Being Active

It is safe to say that French life and culture is very different from the rest of the world. Typically the French are known to be bread enthusiasts, cheese lovers and wine connaisseurs. However, the healthy lifestyle of French people always tends to be overlooked.

Living in France will provide you with many opportunities to become active and to improve your fitness, as sport is extremely popular. The nation’s favourite sport is football, especially after the French men’s national team won the 2018 FIFA world cup. However, France boasts many other sports such as Tennis, Rugby, and Handball and is well known for others such as Skiing and Swimming. It is also very common to see large groups of people cycling and running in France.

In France, people love walking. Whether it’s a walk to the local market for a weekly shop or a stroll to school with the kids, the French love to walk throughout the week. If you live in a no-elevator Parisian apartment building, you will encounter the dreaded flights of stairs on a daily basis!

Most towns and cities in France have a number of gyms to choose from, but there are fewer of the large-scale ’fancy’ gyms with spas, pools and restaurants that have flourished elsewhere in the world. This is probably because in France, the gym is more about exercising than socialising, though of course there still will be plenty of flirting going on across the treadmills!

If you prefer to be outside, France is full of large parks and other great places to exercise. Not usually known for its greenery, Paris does in fact have a wide range of parks throughout the city where, especially in summer, many people choose to go. Paris also has its huge metro system and Velib system, two great initiatives to encourage walking and cycling in the city.

Click HERE for more handy language toolkits to help you with life in France.

 

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