Language and Transport

I have just remembered more questions!

Do most restaurants in the city centre have english menu%26#39;s or do I need to brush up on my french?! Do waiters etc speak french?

Is there a transport ticket you can buy for a week that covers metro, RER etc?

Thanks again.

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Brush up on your French for the menus. You can buy a Carte Orange from Monday on and use it until the following Monday. You have to have a passport size picture to get the carte orange. I usually just ask for a carnet which is 10 metro tickets, I have seen some resturants that have menus in English, but I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;d eat in one of them, The waiters usually speak a little English but its best if you attempt a few words in French to break the ice so to speak. It really depends on where you are the more tousisty areas the more English is spoken.

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Yes, waiters speak French ;)

There%26#39;s really no harm in printing out the more common translations for meats, vegs and stuff (I always get lost when it comes to fish).

I have a friend who runs a restaurant in town and he would like to get more tourists visiting, but knows that as soon as he puts an English menu outside that it%26#39;s saying %26quot;Tourist Trap!!!%26quot; (which it%26#39;s not) :)

So he just has a little sticker on the window saying %26quot;english menu available%26quot; which is OK, but IMHO, keep away from the places that have their menu in 5 different languages.

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The only French that you really NEED to know is how to read a menu. If you order the wrong thing, boy, are you going to be unhappy. Tip: don%26#39;t order the Steack �� cheval

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We just got back and almost all waiters speak French - some of the larger places have an English menu at the back of the French menu, sometimes you just have to ask for an English menu. Language was not a problem, although making an effort to speak in French is really appreciated.

It comes back to you very quickly.

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SOME restaurants will offer menus in English (more often menus with English sub-titles) and this is becoming much more frequent, since English is the most common %26#39;second-language%26#39; for many nationalities. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to brush up on some basic French food vocabulary and/or carry a French food glossary with you. We use the litle red, white %26amp; blue %26quot;..Marling MENU MASTER..%26quot; but you can find good French food glossaries for free, that you can print out from any number of internet web sites (search criteria: %26#39;..FRENCH FOOD GLOSSARY..)

As has been pointed out, not surprisingly French waiters usually speak French....but a great many also speak English with varying degrees of fluency---or there will be someone on the staff who does to assist you with any difficulties. But DO NOT assume the %26quot;..everyone speaks English..%26quot;.

The %26#39;..weekly..%26#39; transportation pass is the CARTE ORANGE, which is valid from First Train, Monday AM until Last Train, Sunday PM. This pass is on sale for the CURRENT WEEK through Wednesday and may be purchased (but is not valid) for the following wek from Friday. IF...the days of the week of your visit correspond with the days of the week of validity and purchase for the CO, then this pass will be your best bet. The pass requires that you provide a small (approx 1 1/4%26quot; x 1 1/4%26quot; %26#39;head-shot%26#39; from any source) photo for the photo ID card portion of the pass.

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You don%26#39;t like horse meat steak? Ugh.

Have been to French only restaurants and more than once, when I asked the waitress what an item was she asked out loud to the whole restaurant what the English was for it! Another time I was just told by the waiter %26quot;You wont like it!%26quot;...enough said.

Sometimes I get a weird look too.........Like %26quot;you dont know what that is? Whew!%26quot; And sometimes I just try something by pointing to it and get a pile of unusual looking items. Those are occasionally the times I am glad I ordered the %26quot; daily menu%26quot; so I have something else to eat.

We know a few menu items (basic) and sometimes just order what we know, but I find it is fun sometimes to order something blind........just be prepared and dont ask what it is if you like it....not at least until you have finished it. Be careful with some sausages......You gotta have an aquired taste for some of them...

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That%26#39;s funny Bea. We we in Paris for Christmas and my teen daughter who speaks fluent French ordered a beef dish that is not cooked. The waitress looked at her and told her %26quot;you will not like that%26quot;. To which my daughter responded %26quot;I have had it before and really like it%26quot;. Thank God we had her to translate for us, there is no way I would want horse meat, or any meat for that matter.

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Hamburger a cheval is a beef burger with a fried egg on top, not a horse meat burger, as many suspect. By the way, have you ever tried horse meat? My family loves it and we have a great chevaline (horse meat butcher) just up the street. It is pretty rare to find actual horse meat on a menu in Paris, so you%26#39;re safe with your high school french.

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Good to go,

Recently we noticed the menu said something about a chevel hamberger and when we asked the waitress she said that yes it was horsemeat! You say it is not! humm. Why do they use that word?

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Have been to French only restaurants and more than once, when I asked the waitress what an item was she asked out loud to the whole restaurant what the English was for it! Another time I was just told by the waiter %26quot;You wont like it!%26quot;...enough said%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

Though shouting it to the rest of the establishment is rude, it is not at all uncommon to find French waiters who will %26#39;..warn..%26#39; foreign patrons (whether they actually speak--or imagine that they speak--French) about some of the dishes on the menu. It is a consideration offered for everyone%26#39;s sake. A patron who doesn%26#39;t quite understand what they may be ordering, is more likely to be dissatisfied with an unusual dish...and this can lead to problems. Such dissatisfaction serves no one well--not the patron, not the waiter nor the establishment. But most often, the %26#39;warning%26#39; is offered discretely and with the very best of kindly intentions...a bit like someone jerking you back onto the curb before you step out into the path of an oncoming bus.