I would love to grab a Bandol Rosé and sit down for a chat with you some day. Currently binging your content. I am from the SF restaurant biz, then tech, now moving to France. You remind me so much of my Karen - she lives in Berkeley - so you're familiar in a sense.
Thanks for the restaurant post - I, too, wish everyone had waiting tables at some point or another.
I would love to know your secret to not having the English menu presented or to avoid the waiter speaking to you in English. My husband and I travelled many times to France and enjoyed many Michelin starred meals. We would usually be presented with "la carte" in French but once or twice when we were given an English one my husband would pretend to be offended and in French say, "when in Rome...." I was told often the waiters wanted to show off and/or practice their own English and you shouldn't be offended.
Bonjour ! This used to happen to me a lot and it also really bothered me. So I started asking politely for what I want, and I decided not to be offended that they had originally pegged me as an English speaker because as you said, chances are they were just trying to be helpful or show that they also spoke English.
If I wanted a French menu, I just asked politely for one. "Pouvez-vous me donner la carte en français s'il vous plaît ?"
If it was a matter of ordering and they spoke to me in English, I would start by replying politely each time in French to see if they would "get" that I wanted to speak French. If that didn't work, my best technique was to ask, again very sweetly, "Peut-on parlez en français, s'il vous plaït ? J'essaye de m'améliorer." (Can we speak in French, please? I'm trying to improve.) Using the fact that you respect French and want to get better will get you a nice reply nearly every time.
Monsieur B (my French husband) says you can be more insistent if you feel like it and just state, "On peut parler en français," because as you said, "On est en France. On parle français." But I would caution against this unless you are really an advanced speaker because this could set off a funny reply or witty retort that may be more difficult to catch.
My only other advice is to try to be well prepared for the questions that may follow. You know, how you want the meat cooked, what do you want to drink, etc.? In the more gastronomic restos you mentioned, you may also get questions about allergies, etc.
I hope this is helpful to you! Bonne continuation !
Thanks so much for the shout out, Karen!
Happy to share this great resource for all who love Paris! bisous
J'adore cet article de blog! Merci beaucoup, Karen!
Merci merci ! xoxo
I would love to grab a Bandol Rosé and sit down for a chat with you some day. Currently binging your content. I am from the SF restaurant biz, then tech, now moving to France. You remind me so much of my Karen - she lives in Berkeley - so you're familiar in a sense.
Thanks for the restaurant post - I, too, wish everyone had waiting tables at some point or another.
Hi Carole! Love it--wishing you bon courage for your move to France! Hope you are moving for a wonderful reason...
Cheers to Bandol Rosé -- I am rosé all year long :-)
I would love to know your secret to not having the English menu presented or to avoid the waiter speaking to you in English. My husband and I travelled many times to France and enjoyed many Michelin starred meals. We would usually be presented with "la carte" in French but once or twice when we were given an English one my husband would pretend to be offended and in French say, "when in Rome...." I was told often the waiters wanted to show off and/or practice their own English and you shouldn't be offended.
Bonjour ! This used to happen to me a lot and it also really bothered me. So I started asking politely for what I want, and I decided not to be offended that they had originally pegged me as an English speaker because as you said, chances are they were just trying to be helpful or show that they also spoke English.
If I wanted a French menu, I just asked politely for one. "Pouvez-vous me donner la carte en français s'il vous plaît ?"
If it was a matter of ordering and they spoke to me in English, I would start by replying politely each time in French to see if they would "get" that I wanted to speak French. If that didn't work, my best technique was to ask, again very sweetly, "Peut-on parlez en français, s'il vous plaït ? J'essaye de m'améliorer." (Can we speak in French, please? I'm trying to improve.) Using the fact that you respect French and want to get better will get you a nice reply nearly every time.
Monsieur B (my French husband) says you can be more insistent if you feel like it and just state, "On peut parler en français," because as you said, "On est en France. On parle français." But I would caution against this unless you are really an advanced speaker because this could set off a funny reply or witty retort that may be more difficult to catch.
My only other advice is to try to be well prepared for the questions that may follow. You know, how you want the meat cooked, what do you want to drink, etc.? In the more gastronomic restos you mentioned, you may also get questions about allergies, etc.
I hope this is helpful to you! Bonne continuation !
Thank you.