French culture?

Question

I grew up in a beautiful French neighborhood in Manhattan, Nyc and always enjoyed being exposed to the culture. There was a French church next door to my brownstone that was owned by my building. Every Sunday they would have church and afterwards would have lunch including wine and beer in the back yard followed by French style singing with an accompanied musician. I was curious, is it the custom to drink in the mornings? And how much drinking would you say they engage in a day? I've decided to start learning French and that memory just occured to me. I'm interested in finding out about the drinking part of the culture as I am aware wine is important to their custom.

Answer 1

Drinking is an important part of the french culture. Of course, we drink (i'm french) wine, but it only for the great lunch. But a lot of poeple drink every day one or two glasses of wine or apéritif or beer.
But, we usually don't drink in the morning but we often take a glass of alcohol before the lunch : it is the apéritif, so in fact it is in the morning but for us it is a part very important of the lunch.
And, as in america, al large numbers of the teens drink a lot to be drunk (the government say it is a problem but I don't think so:-). In the city, people drink less but in the country they like to drink with other people (like in your neighborhood).

Answer 2

They don't usually drink in the morning, but with lunch, yes. A common drink is watered wine, not the strong stuff that is served with dinner in the evening. But while wine is an important part of the French culture, the actual consumption is quite small. They tend to drink with their meals, and not sit around in the evening and get hammered. There is an interesting theory that because children grow up learning how to drink reasonably, they don't go through the teen phase so common in North America, where alcohol is forbidden to minors so as soon as they become of age (or think they can pass for legal age) they drink as though they were trying to catch up for all those lost years. There may be some truth to that hypothesis.

Answer 3

In France, we drink wine quite often at lunch and in the evening. However, I have never heard of the 'watered wine' that was referred to in another answer. Usually it is red wine, or a local wine depending on the region where you live.

Drinking wine is about the pleasure and the taste it adds to the food that you are eating. I have never seen a French person drink to get wasted.

Answer 4

FJ (François Joseph) Gossec exchange right into a music and opera composer who worked in France for the time of the Revolution. He wrote the opera "Le triomphe de la République" in 1794 (nonetheless the Revolution).