French etiquette rules, manners, and politesse, as well as other tips for living in France.
If you are not sure where to start, I recommend starting here:
In France, the outdoor market is not just a place where you can buy things. The French generally fancy themselves to be gourmands, and we tend to think of the marché as the place to buy items of quality, produced…
France may not have lords and ladies like the British do, but that doesn't mean that the class structure doesn't exist in French society. That Frenchie with their nose up the air, sniffing out loud at imagined transgressions is not…
If Shakespeare were French, he would have had a field day with "la bise". To bise or not to bise, that is the question.Shakespeare Frenchified North Americans may have the half-hug, but French people have la bise. The "bise etiquette"…
If you are planning on doing business in France, you need to be aware of the pitfalls. French business etiquette is not quite the same as it would be in other parts of the world. As someone who has worked…
You will notice I said "how to cut cheese", not "cut the cheese". I say this because my grammar-checker is currently trying to tell me I'm writing it incorrectly. Grammatical issues aside, there is an art to cutting French cheeses…
You may not have realized that there was a full set of french etiquette rules just for cheese, but now you know. The cheese course is a mainstay in France. So it stands to reason that there is a certain…
There are times when you just want to get rid of someone. Ok, maybe not. But since we had a bit of fun with the Bonjour in French (how did you do on the quiz?), you knew we had to…
You may think you know the basics, but I bet there are certain ones that will you up. After 10 years in France, even I still sometimes get caught on the rules of saying hello in French. I imagine you…
You are not going to run into royalty when you visit France (the French have chopped off all their heads), but if you're planning to eat during your trip, you should probably brush up with some tips on French dining…
France is renowned for its gastronomy. But nearly as important, is how French people eat a typical meal. Having lived in France for the past 10 years, I will note that a traditional French dinner, even if it is at…
Living in France for so long, there is always a bit of a culture shock every time I return "home". There are just those small little things that are not like what I'm now used to in France, and make…
French dining is a lot like eating with your parents. The waiters (aka your grumpy parents) will frown at you as if you were a child, and get very annoyed. "Yes, you have to eat everything, no substitutions, and no…
"Sois sage!" as French parents regularly tell their kids, usually when they are being little terrors. Even the fondest parents will agree, little kids can be down-right little savages. But we just don’t expect anybody else call them that to…
Being introduced to people in France can be quite a formal affair. There is a proper way to say Bonjour and Nice to meet you in French. When you walk into a party, you do not just walk in and…
Picture the scene, my first day at a new job in a new country. I had the usual first day butterflies, but nothing I thought of as too unusual. Until lunchtime that is, when I came across what us North…
Every culture has its own rules of etiquette, and the French are no different. What works in other places, may not work in France. French social etiquette has its particularities that you will want to be aware of if you…
The first time I came across it, I was baffled. And then irritated. We were at a beachside hotel near Saint-Malo and they seemed to be missing a few cups and mugs at morning breakfast. My husband helpfully pointed me…
After living in a foreign country for several years, it’s funny how suddenly you notice something that you never noticed before. With hindsight, I realized that being an etranger no one will tell you “Oh that’s rude!”. They just put it down to you…
When I got married, a lovely French friend offered me an elegant set of cloth table napkins. I'm sure I looked at her oddly, but she let it slide. Weren’t cloth napkins just for restaurants? I put my observation skills to…