Cali-Parisien

leçon 1: asking for the bill

Another embarrassing story in communication that happened in the first week that we were here in Paris.

We were on one of our regular walks, meandering between streets and metro stops and we found a café along the way that we decided to have lunch at. This is one thing that we've had no trouble appreciating, the food is always incredible-- and we've been enjoying as much of that as we can get our hands on.

One of the big differences when eating out (especially sitting on the terrace of a café) is that the French take their time and enjoy their meal and conversation --I mean really take their time, to the point of staying there all afternoon and evening. So because of this, it's often quite difficult to get the garçon to bring the check. Quite the opposite from the US, where we're used to being pushed towards the exit the moment the last bite is eaten because the restaurant is anxious to clear the table for another patron.

After we finished our meal and spent another forty minutes trying to flag down the waiter we finally managed to get his attention. So I politely ask him, "Bonjour Monsieur, pourrions-nous s'il vous plait avoir la pourboire?". He gave me a bit a blank expression for a few seconds and then started to chuckle. That was when I realized that I had just asked him for the tip, instead of the bill. Oops.

posted by geek @ vendredi, avril 29, 2005 0 comments