Hello all:

I know tipping is a subject that comes up once in while here, and I got a short blurb today from a free email newsletter I get about Paris. Not sure I entirely agree, but thought I would add it here*******. If nothing else it will add fuel to the fire and I don't think it is far off the mark in my experience

Dear Postcards From Paris Reader,

Nothing is more confusing than tipping in Paris restaurants. Although a service charge is almost always included, a small tip--from a few coins to several euros, depending on the quality of the restaurant--is still customary when the service is good.

And when you're like me, a new regular trying to build relationships with the staff at your corner café, forgetting to leave something can be a big mistake, while leaving too much arouses suspicion.

Fortunately, yesterday over lunch a friend gave me some safe guidelines on what to tip (on the bill as a whole, not per person):

- For a coffee or drink, 10 or 20 cents, if anything
- For a light breakfast or lunch, a euro
- For a full lunch or a light dinner, two euros
- For an elegant meal in a nice restaurant, five euros
- In a grand restaurant, ten euros or more depending on the attentiveness of the service
- In a large group setting, it's polite to add a couple of euros to the indications above

When in doubt after a complete meal, a 2 euro coin is your best bet--small enough to be modest, large enough to signal appreciation…and so, a good thing to have at the ready in your back pocket.

Kathleen Peddicord
For International Living's Postcards From Paris

>>>>Nothing is more confusing than tipping in Paris restaurants.<<<<<

quite straighforward, i think

>>>> forgetting to leave something can be a big mistake, while leaving too much arouses suspicion.<<<<

gross exaggeration

>>>>and so, a good thing to have at the ready in your back pocket.<<<<

in her next week's postcard of "helpful tips" she'll probably tell readers not to keep money in their back pockets for fear of pickpockets.

Pardon me, but what a lame excuse for trying to "clear things up". First of all, are we now supposed to guess that those figures of what to leave are per person or per table? And forgive me for leaving more than 5 euro for a 250 euro meal at a spectacular restaurant with tons of service.
And I agree with walkinaround's comments.

remember now, she's in the business of advising ex-pats who are also in the type of hi-paying jobs.
The leaving of a few coins has become very common now.But most French, as far as I have noted don't leave anything but waiting now for a French mate to respond. Anyone living in Paris?

To be fair, I believe _jpie_ said that "in most cases a service charge is almost always included", and the suggested amounts are over and above what is automatically calculated into the bill you receive from your waiter. If the bill says "service compris" it means it's already included, and whatever else you leave is up to you.

Nothing cheers up a waiter more than being double-tipped, so if you want to leave 20% they won't object at all!

I have previously asked my friends in Paris, all French, and they do not leave a tip in a restaurant.

Several years ago we were eating in a nice restaurant in (on the terrace) in Nimes, and we noticed that people left change, so we asked the French couple next to us what was "de rigeur." They said that they usually left FF10. I thought an extra $1.50 was fine and have followed that ever since. A lunch, a euro, a dinner, a couple of euro. Granted, I'm not talking the Tour d'Argent.

i faced a similar situation, but in another country. locals told me not to tip, because the service charge included. however if the service was spetacular, it's fine to tip. i'm sure waiters and bus boys don't mind the tip.

What is "suspicious" about leaving "too much" (however that is defined)????????

I have never understood the reason some people are so obsessed with "should I leave a tip? or how much should I tip". And I can't imagine actually asking the guy at the next table for guidance in this regard. First of all your obligation is to pay the amount of the check. You have no obligation to pay anything over and above that. If you want to pay more ....do it; if you don't want to pay more.....don't. What are you afraid of? Do you think they will post your photograph on the wall or hiss and boo the next time you come through the door if you don't leave the proper tip? If for a combination of reasons I feel moved to tipping; I will and almost always that is the case and when I leave the restaurant I don't "worry" about having done the right thing.

Geez.......I feel better already.

Larry J

Hi All:

Yes I figured, as usual, we would get a mixed reaction from the post. I live in Paris (only part time now) but my french husband and I still disagree a bit over this even after 25+ years. He never leaves tips, although to be fair, we don't hang out at places like the tour argent. I sometimes leave some spare change at a cafe especially if I hang out there over an hour for instance and just nurse a cafe, but I must admit I hardly ever leave a tip at a "normal level" restaurant like the epi dupin at lunch for instance unless the service was extraordinary.

Geez, Larry. You know the expression &quot;When in Rome...&quot;? I see nothing at all wrong in finding out exactly what it is the Romans do. I think it's stupid to tip 15-20% if the tip is already included; on the other hand if custom says to leave a little extra, then I'd like to do that. Not because I'm afraid of what people will think of me, but because I'd like to be, as the French say, <i>correcte.</i>

I know American waiters would be very happy to have their European customers do likewise.

There was a thread a few years ago, a few posters dined at the Mistral Gourmand in St. Remy and left a few centimes when they left. The waitress took it as an insult. Posters all agreed it was better to leave nothig than a few pennies.

&gt;...it was better to leave nothig than a few pennies.&lt;

A one penny tip is the way to say, &quot;terrible service&quot;.

Somehow I also don't think a tip is necessary.

But when I took my friend out to lunch at Le Cinq, he left a 10 euro tip (I paid the bill).

I was quite surprised by his tip. That's the only occasion we've eaten together that I've seen him leave a tip.

So perhaps there's something to be said about &quot;In a grand restaurant, ten euros or more depending on the attentiveness of the service.&quot;

Ira, they did not have terrible service.

To add to the my post, after seeing the bill at Le Cinq, really, the last thing I wanted to do is to tip....

Glad that part was taken care of by someone else.

I think you have to consider the source -- a woman who claims to live in Paris but doesn't know enough about the subject to write it herself and has to have friends tell her what to do. Also, the target market of this publication, as someone else stated, are big spenders. I can't imagine what &quot;suspicion&quot; would arise from tipping very generously, either.

I think someone said she didn't define the tip amount, but the quote does say it is per the bill, not per person. Which actually makes the recommendations kind of silly, they only make sense per person. She may have gotten that wrong. I can just see someone leaving 10 cents for a party of 4 people having coffee.

I rarely tip in France and think these are very generous and unnecessary, as service is included in the bill. I tip a little once in a while for very unusual service. I would never tip more just because I've stayed in a cafe a long time as that doesn't have much to do with the waiter having to do a lot for you -- usually less. If the idea is you are paying the owner for use of the property (which I could see), tipping the waiter doesn't accomplish anything. I really would not leave some of these minuscule amounts as tips as they appear insulting to me, as I know some people who claim to insult a waiter/server they leave a very little bit rather than nothing, in order to get the point across. I don't do that because I don't follow that concept, but think leaving very small amounts could be interpreted as that message.

I don't think most women carry around things in back pockets, anyway.

Christina:

Just to clarify, the woman who wrote the brief article is a paid writer who is an American who just moved over to Paris about 3 months or so ago, so she is trying to describe the experience of a new expat..........the audience is mostly (I think)francophile American that want to be part time Parisans who buy property there.

I wish I would have read this discussion before I went to Paris