with you, Rabbit, about some French habits. The French consider it rude not to say "Bonjour" before launching into what you want to say. But they have no hesitation in interrupting you when you are in mid conversation with someone else to say "Bonjour" or just to talk. I find it intensely irritating at times.
As for some of the table manners I see ...... and that hasn't changed in the 25+ years we've lived here.
Roundabout drill .... but that's another story.
Bureaucracy ... but even the French have a horror of it.
Men's stand-ups that have to be passed to get to the loo, even today. I've seen them here in Super U Cancale, even in some restaurants - the one at the Hippodrome in Saint Malo for instance.
The squat and runs in Aires are always disgusting but when needs must ...
I give a Gallic shrug and put it down to cultural differences.
