Here in the States, my girlfriend and I often split the check at nice restaurants. We throw our cards down and say to the server, "right down the middle, please." Then we both get presented with a check.
Is this reasonable / possible to do in France? (We'll be in Paris, Normandy, along the Loire and the alps.) If so, is there a magic phrase to use?
Sincerely,
Bill in Pittsburgh
How about alternating who pays rather than splitting the check, and just calling it even? I hope others chime in because I don't normally split checks with people I'm very close to (friends or otherwise) here or in Europe, so I don't know the customs. I'm throwing out an alternative that is hopefully the least problematic for everyone involved, especially the server who would have to deal with a split bill.
Don't know about a "magic phrase" but when traveling with my best friend (of over 40 years) we take turns paying bills, keep a record of expenditures, and balance up at the end of the trip. Usually we are pretty close to even over the course of the trip. And the server isn't involved.
Another way is for each of you to have enough cash so that splitting the check is easily done. Yeah, I know ..... cash..... what a concept!
I like the cash and sharing strategies above, or pool some cash into a daily or weekly dining budget that one person carries. But Rick's French phrasebook also mentions that if paying with two credit cards you can just tell the server how much to charge to each.
We ate at la Tour d'Argent with my son's inlaws and gave them two credit cards and they split it down the middle without blinking an eye. We have had separate checks when dining with acquaintances and have split the bill down the middle with credit cards at Chez Dumonet Josephine. We usually do this in the US and so just assumed we could do it in France and have done so a few times without problem. If I were traveling with just one friend, we would just alternate paying.
With a history of famous French mathematicians (Pascal, Laplace , Legendre, Fourier to name a few), how hard is it for a French wait person to divide a check total into equal parts, especially if the two parties request a round up to an easily dividable number of Euros? A generous roundup may smooth out the process.
A round up doesn't really work -- a tip has to be entered separately for the waiter to get it.
RE: A round up doesn't really work -- a tip has to be entered separately for the waiter to get it.
I didn't know that the extra of a rounded up payments would not go to our wait person. If I paid in cash, would I need to have s separate amount for the restaurant and something for the staff? Or would I need to offer in cash the rounded up amount as payment and request change, then offer the change to the wait person? Those French make life complex.
A round up doesn't work in the US either with a credit card. You have to enter a tip on the tip line. But in France it is not the custom to tip, certainly not the % system used in the US where waiters are often not paid minimum wage. If you want to leave something for a waiter in France the custom is to leave them the change or if paying by credit card put a Euro or two on the table for a larger expenditure and a few small coins if it is a small one.
OK here's how you have to get separate checks in France. You sit at a table by yourself and you order your meal. Your friend does the same. The waiter will have taken an order for each table, two separate orders. Now you suddenly spot your friend sitting at the other table and, filled with pleasure, you join him and you have your meals together........ and you get separate checks.
Or you could just pay with cash.
We were befriended by a Frenchman in the South, and later met up for dinner at a nicer (30-40 euro pp) Paris restaurant. At our friends suggestion, we gave our card for our share, and he gave his card for his share, the waiter was fine with this. I took the opportunity to ask our friend the age-old tipping question and he raised his eyebrows at the thought, saying what many have said...round up a bit, a euro or two, and it's best to hand cash to that waiter. Splitting the check is a non issue.
People split checks all of the time in Paris. I saw a group of 6 each pay separately for lunch yesterday. If you provide 2 cards the waiter will know what to do.
I just remembered: last fall at a restaurant in rural Provence, I witnessed a French person ask for their bill "divided by nine" and the young waiter seemed happy to comply.
By the way, Google Translate gives "S'il vous plaît diviser le chèque", which makes sense even to me.
I've never heard it called a "cheque" in France. A bank cheque, perhaps. Not the price for a meal. l'Addition.
You are right, Nigel! So much for Google translation.
Yes, that was completely useless. So, can we agree for the OP that S'il vous plaît diviser l'Addition oughta get it done without causing widespread confuzzlement?
Thanks for your replies, particularly the ones who tried to assist me. I'll update this post after I get back to let you know how it went.
I think every post was meant to assist, whether youmliked their advice is the point
The other overlooked point is that there is seldom if ever a line on the credit slip for a tip. It just isn't added to the check. Leave cash. The waiter comes over, you had them the card, he sticks it in his portage machine, punches a few number and out comes a slip for you to sign. If a true chip and pin card, then he hands you the machine to enter the pin. You are not in Kansas, anymore.
Or Colorado.....
There is never any problem with the waiter splitting the check. Most waiters speak enough English to understand what you mean.
The problem comes from the people who have just dined together...
There is almost never a "tip line" - and tipping is not customary. But if you want to leave a tip, it must be done in cash.
A chèque in France is a bank check. The word for your food check is "l'addition". Google translate is awful.
Norma, wouldn't work. When we see each other I will have this irrepressible desire to pay your check and my check.
