Discoveries of the French Culture

In most ways France is very similar to where I am from in New Hampshire. Before coming to France I had a completely different picture in my head. I built France up as a sort of dream world, like it is in old movies. Everything is beautiful and had old world charm, and it is true that some areas are like that but most look like any other city in any other country. I thought that the moment I stepped off of the plane I would be in a completely different world, it was a little tiny bit of a disappointment for everything to seem the same as it did at home. But among the features that are similar to any other place I have been noticing little things that separate the French culture from American culture.
Unlike America that always seems to be on the go, people in France sit outside on patios and enjoy their lunches for hours. People watching is a big feature of French life, parks are always full of people enjoying the sunshine, watching people stroll by. One of the bigger differences between French and American culture is shopping hours. Walking through town on a Sunday I noticed that almost everything is closed. Small bakeries might be open in the morning, but other than the occasional gas station nothing is open. Sundays and Mondays are restful days, which is hard to get used to at first.
Everything in the U.S. is open all of the time. Stores stay open twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. It is a big change going from that to having stores with very limited hours. In a lot of ways it is nice, not to be running around doing errands. The more small town life of Strasbourg/Robertsau is much more relaxed then the hustle and bustle of Paris; I really enjoy the French country life.