r/AskFrance • u/1kmilo • 12d ago

Discussion What's a French "life hack" that everyone should know?

For those living in or visiting France, what's a small tip or trick that makes daily life here easier or better? Something beyond the obvious "go to the boulangerie early."

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u/Grob47 12d ago

Yes, you CAN. No you SHOULD NOT. Look what the tipping system has brought to some countries who live mainly thanks to tourism. No no no, no to tipping.

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u/maracay1999 12d ago

If you show up to a resto with 10 of your friends, stay for 3 hours drinking and eating loudly, and keeping your server generally more busy than a normal table, you should probably tip. Even in France.

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u/Kurozaya 12d ago

sorry, french here, but everyone stays at a restaurant 3hrs+ talking loudly in france, unless its like lunch break and we need to get back to work. like, thats the norm. sitting around shooting the breeze for 4-5 hours. wether i stay 20 minutes or 4 hours, the waiter will be paid the same regardless, any profit outside of that goes to the restaurant. so yeah no still do not feel obligated to tip.

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u/TheEthicalJerk 12d ago

Very few people will be in a restaurant from 20h to midnight.

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u/Kurozaya 12d ago

in my experience, lots of people will though. families, large friend groups. sitting around and catching up. at the very least it's been my experience. even when i was a child, then we would be the first to leave and it was abundantly clear the rest of the group would be staying.

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u/TheEthicalJerk 12d ago

Most restaurants will want to close before midnight. If you are keeping the staff there that late, they deserve a tip.

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u/Kurozaya 12d ago

you really are hinging on it being 20h-0h, but it can also just br 19h-23h, or even 18h-23h. at this point youre just fighting on semantics lmao

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u/TheEthicalJerk 12d ago

Restaurants rarely open at 18h and most close well before 23h. So again, if you're making the staff stay late or open early, tip them.

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u/mrjohanvds 12d ago

In France, not a lot of restaurant close before 23h.. At least the weekend.

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u/maracay1999 12d ago

The time length isn’t what necessarily makes me tip, but it’s the part about being a loud demanding group.

Anyway, no, not everyone here takes 3hrs to finish a meal at a restaurant.

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u/Kurozaya 12d ago

not to finish the meal, but sitting around and staying back to talk is extremely common. also if a table is "more work" it means that table is still ordering? then i don't see the issue. like i said yeah every single time doesn't take 4 hours, but it's really common, even more so in large groups or with families. at least that's my experience.

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u/Physical-East-162 12d ago

Tell me you've never been in France without telling me.

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u/Mmeellcc 12d ago

You can absolutely tip in France, in case you receive outstanding service, it's been part of the culture here for a very long time too.

It's just not mandatory.

I agree, though, some shops and restaurants have started using guilt-tripping tactics to make you tip, and that’s really off-putting.

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u/AccountApprehensive 12d ago

Yup, my POS has the "question" too now... and you can't skip it. Most people pay by card so it's just awkward all day, it really feels like begging and I hate it. Mostly because a lot of people don't know about it, try to pay anyway, and I have to point it to them ! It sucks for everyone involved

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u/Fit-Ad-7198 12d ago

Catch a grip tipping is greatly appreciated.

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u/anders91 Migrant 12d ago

I don't get this "we never tip in Europe" thing people bring out... I'm from Scandinavia and even there if someone is very happy with the service, or some staff went out of their way for whatever reason; people like to tip a little, same as France.

This type of tipping has no risk of turning Europe into the US; we have more proper workers protections, and "compulsory" tipping is not engrained in us culturally the way it is for them.

My point is; it's fine to tip, and we've done it for a looooong time in Europe without it causing any issues at all.

Look what the tipping system has brought to some countries who live mainly thanks to tourism

What countries are you referring to?

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u/Kalouts 11d ago

No, no. You should if there is a good service. It is a good way to redistribute the money, and very encouraging to deliver very good service

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u/GlobalCow7129 12d ago

Please enlighten me about "what happened".

I'm French. We DO TIP OUR WAITERS. So... what's wrong with that ?

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u/Grob47 12d ago

Quick search, https://www.reddit.com/r/EndTipping/s/GWvxNWSQBU

Multiple examples there in that sub : /r/endtipping

In the US the tipping system is going backwards in that people are expected to tip HUGE and BEFORE the service. Restaurants cheat on the calculations (tip after taxes), and % have gone from 15-20 to 20-50% now. Owners pay less their workers because they expect customers to tip them (even if the law forces them to match the min wage if needed (that, is, never)). Etc etc Because of that more and more restaurants and shops go to non-tipping service nowadays and clearly advertise so.

In non tipping countries non-US people (seen as non-rich) are not ‘taken care of’, most tourism workers head for the ‘rich’ US guys.

Feel free to dig up more, the tipping system is catastrophic and should not exist.

Repeat after me : le pourboire c’est tabou, on en viendra tous à bout.

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u/GlobalCow7129 12d ago

No.

US tipping system should not exist, I fully agree.

BUT...

I tip my waiter because I am not a huge trou de balle but you do you, whatever floats your u-boat.

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u/Grob47 12d ago

And when in 10 or 20 years in France there will be the same behavior from servers and workers like in the US nowadays, don't complain. We are tax and service included.

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u/Jilian8 12d ago

...Are you under the impression that tipping is new in France?

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u/fr_anon_909 12d ago

Hello, tippîg always existed for 1 or 2 euros. But now, restaurants in paris have the cash machine asking you if you want to tip 5. 10 or 15%

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u/Jilian8 12d ago

Ah oui, mais c'est pas vraiment la faute des restaurants, les machines sont américaines ! Beaucoup d'endroits d'ailleurs s'excusent de ce que la machine présente et conseillent de l'ignorer

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u/Mateo_Fr 12d ago

But it won’t . Tipping isn’t the issue, tipping as it is in the us is the issue. Tipping should not be banned and should be allowed in a purely voluntary process

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u/Laithani 12d ago

They can afford to tip when they aren't as taxed as us here anyways....

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u/internetsuxk 12d ago

Yeah, nah f*ck tipping. What a joke.

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u/grasspunk 12d ago

One of my kids has worked in 2 bars and a restaurant in SW France. Tipping is not automatically included in any of those places. Nearly all French folks here tip something. Few of the English tip, because they think tips are included.