1936 On the Continent

regularity of monks at office—and woe to him or her who dares to transgress the unwritten law!—they exchange news and weave rumours into the fabric of the town’s daily gossip.
    Turn into a side street now and let the contrast soak into you. There is no longer any bustle or movement. The pavements and cobble-stones are practically deserted, and the blank faces of the houses look down at you with that grave and sleepy look which only the houses of a provincial town can give.
    At the gates of the town begins a kind of small scattered suburb, where the manufacturers and craftsmen have their workshops and the workmen their dwellings. It is in these suburbs that you will usually find the garages and petrol stations.
Café Life
    The cafés play an important part in French provincial life. They take the place of clubs, which are entirely unknown.
    Every day at the same times the same clients, what the French call the “habitués,” can be found in the same cafés, playing billiards, or dominoes or cards. The usual card games are “piquet” or “belotte,” the latter being almost the national card game, and finally, in the last few years, bridge, which is still only played in the well-to-do classes. If they are not playing games, they are discussing business or—the inevitable politics.
On Tips
    Politics is by far the favourite subject of discussion in the small provincial towns, and each café has its own particular colour. The people of the “Right” would never think of frequenting the “Left” café and vice versa.
    The thing that worries the foreigner most in the French café is certainly the thorny problem of the “tip.” The caféwaiters, according to a tradition which the French are the first to criticise, are not paid by their employer but live exclusively by their tips. That is what makes it so important for the foreigner to know exactly what is expected of him.
    In principle, as everyone knows, the tip is supposed to be 10 per cent. of the amount paid. But at cafés 50 centimes is the minimum tip. For a drink ranging from 5 to 10 francs, you have to give a 1 franc or 2 franc tip. Only when you get beyond the 20 franc limit can you fall back on the strict 10 per cent.; and even then it is usual to give a little more.
    I might mention in passing, particularly for English visitors, that in France drinks are paid for when you leave and not when you are served, as is the case in England.
    The French are far more friendly to foreigners in the provinces than in Paris, and it is comparatively easy to get into conversation with them. Once the ice is broken, they will invite you first to the café for an apéritif, and then, if the acquaintanceship ripens, to dinner in a restaurant.
    The only thing they won’t do, except if you have become real friends, is to invite you home. It is not your being a foreigner that makes them refrain from inviting you; they treat other Frenchmen in exactly the same way, and they would be the first to be surprised if they thought you took umbrage at it.
Meals
    The French only eat two meals a day: lunch (
Déjeuner
) at about midday and dinner (
Dîner
) between seven and half-past. Lunch is hardly the word, of course, for a French
déjeuner
, which is usually a much bigger meal than the English lunch. But then the French have practically nothing for breakfast (which is called
petit déjeuner
); as a general rule just a cup of coffee and a “croissant” and sometimes only a cup of coffee. Afternoon tea is absolutely unheard of, except in the very big centres, and it is better even to avoid asking for it, as tea in France is well known to be utterly undrinkable unless you have it in one of the big hotels frequented by foreign visitors.
    The
déjeuner
and dinner are both thoroughgoing meals. The first usually consists of hors d’œuvres, then a meatdish served with vegetables—though sometimes the vegetables are served separately afterwards—and finally a salad, cheese and dessert. It is worth noting that in France the cheese comes
before
the dessert. The bill of fare is practically the same for dinner, except that the hors d’œuvres are replaced by a soup. Usually in the provinces the wine is included in the price of the meal, unless you want something special from the wine-cellar.
Friendly to Foreigners
    I suppose that the real reason why, as I mentioned earlier on, the provincial Frenchmen is easier for a foreigner to get on with than a Parisian is that the latter is