“The birthplace of eclairs and croissants”, France is a country that, as it turned out, it can terrify cleanliness and misophobes (people who are afraid of germs and dirt), and also not very suitable for people with a weak stomach. This was stated by a tourist who, in her blog on Yandex.Zen, described in detail how she was surprised by one dangerous habit of the French. We are talking about hygiene habits, and if it’s quite simple, then about washing hands. The French are not used to it at all, the blogger assures.
According to her, she was surprised even during the train ride. “One of my fellow travelers opened her suitcase in search of some little thing. And what was my surprise when I saw folded blouses, blouses and T-shirts next to the boots. Moreover, the shoes were not wrapped in a bag, ”said the blogger. Then she constantly had to be surprised – according to her, to hygiene, and especially hand hygiene among the French – both adults and children,
“In France, there is even such a frightening pseudonym as “Monsieur Gastro”. This evil and mysterious disease visits all places of the country every time, from enterprises and offices to schools and kindergartens. At first, I was amused to hear such tales, and I associated the common problem of gastritis among the French with their love of fatty and sweet foods. But as it turned out, the abundance of fats and sugars is not welcome here. It's all about banal hand hygiene, or rather, its absence, ”the blogger explained.
According to her, in that famous French bakery with fresh baguettes, the owners will most likely “grab baked goods, bank cards and cash with the same hands.” It’s even worse in the markets – the seller is always ready to treat you with a cut piece of unwashed fruit. “For him, some kind of sanitary rules are not as important as warm relations with the buyer. The best reward for the seller is when you try and take from him the juicy sugar fruits brought from the south of France. But what will happen to your stomach after tasting unwashed fruit is a completely different question,” she said.
The blogger also assures that French children are taught to wash their hands “only when they are dirty”, that is, when dirt is visible. And what's more, when she was visiting her French friends, she was the only one who entered the house and went to the washstand. Moreover, the coronavirus did not improve the situation, the blogger adds, although various antibacterial gels became widespread in the country and the French began to treat their hands with antiseptics more often, they did not wash their hands more often.
The blogger draws the following conclusion: “We should refer to the historical French past. Most of them come from villages where people are used to being much closer to nature. Most likely, grandparents did not teach their children about hand hygiene at that time, and they, in turn, passed on their habits to the new generation.
For those who value a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “ A microbiologist explained how food poisoning occurs.