<\/a><\/span> $\"Photo$ <\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/Dion Hinchcliffe\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/e5yaF3<\/p><\/div>\n

The bistro next to your hotel seems perfect! It’s been recommended by some locals, and you\u2019re picturing a seat in a spacious booth and intimate conversation with Parisians just one table over. Hold up: You need to re-adjust that laid-back attitude or you’ll be in for a rude awakening \u00e0 la French horror film \u201cHigh Tension.\u201d Expect lively crowds, full tables jammed in impossibly small spaces, and waiters flying through the air. When you’re seated with strangers, don’t ruin the experience by trying to force small talk\u2014it’s simply not done. Let Parisians find out for themselves just how interesting and well-mannered you are in spite of your culture shock. Oh, and please ditch the t-shirt and jeans, you gauche American!<\/p>\n

Refine Your Dining Pleasure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a><\/span> $\"Pouring$ <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
Put on your fancy pants and prepare for an experience that\u2019s vastly different from eating at a bistro. To successfully dine at classy French restaurants, you must master the fine art of lingering. Europeans are famous for noshing well into the wee hours of the morning, enjoying the company as well as the food. No one’s in a hurry, and your waiter isn’t looking to turn the table 10 times in one service. If you arrive before your reservation, expect to be greeted and then politely ignored. Once you’re seated, look forward to an evening of attentive service and quiet conversation. No matter how thrilling it is to savor escargot for the first time, suppress your squeals of delight. Surrounding tables will appreciate a more refined reaction, but you can always twirl your fake mustache silently if you get carried away.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Stab the Lettuce<\/strong><\/h2>\n
You know you\u2019re in a foreign country when it\u2019s considered rude to slice the lettuce. Scratch that\u2014you know you\u2019re in a foreign country when people are willingly eating salads instead of cheeseburgers. Instead of hacking into the leafy greens like you might do back in the good ole U.S. of A., gently fold those salad greens with your silverware, and delicately munch them in small bundles. Take care to execute the maneuver with your fork in left hand and your knife in the right. This cutlery arrangement is de rigueur from bistros to the highest halls of haute cuisine. If it feels awkward, take out your frustration on the pomme frites. There’s no such thing as finger food in France (unless you count cigarettes), so you’re expected to stab the potatoes too.<\/p>\n
Respect the Foie Gras<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a><\/span> $\"Fois$ <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
It’s one thing to avoid a devastating faux pas, and it\u2019s another to gracefully show off cultural smarts. When ordering at a restaurant, don’t dwell over menu choices or ask your waiter for translations. As a gracious guest, you should learn enough key French foodie lingo to easily choose between beef, bird, and fish. Also, keep your hands at table level, never in your lap, and you’ll make a marvelous impression on any observers. Finally, be sure to order the French specialty foie gras, but don\u2019t treat it as a p\u00e2t\u00e9 for smearing over tiny toast bits. This revered delicacy is meant to be enjoyed in luxuriously small, silken bites and treated as a complement to your entr\u00e9e.<\/p>\n
The best way to handle a French dining experience is to channel your inner je ne sais quoi. If that escargot flies out of your tongs and lands in someone’s soup, just smile apologetically, and take comfort in knowing you’ll never see them again (you can smack yourself for losing a $15 snail later). Mind your manners, learn from the locals, and always return their gracious wishes for your bon app\u00e9tit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Looking for happy trails and a mouth full of snails? Feasting in France should satisfy your cravings. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[40,46,47,48,66,80],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":980,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}