High Heels vs. Flats

Within my first month of living in France, I was amazed at the beautiful landscape, the tiny cars, the ideal weather, the delicious food and...all the high heels?? It seemed that everywhere I looked, women were wearing heels. And we’re not talking 3 inches but more like 4 or 5 (I don’t believe that 3 inches actually qualifies as a heel here anyway.) And not just adult women, but young girls, and grandmas, flirting with disaster on stilettos! Oh my. I’ve come to understand that here in France, high heels are simply part of a normal, everyday outfit, like leather tights…yes that’s right, leather tights. (Take leather pants and black leggings and put 'em together.)

Perhaps living in the fashion capital of the world makes women proud to run errands in clothes that normally you only see one wearing when going out for the night with her friends...or when you're a working girl. Yes, I said it! You'd understand if you saw what I see. Or is it not pride, but dare I say, a duty? Do French women feel like they have to dress up and dress provocatively every day? I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would willingly wear such high heels and stilettos to the post office, to pick up the kids or to do the grocery shopping. So to find out, I asked around. It’s been explained to me that in general, the French not only want to look good, but feel a need to look good, at any age. And this goes for women and men. In general, the French put a great deal of money, time and energy into their appearance. They know they're being looked at...and perhaps judged? This is what I'm told. And it's easy to see that that's the way it is. Wearing heels is part of the deal. So what I see as high maintenance and down right painful, they see as normal.

I gotta hand it to these French women though - they are troopers, because to put up with wearing high heels and the whole dressy get-up all day (including relaxing weekends!) is more than I am willing to put up with. Me, when I do errands, I might be in jeans, a cute tank, flats or sneaks, or in the summer of course, flip flops. Heels look great with jeans, but to wear heels when you know that you’re going to be walking a lot, maybe for errands, shopping, or sight-seeing - sorry, is just nuts!! It’s flats for this American girl! The heels can be worn for going out to dinner later that night. And FYI, any woman who tells you that her feet don’t hurt when she’s wearing heels is l-y-i-n-g. Even socialite Paris Hilton created a cushiony insert to be placed inside the high heel, because even she admitted that her feet hurt while putting in endless hours of partying and socializing. She’s very thin and buys expensive shoes, which proves that even thin women suffer from foot pain after they’ve shoved their feet and toes into heels.



result after years of high-heel wear

 But don’t take it from me or Paris, listen to what the docs have to say (or just google some images like this one - yikes!). High heels have seen significant controversy in the medical field lately, with many podiatrists seeing patients whose severe foot problems have been caused almost exclusively by high heel wear. There’s the Hammertoe: a deformity of the 2nd or 3rd toe causing the toe to be permanently deformed (because the toes have been crammed into a small space). There're the Bunions: a structural deformity where the big toe bends inward, and at the base of the big toe is an enlargement of bone or tissue around the joint. (See image. Or just come to France and observe women's feet. It's INCREDIBLE.) This can be painful, but good news ladies...it can be corrected by surgery!! Oh joy. Just what you always wanted and have time for, foot surgery. And after that you won't be wearing heels probably ever again. To avoid surgery women could just not wear high heels as much...I know, blasphemy!! I'm just sayin'. I couldn't post a picture of a foot ready for surgery, or a post-surgery pic...they are just too gross. I remember seeing this girl on the bus, a young girl, in her 20’s, beautiful, thin, but with the largest bunions I’d ever seen in my life. In addition, both her big toes were perma-slanting inward at at least a 45 degree angle. Why did she have bunions at such a young age I wonder, hmm? I watched her as she carefully slid her foot back into her high heel (she'd been rubbing her foot, naturally) and it just looked so painful! But clearly she had not yet received the message -- because she was wearing high heels!

From wearing high heels too often a woman can also suffer from degenerative joint disease of the knees. This occurs when a decrease of the normal rotation of the foot puts more rotational stress on the knee. While wearing heels gives your calves a workout, and this seems great and all, at the same time you're actually shortening your Achilles tendon. I think we all know that’s not good.



big toe turning inward, only surgery can fix it

 But the fact remains that wearing high heels gives us the aesthetic illusion of longer, more slender and more toned legs. And what woman doesn’t want that? Victoria here demonstrates this for us. Notice that she has developed good-sized, and I'm sure painful, bunions on each ball of the foot. Also notice the big toes are bent inward. Here's what's terrible - when she takes off those expensive heels, her big toes don't bend back to go straight again. They STAY like that. Ew! But who's looking at her toes? No one. She wants us to notice everything else. High heels are a blunt gesture toward sexuality and sophistication. Add the famous French scarf to that and wear some thongs and YOU ARE IN SISTER! We women are well aware of this and have all used a pair of high heels to our advantage at some point or another! So...is it no pain no gain?

The clothes, the scarves, the thin bodies, the lingerie, the less-is-more make-up approach, the glossy, pouty lips, the hair, the sunglasses, the knee and thigh high leather boots, the perfumes, the creams – Yes, the Frenchwoman is the epitome of how to be feminine. But do we have to wear high heels nearly every day to prove that we are feminine? I hope not. It doesn’t make one appear all that relaxed. Yet everywhere I look I see high heels, leather, silk, and a lot of skin. I think this is one of the only places where a woman can wear a mini-skirt and not be noticed. It doesn’t bother me, but you can really feel the pressure to fit in. You can hear it with the tap-tap-tap of the heels behind you, in front of you, and beside you.

But no thanks. After googling countless images of bunions, hammertoes, foot surgery, and reading up on it, I am more sure than ever that I will never regret wearing flats more than heels. The images are real -- I see it every day here in France -- and quite honestly when I see a foot of tangled toes, bent this way and that, I get the heebie-jeebies a little. I want to ask - was it really worth it?

And as for anyone who doesn’t know, wearing high heels can be work. Especially on these old cobblestone streets. Women here have worked hard. France has created one of the world’s only societies where women work full-time (80% of women between age 25 and 50), have lots of children (highest birth rate in Europe after Ireland) and still look and sound – and are LOVED – for being women. In my opinion, they’ve certainly earned the adoration, because they’re not doing it wearing flats! They're workin' it!!

Taking the Bus...Ok, It's Not So Bad

Cannes, Hotel de Ville (City Hall), busy bus stop

I’ve always had a car. Probably most of you have a car. But now I take the bus and my driver license just sits in my wallet, ignored. I’m used to going where I want, when I want. I like listening to my own music, maybe singing along (you know you do it too!) and I guess I’m used to sitting while traveling.

I’ve lived in France for about 3 years. and in that time I’ve generally traveled by foot, bus or train. For the first time in my adult life, I don’t have a car. This is difficult to say.

Looking back at how life has changed for me in this way…OK, I guess I’d have to admit that taking the bus hasn’t been all that bad. I suppose that I can deal without a car. Am I crazy for saying this? And the walking...SO much walking now. That's why everyone here has beautifully sculpted calves. The walking. There are just stairs and hills everywhere!

I’ve done more errands by foot in the past 3 years than I did in my whole life living in the US. Scary, but true. I live within a 10 minute walk from 3 grocery stores. They’re so close that it doesn’t even make sense to take the bus to get there. On average I go to the grocery store twice a week, which means that I’ve walked to the supermarket about 104 times in the last year alone. Do you know how hard it can be to carry your groceries home instead of just putting them in the trunk of a car? This may have something to do with losing some weight without even really trying.

a typical bus schedule, which I live by

Having a car means independence, sitting while traveling, listening (and singing!) to your own music, and getting where you want when you want...not arriving 45 minutes early because it was either that or arrive 10 minutes late with the bus schedule. Being dependent on the bus schedule requires patience and efficiency. You do a lot of waiting, you stand while traveling, listen to what the teens next to you are playing on their musical device, and you arrive at your destination when the bus finally gets there. As far as efficiency, well that's like reading the wrong times for the wrong day because you think it's Friday when in fact it's Saturday, and of course the bus has a different schedule for both days of the week-end. Good grief.

But having a car also means car payments and insurance payments, accidents, and needing money for gas and maintenance. For the bus, I just have to buy a monthly pass for about 28 euro (38 USD). That’s it. That’s less than I’d spend on gas in one month! I hate to admit it, but by not having a car, I’m saving a lot of money. It was hard for me to let go of my independence (there may have been a tantrum or two) and  embrace the idea of taking the bus. But now I’m used to it, and used to making plans according to the bus schedules (which I keep ALL OF in my cell phone). Appointments and English lessons with my students are made based upon when I can get there, because no longer am I just grabbing the keys and heading out the door.

But like having car trouble, it is possible to have bus trouble! Maybe there’s a strike (a national sport here) or the roads are too icy where you’re going therefore service has been suspended, or maybe the bus came early and you missed it. And sometimes the bus is late, which can make you late if you’re already cutting it close. A lot of people travel by bus which means the buses can be packed. And in the summer with tourists, make that sardines packed. Yes even the tourists take the bus. More tourists visit France each year than any other country in the world (67 million annual tourist arrivals, more than the country’s population!). Traveling by bus saves the tourists from getting lost by car and dealing with the joys of finding a parking space. The buses are plentiful, run often and are a lot cheaper than a rental car.

Where are all the yellow school buses? In general there are no school buses here. School kids in France take the public bus. So, you don’t always get a seat on the bus. If you do it’s nice, but always offer your seat to an elderly person. It infuriates me that teens and 20-somethings today have a total disregard for this politeness. They just continue texting insignificant messages while the old lady clutches on to the pole for dear life.

And if the bus is full...oh, this is a horrible sign to read on the front of the bus, above the windshield: Ce Bus Ne Prend Pas de Voyageurs. Nooooo! Miserable. And so you wait for the next bus and call whomever you were going to meet to say you'll be late.

Speaking only for the buses in the Cannes region, I can say that for the most part, they’re very clean and nice. They have heat, A/C, sunroofs that open and windows that open. And a lot of jolly drivers. You get to know them a little and many of them tease me...although I don't really know what they're saying. I know a lot of French, but whatever they're saying, I haven't learned!

And in France, not only are dogs allowed in most restaurants, but are allowed on buses as well! This I found out one day when a wet nose was dobbing my leg. I looked down to see a Jack Russell looking up at me, or perhaps he was just letting me know he was there so I wouldn’t accidentally squash him. Purse puppies are everywhere in the South of France, so I see dogs, mostly the beloved Yorkie, on the bus all the time.

I’ve never lived in a place where you didn’t need a car to get around. And I never thought I’d live without a car. But I must admit that taking the bus is more economical, and I guess I'm doing my part - going green for the planet. So I suppose that until I truly need a car, this former car owner is just fine taking the bus! Wait, did I just admit that?