Eating in France

Each person should order a meal whether it is "le menu" or a la carte. You can order a smaller a la carte meal for one and le menu for the other if you don't want too much food. People don't share one meal. However, portions are usually reasonable, especially in the south of France. There are many specialties, and everyone has a favorite. Enjoy all the vegetable preparations, lamb dishes, fish soup, and more.

As far as must try dishes, I say escargots. The texture is unique and the butter and garlic make it oh so tasty. I would also recommend ordering cheese for dessert.

For the menu items, the portions are usually too small to share. And it is usually frowned upon, especially in Michelin-starred restaurants.

Sharing one plate is frowned upon no matter the star level of the restaurant. But as others have said, the French provide you with much smaller portions stretched out over longer time, so no worries about eating too much. Generally, the cost is much cheaper to order the menu than a la carte. You can certainly "share" a course by just moving the plate over to sample, but the other person must order a meal. And if there is a course you don't like in your menu, switch it with your spouse once it arrives at the table (no substitutions in ordering though). The list of things to try in France is so long. Stick with the regional specialties and don't be afraid to try something - you may discover, as I did in college, a whole other world of food out there.

Thank you everyone for your help! We are looking forward to trying so many new dishes! And we will definitely both get the "menu" instead of sharing (thanks for helping us prevent making that faux pas!). Happy traveling!

Many places offer Le Menu in two or three courses. The two course can be either salad and la plate or la plate and dessert. We saw a young couple each order the two course. One ordered salad +, the other dessert +. They split the salad and dessert, and each had a plate de jour. They got some variety and saved some money. No one seemed to mind.

We have done what Douglas said. At lunch, we do not want to eat a lot anyway. It slows us down and makes us want a nap if we eat to much.