What To Do In France - French Manners And Etiquette

Author: George Josserme

To French people, fine manners and proper etiquette are not the latest fashionable thing or the latest trend. French manners and etiquette have been part of their lives since before the Renaissance in 1400s, the Musketeers of King Louis XIII in the1600s, all the way to the XXI century.

Proud of their demeanor, deportment, and rectitude, French people passed their manners and etiquette on since those generations of bygone days to today's generations. People of the world raised with a solid foundation on values and principles of a higher order will find French manners and etiquette easy to assimilate. When it comes to wonder "What to do in France," cultivating ourselves make others notice and see us as well-thought-of person.

Let's review what to do in France when it comes to French manners and etiquette.

• French people tremendously value taste and quality. One thing to do in France when dressing up is to denote taste. It is not meant to show off how much money you have.

• French manners and etiquette dictate that compliments or commentaries on a person's appearance is inappropriate.

• After a proper introduction, French manners and their etiquette mandate that you refer to a person using a title followed by a last name. If you meet a woman, but you know only her first name and not her marital status, you call her Mademoiselle followed by her first name. The right thing to do in France is to remain calling everybody in that way until you are told otherwise.

• It is well-received if you present people you were introduced to with an elegant card meant for personal matters. It shows only your personal information, and nothing about your business.

• As you leave a group, a general wave as you say "Au revoir" or "A toute a l'heur" is NOT acceptable. It is practiced in North America [U.S.A. and Canada except Quebec] but it is not what to do in France. Instead, you approach each person, make eye contact, and shake hands followed by an appropriate salutation.

• Should you meet again with a member of a group you have been introduced to previously, a handshake as you make eye contact is expected. You accompany your salutation with an expression such as "Je suis heureux de vous rencontrer" [I am pleased to meet or find you again]. Do not attempt to hug anyone unless you are a very close friend. Assuming you know a person ~and you are well-received~ he or she may initiate a kiss on your cheeks. It is their hug.

• It is tolerable for women to arrive 10 to 15 minutes late. A gentleman, however, is expected to have a trustworthy word. A man wondering what to do in France is to arrive as promised.

• French people feel acceptable standing closer to one another than North Americans do, but this assumes that you are already well-received.

• A long eye contact with a woman ~or a man~ is expected and well-accepted; but if you look the other away during a conversation ~or distastefully answer a call in your cell phone or yawn~ is do not show to know what to do in France.

• French manners and etiquette mandate to denote kindness and respect by not interrupting others when they talk. Things to do in France involve exposing how amenable and interesting your conversations are, but do NOT monopolize a conversation. It is important to neither make statements on French matters ~unless you are an expert~ nor to engage in conversations on political, religious, and personal economy issues.

• On thing not to do in France is to be loud. These folks find loudness a primitive and distasteful way to brutishly disrespect others. They are passionate by nature, and you may also be passionate when it is appropriate; but do NOT be loud !

• What to do in France does not involve making questions such as "Where do you live?" or "Do you have a car?" or "What do you do for a living?" or "Do they pay well?" Refrain from prying in a person's private life !

• If you want to know what to do in France, one thing is to spend time at sidewalk cafés. French people do like to look at people. You will get used to being looked at how tastefully you dress. They do NOT do this to maintain a long eye-contact, or to smile at you. That would be a big No No of French manners and etiquette.

• If you are invited to visit a family home, do not expect to be taken for a tour. You will be taken to an area they consider appropriate for you to be at.

• If a family invites you to have dinner, you show your good French manners, etiquette, and taste bringing flowers or chocolates; for instance. However, do not bring wine. Let them match the wine to the meal being served.

• It is reasonable to arrive up to ten or so minutes before or after the agreed upon time, but a major thing of what to do in France is to NOT show up half an hour or more before or after you are expected.

• You show disrespect and lack of good manners if you start eating before the host, the person that cooked the meal, or the person that served the meal is sitting at the table. Just wait until you are told to start eating, or when the others do. After drinks have been served, join in on the toast.

• Meals usually consist of five or six bites, but your message is "I didn't like it" if you leave on the dish a good portion of the food you were served. French manners and etiquette accept you to leave some of the food, however.

• French folks have perfected cutting and eating with knives and forks. What to do in France is to NOT use your fingers to eat a chicken leg, to bite the meat off a pork chop, or anything involving your fingers with food. The French are polished enough as to eat fruit with knives and forks.

One may construe, then, that when it comes to what to do in France is to learn French manners and etiquette before one arrives. It is because our grooming and appearance, how we dress up, what our demeanor and deportment is, and what comes out of our mouth is to French people like billboards exhibiting at a first glance our inner qualities.

When it comes to "What to do in France," it is to unfaltering remember that how we were raised makes up our reputation.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/what-to-do-in-france-french-manners-and-etiquette-5171477.html

* George Josserme
* Editor-in-Chief
* The View - Visiting France & Paris


This author wrote several other articles intended to make a visitor's trips to France more enjoyable and productive. Visiting France - French Manners Of A Gentleman is one of them, and Visiting France - An Investment In Yourself is another very successful article.

His articles may be published in a family-friendly web site. The easy-to-use HTML code is available at each article at ArticlesBase, or by request at The View above.