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Practical Information on France
while you're there |
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RESTAURANTS IN FRANCE - ETIQUETTE |
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Meals
In France, there are three meals a
day.
First, breakfast from around 7.00am to
9.00am, a meal composed of a hot drink (coffee, tea or
chocolate), croissants and/or bread, butter and jam.
Then lunch, between 12.00pm and 2.00pm: the
main meal usually consisting of a starter, main course and/or
a dessert. It is usually finished off with an espresso coffee.
Finally dinner, which starts around 8.00pm.
A snack (around 4.00pm) is traditionally
reserved for children, although some adults change it into tea
and cakes.
At the restaurant
In France you will find all sorts of
restaurants, from simple, small, cozy ones to famous, gourmet
restaurants, along with brasseries, inns, tearooms…
In restaurants, bread and carafes of water
are included in the price shown, as well as all service
charges, even if it is usual to leave a tip.
Beverages
Pasteurised milk is available everywhere
(ask for lait frais pasteurisé). Water served in
restaurants and hotels is perfectly safe; so is tap water
unless labelled EAU NON POTABLE (water not for
drinking).
Eat at any time
The majority of restaurants serve food from
12.00pm to 3.00pm and from 7.00pm to 11.00pm. Some will
welcome you even later – larger brasseries and those near to
railway stations. In large towns, small grocery shops stay
open until midnight. During the day, you can eat at any time
in sandwich shops, fast-food restaurants, or again in some
brasseries.
For all tastes…
Should you be an adventurer, you still want
to keep your habits in terms of food!
A huge breakfast and a simple sandwich at
midday, or lunch as the only meal of the day… dinner at 6
o'clock or start the meal much later…
You can also find some vegetarian
restaurants. And face to the rise of a vegetarian demand, most
of French restaurants have added some vegetarian meals on
their menu.
Asian food is very appreciated by the
French. So you can find Asian restaurants anywhere in Paris
and in each French city with a large choice of prices and
ambiance, from Chinese to Indian restaurants!
Whatever is usual, French professionals are
trying hard to adapt to the different pace of their guests:
more flexible mealtimes, menus adapted for everyone's
requirements…
So everyone can find a meal at his or her
convenience!
Service and Tips
Service is included in restaurants. This has nothing to do
with tips that you leave as a mark of appreciation. It is
usual to give porters and doormen, theatre and cinema
usherettes, guides, taxi drivers and hairdressers a tip of 10
francs (1.52€)
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