Absurd amounts of smelly cheese, wine, baguettes, and snails; everyone is drunk all the time;  wardrobes consist solely of berets, striped black and white shirts, and neck scarves; everyone is snotty and stuck up. These are all very popular French stereotypes that many people believe. When people think of France, these preconceived ideas pop into their heads, and I have to admit that I used to be one of those people.

Stereotypes. This word carries a negative connotation, but continues to manifest itself in everyone’s brains, with or without intention. The problem with stereotypes is, well, the obvious fact that they’re rude, but also that they’re surface level. There is some truth in most stereotypes, but the issue is that it takes part of a culture, sucks the importance out of it, and makes it repugnant to outsiders. However, these statements go so much deeper than the surface.

Before I travelled to France, I held a lot of stereotypes about the culture. Throughout my time in Lyon, if I’m being completely honest, most of these conventionalized ideas were proven true. The difference is that when I returned from France I had a greater appreciation for these stereotypes because under the surface they were very important to French people and their culture. The stereotypes just took the negative details of a cultural aspect, disregarding the appreciation people have for it and the effect it has on them.

The best example I have of this is when I had an epiphany during my walk home from school one day. As I saw a man walking down the street with a baguette, all my stereotypical dreams came true. Then, I came to a conclusion: this was just his daily routine, but a fetishized idea in the United States. It’s strange that something so normal had been turned into a negative connotation regarding a culture. After living in Lyon, I began to experience these stereotypes first-hand. Soon enough they weren’t stereotypes to me anymore, just normal ways of life. It’s amazing that fresh baguettes are available every day and that there are “boulangeries” around every corner with delicious baked goods. It’s possible to bring home fresh pastries and bread, like baguettes, every day due to every good in France being separated into different stores. For example, there were boulangeries (for freshly baked pastries), charcuteries (for meat), cafés (just for coffee), restaurants (for meals), and pharmacies (for toiletries and medicine). There was no Walmart in Lyon and at first this was inconvenient, but after some time I began to appreciate it. It’s great for small business owners and customers, and it was way more personable and I trusted these stores more than big supermarkets.

I found a different relationship with stereotypes in France and take that with me everywhere. Nothing is ever exactly what it seems. Instead of demonstrating ignorance to stereotypes I hear, I now learn more about them before accepting their truth and give myself space to appreciate the culture behind them.