Day 2065 (Wednesday) 25th November

I had a lovely lie in this morning sunbathing in bed, then spent a considerable amount of time preparing my lessons for the rest of the week.

Dee came visiting and we were amazed by how brave Badger was with her

She dropped some computer disks off from Pat to Huw who is going to help him sort out his issue so she brought Huw some cakes to say thank you. Huw then filled out his attestation claiming to do some essential shopping in the garden centre in Saint Jean so he could give me a lift to Florence’s home. The shop that Saint Jean has that Beaulieu doesn’t is a garden centre so if he does get stopped he might have to go and buy a plant.

Because we went on Kisbee I wore my parka for the first time this winter, it was pretty cold on the scooter so I’m glad I wore it.

This Santa has appeared near Florence’s house – quite tacky

Ocean was a bit late so I played with the dogs while I waited

Ocean showed me her English book with the grammar rules and instructions in French and I was amazed by how much I could read, she was impressed as well and she made me read it aloud correcting my pronunciation as we went along. I got a free ride on the bus home today because the validating machine wasn’t working – result!

Huw took the following photos this morning on his power walk and his visit to the villa to check that everything is OK and it was.

Six French Greetings Faux-Pas That Make You Sound Rude

Greeting French people the way you greet American, British or even Spanish people is a recipe for disaster.

You see, the French follow a strange greeting ritual and breaking its unspoken rules is guaranteed to land you into the “rude tourist” category.

Luckily, greeting the French like a local is simple once you know a few basic principles. These are the secret rules you’ll discover in this article.

1. Being overly enthusiastic

When you arrive in France, the first thing you will notice is that French people don’t smile as much as Americans.

They’ll greet you with a friendly “bonjour” (hello, good morning) but won’t run to you and say ” “thank you so much for visiting our store, we can’t wait to see you again”.

It’s not you, it’s them.

In France (and in most European countries), treating strangers like friends will raise eyebrows and leave people wondering what you want.

The French enjoy good service as much as you do but they also enjoy privacy and being left alone when they eat and shop.

This doesn’t mean you should expect shopkeepers to be cold, grumpy creatures but simply that they’ll generally leave you more space than American shopkeepers and only come to you if you want them to.

2. Using the wrong politeness level

In English, you can ask “what are you doing?” to a child, your boss or your best friend.

Things are more complicated in French.

When you speak French, you choose between the formal “vous” and the informal “tu”.

Qu’est-ce que vous faites ? (formal)

Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? (informal)

Think of it as the difference between “what are you doing?” and “what’s up bro?”.

You can use the first one with anyone but the second sentence, used in the wrong context, would offend people.

3. Entering a shop without greeting the seller

On my first trip to Russia, I was surprised to see that many people enter shops without greetings the sales person.

At first, I thought “wow Russian people are so rude!”.

Then I realised that’s simply normal in Russia and isn’t considered rude at all.

In France, it’s the opposite.

You should always greet the seller when you enter a shop.

If the person is on the phone or seems busy, simply nod.

When you leave, make sure you say “au revoir” (goodbye).

4. Saying hello instead of bonjour

Want to bring a smile to French people’s faces?

Speak their language!

You don’t need to speak perfectly, you don’t even need to be able to hold a conversation.

You just need to say “bonjour”.

It sounds obvious but I hear lots of people enter French shops and say “hello”.

Sure, that’s better than nothing but it also screams “I care so little about your country and culture that I’ m not even going to bother learning how to say “hello” in French”.

People are much friendlier when they see you make an effort to speak their language. A few basic words go a long way.

I saw how true this was when I was teaching French in Korea.

Every time I entered a shop, the sales person had a look that probably meant something like “great I’ll have to speak English now and sound ridiculous”. But as soon as they heard me speak Korean, they would suddenly relax and become super friendly.

It’s important to remember that many French people are as terrified at the idea of speaking English as you’re at the idea of speaking French. 

When you greet them in French, you make yourself vulnerable and show you care, this is often all it takes to convince them to try to speak English.

5. Using ‘how are you?’ as a greeting

In the US, it’s common to say “how are you” when you greet someone…without expecting an answer.

When French people ask “how are you”, they usually expect an answer.

I say “usually”, because young French people who have watched lots of American movies and speak English well (yup they exist) sometimes use “ça va ?” as a greeting too.

6. Hugging instead of kissing

When you meet someone in France, you have three options:

Shake hands (with strangers)

Faire la bise (kiss on the cheek) (friends, acquaintances and family members)

Simply say “Bonjour” (hello, good morning) or “bonsoir” (good evening)

If you’re a woman, you usually kiss friends, family members and sometimes acquaintances.

If you’re a man you only kiss people of the opposite sex. This is not true in PACA; men kiss men when they are good friends or family and our friend Olivier kisses Huw – well he did before bloody COVID!

These are of course general rules and depend on your environment.

For example, I always kiss members of my family on the cheek, whether they’re men or women.

Hugging is only an option with close friends and family.

If kissing is awkward for you, remember that hugging is equally awkward for French people.

In France, you hug your special one, sometimes close friends, but that’s it.

Most people will feel uncomfortable if you try to hug them. It’s considered too intimate. 

In fact, there is no word for “hug” in French. The closest French word, “câlin”, has a romantic meaning and is closer to “cuddle”.

Kevin and Angie called around at 5.30 bringing a new jigsaw to swap and we had a few pre-dinner drinks and a good catch up.