Our friends in France taught us about “Restaurant Prison”. This is where your expected meal time of an hour turns into an extended saga as wait staff are nowhere to be found when you would like to finish up and pay. Now that I have experienced it, it no longer aggravates me. Getting up and making your way to the exit of the restaurant is a last, but sometimes necessary resort. 😂
Oh wow restaurant prison haha! I am usually the person who is still there when they either a) need the table for someone else or b) are closing up :-) But in my experience it's actually very common in a lot of French restaurants (even nicer ones although not the fanciest) to get up and head over to the front or side to pay. I guess that's because by and large, French servers don't "drop the check" like we do in the States. That's just one of the many cultural differences I've noticed since living here... That being said if you've asked for the check, it should of course be brought to you tout de suite. But what tout de suite means may differ haha. Merci merci for your comment and greetings from Paris!
@@karenbussenand thanks for the awesome videos. Great level of detail. I have been to France many times and speak French, but the cultural peculiarities you outline are valuable!
Something that still, after several trips to France and living here for 1 year, gives me anxiety, is the crowded terrace. I worry that I won’t be noticed by the waiter and don’t want to seem rude waiving him down. I’ve waited quite some time, and get nervous that I’m doing it wrong. As Americans, we’re so used to needing permission to sit somewhere by the host/ess. I’m also in awe that the wait staff in France can even remember each table, what they ordered!!! When it’s very crowded, I’m so impressed.
Salut ! Merci for making this excellent point, and I agree. For Americans (of which I am one) it can be stressful. If you do wait a bit and still feel you may not have been seen, you can always look for eye contact and then nod or say "s'il vous plaìt ?" -- just a gentler way of saying you're ready to order. I'm in year two now and I'm finally starting to relax a little ha! But I also agree that French servers are by and large really amazing--they just get stuff done and rarely forget things (and this is coming from someone who worked in restaurants for years!).
Bonjour. As I have said in a prior comment, thank you for sharing your French adventure. We are currently taking french lessons in order to be better prepared for a planned 9 month stay in the next 2 years. Our sweet dog is getting cancer treatment and we wish to give him all of our attention before "crossing the pond". Finding the right combination of a quasi country property not too far from a village/town with a good market, dining , etc and some fluency in English is daunting online. Any advice is appreciated> Merci!
Bonjour ! First off I am wishing bon rétablissement to your dear dog. Congrats on starting French lessons now--this will really help you. And agreed, choosing a place to land in France with just the right combination of elements can be daunting, especially online. Have you looked at the Facebook Group "Americans Living the Dream in France" ? They are great and it's people who live all over different parts of the country and they have lots of good advice and opinions. France has such a varied landscape with so many different personalities--it really is incredible. Bonne continuation and I hope this helps!
Je suis allée dans une brasserie à Strasbourg, et j'ai fait tous les choses que vous avez mentionné dans cette vidéo. Mais... j'ai fait une petite erreur... parce que je suis americaine, j'ai mangé une sandwich et des frites... avec mes mains. Oups... 😅 Great video! I'd love one where you go into more detail about different dishes and what they are/their translations! Like from the sign in your video... qu'est-ce que ça veut dire "blanquette de poulet" et "mi-cuit chocolat?" svp?? 🥰
For eating with your hands...ce n'est pas grave ! :-) As for the specific words, I will do a video on some more specifics, but to answer your two questions: 1) A blanquette is generally un plat principal (a main course) de la viande blanche (white meat, such as poultry or veal) cooked and served avec une sauce blanche (with a white, cream-based sauce) souvent avec des champignons (often with mushrooms). 2) Un mi-cuit chocolat is (obviously) a dessert, but it's going to be some sort of interpretation of a chocolate cake that is soft or melty in the middle, kind of like what we might call a "molten" chocolate cake. Technically "mi-cuit" means "half-cooked." Thanks so much for the commentaire and hope this helps. Stay tuned for more on specific menu items!
Oui ... En amerique on ne s'installe pas comme on veut dans un restaurant ... On vous place ... C'est surprenant ... Et ils attendent que vous partiez rapidement pour pouvoir rentabiliser le plus possible la table !! 😱😱😂😂
Un petit conseil pour les américains, respectez le travail du vigneron si vous commandez du vin ! S'il vous plait, ne mettez pas de glaçons. C'est une hérésie, les vins ne méritent pas d'être maltraités de la sorte. Pire encore : mélanger du vin et de l'eau ou, injure suprême, avec du Coca. On pardonne beaucoup en France, mais pas ça.
This is fabulous! Beautifully done!
merci merci !!
SO HELPFUL!!!!
MANY THANKS!!!! ❤
Thank you for watching and so happy you find it helpful 😃
Our friends in France taught us about “Restaurant Prison”. This is where your expected meal time of an hour turns into an extended saga as wait staff are nowhere to be found when you would like to finish up and pay. Now that I have experienced it, it no longer aggravates me. Getting up and making your way to the exit of the restaurant is a last, but sometimes necessary resort. 😂
Oh wow restaurant prison haha! I am usually the person who is still there when they either a) need the table for someone else or b) are closing up :-)
But in my experience it's actually very common in a lot of French restaurants (even nicer ones although not the fanciest) to get up and head over to the front or side to pay. I guess that's because by and large, French servers don't "drop the check" like we do in the States. That's just one of the many cultural differences I've noticed since living here...
That being said if you've asked for the check, it should of course be brought to you tout de suite. But what tout de suite means may differ haha. Merci merci for your comment and greetings from Paris!
@@karenbussenand thanks for the awesome videos. Great level of detail. I have been to France many times and speak French, but the cultural peculiarities you outline are valuable!
Something that still, after several trips to France and living here for 1 year, gives me anxiety, is the crowded terrace. I worry that I won’t be noticed by the waiter and don’t want to seem rude waiving him down. I’ve waited quite some time, and get nervous that I’m doing it wrong. As Americans, we’re so used to needing permission to sit somewhere by the host/ess. I’m also in awe that the wait staff in France can even remember each table, what they ordered!!! When it’s very crowded, I’m so impressed.
Salut ! Merci for making this excellent point, and I agree. For Americans (of which I am one) it can be stressful. If you do wait a bit and still feel you may not have been seen, you can always look for eye contact and then nod or say "s'il vous plaìt ?" -- just a gentler way of saying you're ready to order.
I'm in year two now and I'm finally starting to relax a little ha! But I also agree that French servers are by and large really amazing--they just get stuff done and rarely forget things (and this is coming from someone who worked in restaurants for years!).
Bonjour. As I have said in a prior comment, thank you for sharing your French adventure. We are currently taking french lessons in order to be better prepared for a planned 9 month stay in the next 2 years. Our sweet dog is getting cancer treatment and we wish to give him all of our attention before "crossing the pond". Finding the right combination of a quasi country property not too far from a village/town with a good market, dining , etc and some fluency in English is daunting online. Any advice is appreciated> Merci!
Bonjour ! First off I am wishing bon rétablissement to your dear dog. Congrats on starting French lessons now--this will really help you. And agreed, choosing a place to land in France with just the right combination of elements can be daunting, especially online. Have you looked at the Facebook Group "Americans Living the Dream in France" ? They are great and it's people who live all over different parts of the country and they have lots of good advice and opinions. France has such a varied landscape with so many different personalities--it really is incredible. Bonne continuation and I hope this helps!
Je suis allée dans une brasserie à Strasbourg, et j'ai fait tous les choses que vous avez mentionné dans cette vidéo. Mais... j'ai fait une petite erreur... parce que je suis americaine, j'ai mangé une sandwich et des frites... avec mes mains. Oups... 😅
Great video! I'd love one where you go into more detail about different dishes and what they are/their translations! Like from the sign in your video... qu'est-ce que ça veut dire "blanquette de poulet" et "mi-cuit chocolat?" svp?? 🥰
For eating with your hands...ce n'est pas grave ! :-)
As for the specific words, I will do a video on some more specifics, but to answer your two questions:
1) A blanquette is generally un plat principal (a main course) de la viande blanche (white meat, such as poultry or veal) cooked and served avec une sauce blanche (with a white, cream-based sauce) souvent avec des champignons (often with mushrooms).
2) Un mi-cuit chocolat is (obviously) a dessert, but it's going to be some sort of interpretation of a chocolate cake that is soft or melty in the middle, kind of like what we might call a "molten" chocolate cake. Technically "mi-cuit" means "half-cooked."
Thanks so much for the commentaire and hope this helps. Stay tuned for more on specific menu items!
Do the French eat sandwiches with untensils?! I’ve not seen that so surprising. I cannot embrace that. 😁
@@karenbussen Merci beaucoup pour votre response, c'est très gentil de votre part! 💖
Oui ... En amerique on ne s'installe pas comme on veut dans un restaurant ... On vous place ... C'est surprenant ... Et ils attendent que vous partiez rapidement pour pouvoir rentabiliser le plus possible la table !! 😱😱😂😂
Exactement !
Un petit conseil pour les américains, respectez le travail du vigneron si vous commandez du vin ! S'il vous plait, ne mettez pas de glaçons. C'est une hérésie, les vins ne méritent pas d'être maltraités de la sorte. Pire encore : mélanger du vin et de l'eau ou, injure suprême, avec du Coca.
On pardonne beaucoup en France, mais pas ça.
Peut-on respecter les vignerons et mélanger du vin et de la crème de cassis ?
@@Cantece77250 Bien sur, si le vin est un Bourgogne et la crème de Cassis vient de Dijon.
@@Cantece77250 Bien sur, si le vin est un Bourgogne et la crème de Cassis vient de Dijon.
J'adore un kir pour l'apéro !
J'adore les vins de la Bourgogne !