At the French Table

I once overheard a friend asking my husband who had better table manners, him or I. As punishment for eavesdropping I was mortified to hear him reply “I have French manners and Emily has Australian ones” which didn’t sound good. Growing up in Australia our household was informal but I assumed I had the basics covered: eat with a knife and fork, place them together when done and chew with your mouth closed. Apparently not.

Over the years I’ve learnt that table manners, like everything else in France, have strict yet flexible rules that change in almost every situation and below I’ve rounded up a few things that have stood out to me in our French/Australian family. Most of these are for an informal dinner in a family home or restaurant. For a very formal French affair, good luck.