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FOOD & DRINK

Reader question: What time do the French eat dinner? 

If you're looking to book a restaurant or want to invite your French friends or neighbours round for dinner, here's a look at what time the evening meal is normally eaten in France.

Reader question: What time do the French eat dinner? 
Is there an acceptable time to have your evening meal in France? AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR (Photo by FRED DUFOUR / AFP)

They might be neighbours, but the French certainly don’t follow Spanish dining habits of having the evening meal at 10pm, but having said that dinner in France is usually eaten later than in the US or Scandinavian countries.

Of course, dinner time in France varies between families and regions, but here are some guidelines.

Lunchtime tends to run between 12 noon and 2pm – that’s when restaurants operate their lunchtime service, so that’s when it’s time to eat. Remember, the French simply do not eat at their desks – al desko is not a thing here and, frankly, France is better for it – so you can also expect many offices to be closed during this time.

Following the restaurant opening rule, the evening meal period starts from around 7pm. That’s when the tables are ready and a lot of restaurants won’t accept a booking before 7pm.

If you want to eat after 2pm but before 7pm you need to look out for a restaurant that advertises ‘service non-stop‘, these are quite common in tourist areas and big cities, but are generally not the best restaurants. 

Eating out

A lot depends on where you are. If they’re eating out, Parisians tend not to book a table before 8pm to 8.30pm – and plenty of restaurants (not just fast food joints) remain open until midnight.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that means Parisians don’t eat until late every evening. Most don’t go out for a meal every night, and may dine a little earlier when they’re at home.

In most towns, cities or villages, restaurants and bistros open for evening service between 7pm and 7.30pm, although tourist resorts often have places that are open all day.

In smaller towns, you may find that restaurants don’t open every night – shutting on Monday is common – or shut their doors earlier, perhaps, than you’d expect, so your window of opportunity for a meal may be slim – especially in the colder months.

Eating in

Again, there’s no hard and fast rule here, families have different habits and of course there’s nothing to stop you eating in front of the TV as soon as you get in.

But you could take your cue from the TV schedules. 

The traditional evening meal in France is considered a family affair – around a table, lots of chatter, more good food, and an all-round convivial experience that rolls along merrily for an hour or so. They usually run from roughly 7.30pm until 8.45pm.

READ ALSO Le goûter: The importance of the afternoon snack in France

It is considered poor form, in this traditional French familial round-table scenario, to have the TV on during meals – and it’s true that broadcasters schedule their primetime material to start just after 9pm. So, if you want to be done and dusted in time for Top Chef, plan your meal to end a little earlier, and make sure someone else has to load the dishwasher (or do the washing up, if you’re in a lower-tech household).

Younger children, however, may eat earlier, so that the evening meal doesn’t run into bedtime. 

Celebratory meals / Sunday lunches

These can be very special. Sunday is family day in France. In some – less touristy – parts of the country, most shops don’t open at all (with the exception of the boulangerie/pâtisserie where you can buy a lovely big dessert for your family meal). This type of meal can easily last two hours, sometimes longer if the French weather’s feeling generous.

Basically, they’re a longer, chattier, open-ended version of the traditional family meal mentioned above. Wine may be involved. Salad almost definitely will be – as it’s considered something of a palate cleanser. 

Restaurants are open, from around 12 noon to 2pm, if you prefer to eat out. But there’ll be no midweek plat du jour to take advantage of. 

The real meal deal

The truth is, there are no real rules on evening meals beyond having to wait for the restaurants to open if you want to eat out, so the above map should be taken as a suggestion only.

Your French neighbours may be a little surprised if you tell them you eat at 6pm, but it’s a personal thing. And if you live here you may find that your mealtimes shift to fit in with your, increasingly French, daily life.

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For members

BREXIT

Brits in France: Could the UK-EU deal lead to a relaxation of the 90-day rule?

Could a calmer relationship between the EU and the UK lead to better deals for Brits in France, such as a relaxation of the 90-day rule for second-home owners? The Local asked former British ambassador to France Peter Ricketts for his opinion.

Brits in France: Could the UK-EU deal lead to a relaxation of the 90-day rule?

One of the most common questions asked by Brits who own second-homes in France is whether there is any likelihood of a relaxation on the 90-day rule.

The EU-wide rule – which was always the case for visitors from other non-EU countries such as the USA, Canada or Australia – began to apply to Brits in France when the Brexit transition period ended in 2021.

Since then, Brits who want to spend time in France without living here must either limit their visits to 90 days in every 180 or get a visa.

In recent weeks the relationship between the UK and EU has improved with the agreement of the Windsor Framework to deal with post-Brexit problems in Northern Ireland, while the Franco-British relationship also entered calmer waters with a successful visit from UK prime minister Rishi Sunak on March 10th.

OPINION Macron and Sunak show that UK and France can be good neighbours

So could this eventually lead to good news for Brits in France?

The Local asked Lord Ricketts, who served as British Ambassador in Paris between 2012 and 2016 and now sits in the House of Lords, for his views in an interview organised by the Anglo American Press Association.

He said: “At the summit between Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, one of the things announced was a project to make it easier for school trips to take place between France and the UK.

“It seems from the post-summit declaration that the countries will be working towards reinstating something like the collective travel document for school trips – so that you list all the kids’ names on one document.

“This would solve the problem of some French children in a class not having a passport, and if you get classes with non-EU nationals in them it would mean they wouldn’t need to get separate visas.

“I think the reason the two leaders announced this was simply because the school trip sector has been devastated by Brexit.”

New post-Brexit rules mean that each child in a French class needs a passport to visit the UK – since ID cards are accepted for travel around the EU and could previously be used to enter the UK, around one third of French people don’t have a passport.

Schools in France, especially those in northern France who used to do day-trips, have told media that taking groups to the UK is simply too complicated under the new rules.

But could this agreement but the first step towards relaxing other rules?

Lord Ricketts told us: “I think school trips was chosen because it is a sector that was hit particularly hard by Brexit, but also because it’s something that only really affects France and the UK.

“The market is not entirely, but very largely between the UK and France – coach parties going back and forth – so that’s an area in which France can do a deal without getting across other EU countries.

“I think the French are walking a bit of a tightrope because they are equally aware that in some areas what they do will set a precedent for other EU countries and they are being careful not to make concessions to the UK, effectively, in areas that could then involve other EU countries having to do the same thing.

“For example we know that there has been a lot of problems for British musicians who want to tour Europe and now find they need all sorts of extra paperwork – in that case a UK-France deal perhaps wouldn’t be particularly helpful because most people will want to tour other European countries as well.”

The 90-day rule is an EU-wide rule that affects Brits living in all EU countries, as well as many other EU nationals.

Therefore a deal for Brits in France could end up potentially setting a precedent for – for example – Americans in Sweden.

Lord Ricketts told us: “I think the Macron-Sunak summit is the start, yes, the beginning of a bit of an easing up.

“But it’s the start of the UK and France trying to find limited areas where they can make improvements that will aid people’s lives, without setting a precedent for the rest of the EU.”

For the moment at least, the 90-day rule in France will continue to apply – you can find full details of how it works HERE, a calculator to help you plan your stays HERE and – for those who want to stay longer – a visa guide HERE.

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