Around the World: 10 Dos & Dont's When Visiting France

[Jxpxtxr]

France is a generally quite patriotic nation. Natives take a high pride in being french and certain societal groups prefer to stick with their kind. Artists, for instance prefer to stay among artists and the Upper class prefers not to mix with the mainstream.

Here's some ways of the french you should know before visiting their country:

#1 Tip the waiter!

Tips are almost mandatory here, you can generally apply the 10% rule.

#2 Don't sit next to the driver

Most taxi drivers in France don't like their guests to sit next to them, so make sure you always get in in the back. You only sit in the front when the back seats are being taken.

#3 Dress with class

The french pay a lot of attention to fashion so make sure you always dress with elegance. When the occasion is casual, dress casually elegant or casually sporty, when the occasion is formal, dress formally elegant. The way you dress is especially important in business meetings or public events.

#4 Speak some French!

It is important to know at least some French because the French are generally not very keen on speaking any language but their own, especially not in their own country - so if you wanna make friends here, you need to know at least some French.

#5 Bises à tout?

The french greet each other with kisses on the cheek but this is NOT used when greeting people you are not close with! When meeting a person for the first time or just an acquaintance in general you just shake hands.

#6 When at restaurants..

Don't just go and take a seat at a random table but always ask a waiter or the person in service for the customers for a table first.

#7 Table manners!

Pay special attention to your table manners. France isn't known as the country with the strictest table manners for no reason. You always, ALWAYS!, use knife and fork, don't slurp or make any other annoying noises while eating, don't lift your plate, etc..

#8 "Tête de Veau"?

Expect potentially weird things on the restaurants menu that you are not used to eating in your home country, dishes like "Escargot" (snails) or the brain of a cow are a delicacy here.

#9 20:00 = 20:15

Don't be overly punctual when you're meeting with a Frenchman and don't be surprised when they are late, its basically an unwritten rule in France that you generally meet quarter to half an hour later than you originally stated.

#10 Splitting the bill

This isn't a common way of paying in France at all, so usually one person pays the complete meal and everyone gives their part to that person afterwards.

Hope this was insightful and if you have some things to add, feel free to drop a comment!

Merci pour votre temps :)

xx Jupiter

[carinerose]

Some side notes from me lol :
4) is 100% right guys lol. People here love when tourists try to speak french. Most people will answer in french even if you're speaking English.
5) I personally fait la bise at everyone, even people I just meet. It's a sign of politeness to "break the ice" with the stranger
10) I don't agree... Usually each person pays their part either with a credit card or with money. At least in my experience, NO ONE has ever paid the whole bill.

[Jxpxtxr]

I didn't know that about breaking the ice thingy :o but then I've only been to the eastern regions of France most often & Paris only twice so my experience is probably very limited 😅

[carinerose]

Maybe the french people you met were different from me, but usually yeah it's to break the ice.
And great take by the way :) can't wait to read more from you

[Jxpxtxr]

I'm glad you've liked it and thanks for that informative input!

[Waffles731]

" the Upper class prefers not to mix with the mainstream."
That actually makes me lose respect for the french, of course I didn't really think much of them to begin with

[Waffles731]

To expand on why,
Their langauge sounds terrible when spoken by french people however it sounds absolutely beautiful in the African and haitian form. (I could listen to haitian french all day)
Their food is WAY overrated.
And like most of Europe their is no real great outdoors left considering they killed everything

[Jxpxtxr]

Lol you should really come to Europe to get a proper picture of this continent

[Waffles731]

Are you denying that western Europe is ecologically pretty much fucked.
There is zero chance that Europe's ecosystem will recover to a fraction of what it once was, Unlike here

[Waffles731]

I do plan on seeing Europe someday but the only european countries on my must see list are the U. K, Spain, Italy, and Greece, There are far more places in the third world on that list,
Several African countries, some central and South American ones, The Phillipines

[Jxpxtxr]

Yes, because it is simply untrue :)
Germany is one of the countries with the densest populations in Europe, yet one third of it is covered in forest and yet it happens to perform better ecologically than the US or Canada. That's just an example though, in fact, the vast majority of the greenest countries on the planet happen to be european.

ecowatch.com/.../

"Sweden is the world's greenest country – but Germany is taking the credit. Iceland, Austria and Spain are greener than you think they are. Mongolia is not very green at all. Meanwhile, the US, Australia and Japan have received too much credit for too little action."

How does that fit in with your claim, sorry, "fact"?

[Jxpxtxr]

Here another source for you:

www.alternet.org/.../12-ecologically-sustainable-countries-and-why-they-should-be-admired

7 out of those are European countries and again – the USA and Canada are not on the list at all.. Hmm..

[Waffles731]

The ecosystem is fucked in the way that they drove the vast majority of their large animal species to extinction, in that way, the U. S and Canada are FAR better.

[Waffles731]

you should fully expect the last of the wolves living in Europe to die within a hundred and fifty years, In a hundred and fifty Years, Canada And The U. S Wolf Population is expected to be doing even better than it is today, same with most large animal species in the U. S, Canada And Australia

[Waffles731]

Those countries may be green but when it comes to biodiversity, Europe doesn't have jack on North and South America and Africa. You guys may be green but we have vast tracks of wilderness that most of Europe lacks

[Waffles731]

Hell, The european bison will probably be extinct in my lifetime,
The north American bison has recovered already

[Waffles731]

I guess what I'm saying is that I like my nature truly wild

[Jxpxtxr]

"you should fully expect the last of the wolves living in Europe to die within a hundred and fifty years, In a hundred and fifty Years, Canada And The U. S Wolf Population is expected to be doing even better than it is today, same with most large animal species in the U. S, Canada And Australia"

Wrong, the wolf population in Europe is actually growing again and there's very strict laws protecting extinct species from hunting. Also biodiversity in Europe is of course less than it is in countries in equatorial regions because of climate? Take a look at Russia or Alaska and compare them to the tropical rain forest. Exactly same deal and regarding the protection of endangered species Europe is doing much better than Northern America and there are, in fact, much less endangered species in Europe compared to Ameirca.

[Jxpxtxr]

Don't believe me? Take a look at this:
www.mnn.com/.../infographic-top-20-countries-with-most-endangered-species
I'm sorry but please try to be less biased and use your brain..

[Waffles731]

www.canids.org/.../Grey_wolf_rangemap.png

[Waffles731]

That its the distribution of the Grey wolf.
Lok at Europe then at north america

[Jxpxtxr]

Ok so are we actually talking about biodiversity and ecology or wolves and only wolves here?

[Waffles731]

The U. K has completely eliminated it, Germany has one tiny pocket, denmark as well, France has a tiny pocket,
Its a similar situation for bears.
We in North America are MASTERS of animal conservation,
You know that the Alligator and Mountain Lion and bison nearly went completely extinct,
All their populations are not only completely stable but also very much on the rise,
Hell, the Alligator was nearly extinct in the seventies, now, there are six million of them

[Waffles731]

I guess we are talking about something different,
Its from what I've seen of Europe, there are only a couple of countries with any real wild places left, the kind of thing Edward Abbey Talked about

[Waffles731]

You'd actually like him, or at least some of his writing.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_Abbey

[Waffles731]

Anyway, I do respect your thoughts, I just happen to disagree with them.

[Jxpxtxr]

Well, do me a favour and compare the surface area of Europe to that or Northern America. Pretty much goes without saying that Europe is a more densely populated continent and hence less places are completely untouched by humans. Also I got now that you're only taking about animal species here, and only big ones in addition. But please take the whole picture into account when making your judgements because then you would quickly notice that Europe is doing far better with nature conservation and ecology in general and it's anything but "fucked".

[Waffles731]

Okay. I will concede that

[WombRaider]

It's mostly Parisians who are snobby.

The South of France, especially around Toulouse and Albi is amazing and so are the people.

[Waffles731]

@WombRaider Ah cool

[zagor]

No outdoors? Go to the Alps.

Also, French sounds beautiful when spoken by young French women.

[Waffles731]

@zagor No truly wild places left, its all tamed

[zagor]

Well, it has been populated for a long time. But there are still some pretty isolated areas near the Swiss/Italian border where the terrain is rugged.

[Waffles731]

@zagor The U. S has a population of 350 million people and there are still a load of places that are truly and actually wild,
Wild is what you find in north and south america, its the jungles of the phillipines and southeast asia. Its the congo jungle in africa and its australia.
European outdoors makes me a little melancholy for that reason

[zagor]

France has been densely populated a lot longer. The Native American population in what is now the US was less than the current population of California when the white man arrived.

[Waffles731]

@zagor only by a third actually, a disease came through a few years before the mayflower landings. There was a huge population killed, there were cities that have been destroyed

[Waffles731]

@zagor Also the Yucatan had empires in it as well

[zagor]

There were no major empires in the Rocky Mountains, in the Great Basin, or really anywhere north of Mexico. Nor in the Amazon basin. All those areas had small, spread-out tribes with minimal environmental impact.

[Waffles731]

discovermagazine.com/.../uncovering-americas-pyramid-builders
There actually were civilizations north of central america

[jacquesvol]

" the Upper class prefers not to mix with the mainstream."
Name one country where that's different, please. :D

[lyannamormont]

I think this is not something special to France. Many of these points are valid anywhere in the world... You can just make one point, and say 'Dont expect they will answer your question in English even if you greet them in French and ask a regular tourist question.'

Talking as someone who've travelled France extensively from Lyon to Marseille, Calais to Monaco, Annecy to Paris...

[Jxpxtxr]

Well, as a quarter French person who's travelled pretty much around the world I can't say I've observed these rules & behaviour in many other cultures..

[Frenchtoast244]

Is it ok to fart at the table in France?
Is there a lot of sloots in France?
Was French dressing invented in France?
Do the girls there have fat asses?

Thanks in advance for taking the time out of your day to answer my questions. This will only provide me more insight on France and what the culture is like there. Once again I appreciate your cooperation. If you have any questions about the USA and what's it's like feel free to ask. There's an abundant supply of sloots here and we invented oil and airplanes. Also, if you want you can pm pics of your rear glute spread but that's totally up to you. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Gerald

[Jxpxtxr]

Lol to answer your questions:
No
No
I don't know
No

And oil is a fossil fuel that cannot be invented, only generated by the way 😛

[Frenchtoast244]

No fat asses!! Guess I'm not going to France.

[Jxpxtxr]

Lol what a bummer

[Frenchtoast244]

It's ok. You'll get over it.

[Jxpxtxr]

Only if I get a cookie 😢

[Frenchtoast244]

Lol. French people don't eat cookies.

[Jxpxtxr]

I'm only quarter French and I don't care 😤

[Frenchtoast244]

I have oatmeal snail cookies.

[Jxpxtxr]

Mais très bien! 😄

[Phoenix98]

And don't make jokes about the French military even though their last great general was Napoleon after that everything just kind of went downhill. I really should read up more on French culture and living though being part french myself, beside history I'm not to caught up on the country lol /=.

I am however always a little bit late /= not to fond of snails, got no problem with calf brains though as I have eaten their tongues on more then one occasion. And well tipping is just something that be done in general, can't remember a time when I haven't tipped.

[Harbor]

I feel like tipping is a scam. Why do we tip someone who handed me my food as oppoae to the dishwashers or chefs? $20 tip? I worked an hour for that money not to just give it away to someone whi handed me my food that I paid for..

[Jxpxtxr]

Well as an ex waitress I can promise you that it's a far more physically and mentally stressful job than just spending that time cooking for instance so I do think tips are justified when the service is good.

[Harbor]

Do you live in France?

[Mekkalyn]

Tipping is the biggest scam.
Somehow it is acceptable for the people that are already spending a fortune dining at their restaurant to ALSO pay their staff... I will never tip that much unless I am being a total annoyance and making them run to and from the kitchen a million times. Usually I just go with my boyfriend and we order one meal and get one refill each. and we sit there for a half an hour and our bill is $20 or less. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even tip but my boyfriend always insists, so lucky for our waitress. It's my opinion that my waitress is barely doing any more work than someone who hands me my food and drink at McDonalds... so why should I tip them? If they don't make enough tips that hour they are guaranteed by federal law to get that minimum wage rather than the server's wage... so I don't feel bad at all. It should not be the consumer's problem that your boss doesn't pay you properly.

[Jxpxtxr]

I live in Luxembourg which is very much exactly like France in that regard

[Jxpxtxr]

@Mekkalyn that's fine if you wanna be impolite :D

[Hans222]

I fully recognize it, have been on holiday in France very often.
Especially the rule "speak some French" is very important, you get piles of goodwill and friendliness if you do an effort :D
Fortunately Belgium has 4 million French speaking people so I learnt it at school and speak it fairly well. Most Dutch speaking Belgiums do.

[SirenDep]

Interesting! I'm starting to learn french actually, I'd like to travel in France! Also, is it true that French people aren't good at learning foreign languages or is it a stereotype?

[Jxpxtxr]

It's not that they aren't good at it its just that the majority of French people seems kinda reluctant to it :P

[BiscuitesSwag]

Omg, I would be hella pissed in France. 😂
15 minutes late? I always arrive 5 minutes earlier to be sure that I arrive on time. >.>

[Jxpxtxr]

Hahaha you might end up killing someone, I'm quarter French and definitely got the late-genes lol

[BiscuitesSwag]

I won't do that because I don't want to get into trouble, but who knows? 😂

[Jxpxtxr]

Well if you're lucky the witness hates the French lateness as well so they let you get away with it 😛

[BiscuitesSwag]

So I'm not alone, cool. 😃😂

[Levin]

Or you could take a leaf out of an Englishman's book and wholly and utterly boycott France! What a universal citizen you are though, I'm impressed!

[Jxpxtxr]

Lol I'm not so sure about that but I'm actually planning to write another mytake on England soon too :D

[Levin]

This will be positive right? I'm counting on you! Maybe I influenced it!

[Jxpxtxr]

Haha my 2 years living there influenced it most & I think all my dos & donts mytakes have been quite neutral so far :D

[DearLife]

1. Tips are a thing in most countries
2. Who does that?
3. I'll dress the way I want
4. I don't know French. Get over yourself and understand that foreigners aren't gonna speak your language
5. Im not shaking your hand, I'll smile though.
6. I'll decide which table I want to sit at.
7. This shouldn't have to be said
8. That sounds fucking gross
9. I don't have time for bullshit.
10. I'll keep that in mind.

When I say you, I don't actually mean you.

[meatballs21]

When I was in France, I would always address the serving staff in French.. and they'd respond in English!

[Jxpxtxr]

Oh wow that's very rare but then again those people are paid to be friendly after all lol

[TatyanaTheEmpress]

Lol, I thought only English and Austrian people pay attention to table manners :P

[Jxpxtxr]

Haha I can't say I noticed people care a great deal in the UK or down under when I lived there

[TatyanaTheEmpress]

I said Austrian, not Australian :P

[Jxpxtxr]

Oh my mistake 😁

[Chatonne]

#8 : lmao. Honestly, if you find a restaurant that actually serves "tête de veau", you have to send me the address because I've lived there for 21 years, and I've never seen that meal in a restaurant menu. I guess it's a parisian thing...

[Jxpxtxr]

I've definitely seen it in Paris and if I'm not mistaken on the menu of a restaurant in Metz, too. :P

[abundantlyrich]

Good take

When you gonna do one about germany and Ireland

[Jxpxtxr]

Soon :D

[rgb008]

Lol can't stand when people are late.
I wouldn't do well in France apparently hahaha 😂

[Jxpxtxr]

Haha probably not, you might end up killing someone :D

[Prodigium]

Slurp in Japan, don't slurp in France, think I got it. Thanks for sharing! (:

[Jxpxtxr]

Haha glad you did, a french waiter would kill you with their evil stare if they witnessed you slurp :D

[akadatank44]

I have French blood and I'm always punctual. What gives Jupiter? 😛

[Jxpxtxr]

You've got the punctuality gene from some non French ancestor :P there must be one!

[akadatank44]

Hahah yup German 😛

[Jxpxtxr]

Well there ya go😂 Most strictly punctual nation on the planet

[akadatank44]

Bahahahah I didn't know that 😛😂

[Jxpxtxr]

Well wait for my German version of these dos & donts takes

[akadatank44]

Gonna do American dos and donts? 😛

[Jxpxtxr]

Lol do they even have any? 😂

[akadatank44]

Lol yesssssss be a man and use your hands 😂😂😂

[Jxpxtxr]

"And don't u dare cross my path with rabbit food (=healthy snacks)!" 😂

[akadatank44]

I eat carrots and lettuce 😏😏 but I also eat meat!!! 😂😂

[Jxpxtxr]

Well as long as they don't see you eating healthy in public you should be good eh? 😂

[akadatank44]

Hahahaha healthy shaming hahah

[Jxpxtxr]

Isn't that a thing in the US? 😝

[akadatank44]

Hahah probably I eat healthy anyways 😝

[zagor]

If I recall correctly most restaurants are "service compris" so the tip is already in the bill.

[Jxpxtxr]

Nope, at least not in those that I've been to..

[Mekkalyn]

That was my experience when I went to France, and it's what my French teacher taught us.

[RainbowFanGirl]

Didn't know that they liked to be tipped. Thought that it was only an American thing. :P

[Jxpxtxr]

Oh no, there's plenty of places in Europe that give and expect tips :O

[RainbowFanGirl]

Like where :D

[Jxpxtxr]

Germany does it, Belgium, Italy, it's common in Spain and the Netherlands, it's a must in my home country Luxembourg but that's just some :D

[NotTheFBI]

Must... resist... doing... these... things... to... piss... off... the... French :v
Intersting... but I knew most of these still very good MyTake.

[Bill93]

I love the French culture! it's always so interesting to learn about other parts of our world! Plus the French have awesome music! Claude Francois is my all time favorite singer!!!