French Daily Life
A brief overview of the traditional lifestyles, food, clothing, and housing of France.
Traditional Lifestyles of France
France is home to some of the most productive farmlands in Europe. In the feudal Middle Ages, nobles owned large, rich estates powered by peasant farmers. The peasants worked their lord's land in exchange for their own plots and military protection. They typically lived in one-room wattle-and-daub thatched houses with their livestock. Common foods included bread, porridge, fish, vegetable soups, and dairy. The nobility were far more likely to consume meat than their tenants. They stayed occupied through pastimes like hunting, feasting, religious study, medieval games, and warfare.
The French nobility of the Middle Ages took pride in fashionable clothing, to the point that laws were sometimes put in place to limit their spending. Women wore silken veils and ribbons over elaborate hairstyles. Their dresses could be embroidered with pearls and gold thread or lined with fur. In later centuries, they cinched in their waists with corsets. At home, they wore simpler gowns, typically in white. Upper class men generally wore long tunics over tights. Peasant men wore shorter tunics over breeches and women wore plain shifts. French fashions have long proved popular across the rest of Europe, setting trends to the present day.
In addition to its apparel, French culture is notable for its contributions to global cuisine. The regional dishes of its peasants, combined with foreign recipes and ingredients, developed into a school of cooking exported across the world. The nation is especially known for its wines and cheeses, but also its sauces, soups, stews, pies, baked goods, and desserts. Each distinct region of France is home to its own dishes, leading to a diverse culinary landscape.
Modern Lifestyles of France
The 20th and 21st centuries have seen rapid urbanization in France. According to the CIA World Factbook, about 80 percent of its population now live in cities. This industrial shift has led to the gradual reduction of its regional cultures, though they remain distinct. Modern French people for the most part lead lives similar to the rest of Europe and the Western world. The concepts of personal liberty and self-fulfillment remain important elements of French culture. As a result, its citizens tend to enjoy regular vacations and leisure activities such as sports, the cinema, and visits to the nation’s many museums.
References
Haine, W. Scott. The History of France. Greenwood Press. 2000.
Hewitt, Nicholas. The Cambridge Companion to Modern French Culture. Cambridge University Press. 2003.
Simons, Gary F., and Charles D. Fennig. “Summary by Language Size.” Ethnologue, SIL International, www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size.
Small, Graeme. Late Medieval France. Palgrave Macmillan. 2009.
“The World Factbook: France.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 4 June 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fr.html.
Winston, Richard. Life in the Middle Ages. New Word City. 2016.
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