Kraut will be exploring France from five different angles during his upcoming lectures. He’ll be speaking about American war memories in France, with an emphasis on Normandy, at the Alliance Française de Doylestown, PA (in French) on Feb. 18 and the Alliance Française de Washington, D.C. (in English) on Feb. 25; about culinary travel in Paris at the public libraries in Lambertville, NJ on Feb. 20 and Yardley, PA on Feb. 21; about Jewish travel in Paris at the Lawrence, NJ Public Library on Feb. 19; about travel and travel writing beyond the clichés at Bucks County Community College (Newtown, PA) on Feb. 16, and about cultural heritage and preservation at The College of New Jersey on March 2 .

In addition to his upcoming lectures, Kraut will also be meeting with travel agents, individual travelers and Francophile groups discuss their concerns about and interest in travel to France.

Gary Lee Kraut is the author of five guidebooks and hundreds of articles about France. He is the founding editor of France Revisited www.francerevisited.com, a premier web magazine exploring life in Paris and travel in France. This month France Revisited received the North American Travel Journalists Association’s Silver Award as first runner-up in NATJA’s annual Best Online Travel Magazine competition. Kraut also received a Silver Award in the Best Culinary Travel Article category for a series about the Ardennes region of France. Last year he received NATJA’s Gold Award in the Culinary Travel Article category for an article about France’s Drôme region.

As a travel consultant and private guide, he has worked with a wide array of individuals, including a U.S. senator, a Hollywood actress, a best-selling author, top-flight travel agents, corporate presidents and many curious travelers from across the U.S. and from a half-dozen other countries.

Kraut’s area lecture schedule is as follows. All lectures are open to the public.

Travel and Travel Writing in France Beyond the Clichés
Date: Monday, February 16 at 11am.
Address: Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Rd. Newtown, PA 18940. The lecture will take place in the Gallagher room on the second floor of the Rollins Building.
Info: Free. Those not affiliated with the BCCC community are welcome to attend but should first send an e-mail to Theresa.Montagna@bucks.edu or call the Language and Literature Dept. at 215.968.8103 to let them know that they’re coming.

Description: “The clichés of Paris and of France are wonderful,” says Gary Lee Kraut, “but our most rewarding travels are those in which we develop a personal connection with our destination.”

Using insights, experiences and anecdotes from his work in travel and tourism in France over the past 25 years, Kraut will reveal how travel and travel writing are enriched by seeking those connections and by the surprises found along the way. He’ll speak about his own evolution over the years from a tenderfoot journalist working for a suburban New York paper to a top American specialist on travel in France, discuss the magic of “the perfect travel moment,” and provide useful tips on how and where to look.

***

American War Memories in France: Exploring the WWII sites of Normandy and the WWI sites of northern and eastern France
Dates: Wednesday, February 18 at 9:45am in Doylestown, PA (in French) and Wednesday, February 25 at 7pm in Washington, DC (in English
Address 1: Feb. 18: Alliance Française de Doylestown, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 301 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA 18901.
Address 2: Feb. 25: Alliance Française de Washington, DC, 2142 Wyoming Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008. Tel. 202-234-7911.

Description: An illustrated lecture that examines American WWII war sites in Normandy and WWI sites in northern and eastern France and various approaches to visiting them. Along with a survey of a variety of sites and museums and an analysis of the future of the Normandy Landing Zone, Kraut will tell about some of the fascinating people he’s met during his work as a travel writer and travel specialist, from a brandy producer on a historic farm near Omaha Beach to encounters with the children of WWII veterans and with travelers who were unexpectedly and indelibly touched by what they experienced.

In Nov. 2014, at the end of the commemorative year of the 70th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy, Kraut organized and moderated on behalf of France’s Heritage Journalist Association a round-table discussion at Paris’s International Heritage Fair about the future of the Normandy Landing Zone.

***

Jewish Travel in Paris
Date: Thursday, February 19 at 7pm
Address: Lawrence Public Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. 609-989-6920
Info: Free and open to the public. Registration is suggested by calling 609-989-6928.

Description: “Jewish travelers invariably ask me about anti-Semitism in France but rarely set out to meet French Jews or learn about French Jewish history beyond anti-Semitism when in Paris,” says Gary Lee Kraut. “The effect is a skewed view of Jewish life in Paris. Without denying or apologizing for anti-Semitism, I want to show travelers and armchair travelers that Paris is an extraordinary place to explore Jewish history and contemporary Judaism in Europe.”

In this illustrated lecture Kraut will examine the history of Jews and Judaism in France as seen through various sights and neighborhoods that can be visited in Paris, covering medieval Paris, the emancipation of Jews during the French Revolution, financial and political success in the 19th century, Askhenazic and Sephardic immigration, the Dreyfus Affair, artists of the 1920s, the German Occupation and the Vichy Government, and recent events. He’ll also discuss questions of the identity that Americans and in particular American Jews carry with them when traveling abroad.

***

Culinary Explorations in Paris: A Delicious Bite of Historical and Contemporary Gastronomy in the French Capital
Dates: Friday, February 20 at 7pm at the Lambertville (NJ) Free Public Library and Saturday, February 21 at 2pm at the Yardley-Makefield (PA) Public Library.
Address 1: Feb. 20, Lambertville Free Public Library, 6 Lilly Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530. For further information call the library at 609-397-0275.
Address 2: Feb. 21, Yardley-Makefield Public Library, 1080 Edgewood Road, Yardley, PA 19067. Tel. 215-493-9020.
Both events are free and open to the public.

Description: Gary Lee Kraut treats foodies, gastronomies, bons vivants and simply hungry travelers to a tasteful exploration of food and drink in the great culinary city of Paris. He will examine the history of markets and gastronomy in Paris, describe the development of French cuisine as we know it, explain the interest of experiencing the various types of eating and drinking establishments in Paris, and give tips on how to enjoy culinary travels today in Paris and beyond.

***

Got Heritage? Understanding and Exploring Patrimoine and Preservation in France
Date: Monday, March 2 at 7pm.
Address: The College of New Jersey, in the auditorium of the college library. 2000 Pennington Rd, Ewing Township, NJ 08618. Tel. 609-771-2131
Patrimoine is translated into English as heritage yet patrimoine is used in French in ways that are much deeper and more complex than our use of the word heritage. This lecture explores the notion of patrimoine that is so deeply engrained in the consciousness of the French that it is applied to everything from cathedrals to chateaux to old mills to cuisine to wine culture to craftsmanship to horseback riding and much more. Gary Lee Kraut will explain the scope of patrimoine and reveal through anecdotes and other examples the ways in which he encounters patrimoine through his work as a travel writer and journalist and the wonderful and varied ways in which travelers can come into contact with patrimoine throughout in France. In November 2012 Gary became the first foreign journalist to be elected to the board of France’s Association des journalistes du patrimoine (the Association of Heritage Journalists).

***

Private consulting: During his stay in the area, Kraut will also be meeting with individuals and travel agents to discuss their interests and concerns about travel in France. For more information contact Gary Lee Kraut directly at gary [at] francerevisited.com.

###

Media Contact
Beth Brody, Brody PR
609-397-3737
beth [at] brodypr.com

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Kraut’s article “Biarritz: The Surfing Lesson” was a finalist in the Sports and Recreation category. It can be read here.

The NATJA awards competition honors the best of the best in travel writing, photojournalism, social media and other aspects of the travel and tourism industry. Now in its 22nd year, the awards announced in February 2014 were given for work represented in print, electronic and online media from October 2012 through September 2013.

“This year’s entries were an outstanding mix of local and international stories with dynamic and creative elements that provided the visual through words or photography to transport the reader to the destination,” said Helen Hernandez, CEO of NATJA. “The judging has become increasingly difficult every year given the abundance of talent in the travel journalism community.”

NATJA is the second largest travel media association in North America. The association also publishes TravelWorld International Magazine.

Gary Lee Kraut is the author of five guidebooks and hundreds of articles France. He is currently the editor of the premier online travel and culture magazine France Revisited. In 1996 he received FrancePress’s Prix d’Excellence for his guidebook to France. In 2012 he was elected to the board of the France’s Heritage Journalists Association, the first non-French journalist to be so honored. He has lectured extensively in the United States. In January and February 2014 he went on a 16-stop East Coast lecture tour, speaking on subjects as diverse as war touring in France, understanding the meaning of heritage in France, culinary travel, wine touring in Burgundy and Champagne, and travel and travel writing beyond the clichés.

Based on his highly personalized approach to travel as expressed in his award-winning work, Kraut also assists individuals, groups and elite travel agents in creating customized tours and itineraries in Paris and throughout France. He has worked directly with a U.S. senator, a Hollywood actress, a best-selling author, corporate presidents, educational institutions, charitable organizations and many curious travelers from across the U.S. and from a half-dozen other countries.

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• L’addition, s’il vous plaît, with or without air writing, means “The bill, please.”

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The French often choose either rosé and à point, which are typically translated as medium rare or medium, but are closer to what we would consider as rare and medium rare. You may therefore wish to say bien cuit, literally “well done,” to have meat served to the American notion of medium or medium well. In order to assure that it’s well done specify très bien cuit.

Duck and game are frequently served rosé (medium rare to rare), so you must specify if you prefer them otherwise.

It is also not unusual for a Frenchman to order beef saignant, literally meaning bloody and thus truly rare, or even bleu, which gives it no more than a quick flip on the grill. Beyond that there’s steak tartare, uncooked lean ground beef mixed with raw egg yolk, to which capers, chopped onions and parsley are added to make it appear less Neanderthal.

Waiters in Paris actually often ask “Medium?” when trying to help English speakers through carnivorous confusion. But your waiter’s sense of medium and your sense of medium may be an ocean apart. (I must add from the reverse point of view that four time of five when I order beef medium rare in the U.S. it emerges overcooked.)

Finally, Americans are accustomed to eating grilled meats that are easily taken back and thrown on the grill for an extra minute or two. But French sauces, not to mention French waiters, make doing so a more awkward proposition.

You may have to suffer through a learning curve on this one.

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• Le Menu. The French call the fixed-price menu le menu. Two-course menus (starter + main course or main course + dessert) or three-course menus (starter + main course + cheese or dessert) are often available at lunch. Most menus for dinner consist of three courses.
• La Carte. The bill of fare that we call “the menu” in English is called la carte (literally, the card) in French. A la carte, therefore, refers to choices and choosing outside of the fixed-price menu. When ordering à la carte you may naturally order whatever courses you want. Descriptions on this site sometimes indicate the average range of prices for three courses selected à la carte (also noted here as ALC). Exceptionally higher or lower priced dishes have been excluded in that average range.
• Menu/Carte. The term menu/carte indicates that the restaurant’s bill of fare comes to a fixed price whatever you chose for three courses. In other words, aside from several dishes that may have a small supplement, the starters are all the same price, the main courses are all the same price, and the desserts are all the same price.

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The Hollywood Sitcom Writer’s Handbook instructs writers that one sure way to show your character to be an ordinary, fun-loving guy is to place him and his girlfriend, wife or in-laws in a French restaurant, direct the waiter to look down his nose at the guy, have someone say “Grey Poupon,” then turn up the laugh track. Yuck, yuck. Everyone loves to make fun of French waiters, but some travelers seem to get special pleasure from returning home with stories about rude maitre d’s and pompous waiters, stories that they hold up as certified proof that the French hate Americans.

Bad or snooty service is indeed the most common complaint from overseas travelers in Paris. I’ve got my own horror stories. But travelers who repeatedly find themselves in such situations have to share the blame: either they haven’t figured out that they’re not at Hooters or they’ve been following the wrong restaurant advice.

This isn’t an apology for either surly service or for the waiter who ignores your table, just a warning that the American notions of good service and the French notions of good service are not the same. Understanding the fundamentals of French, more particularly Parisian, service – efficiency, discretion, professionalism – is the best way to benefit from rather than clash with it.

Efficiency. Efficiency means nothing more nor less than this: Dishes are properly served and cleared and if you want something the waiter will get it for you, without undue hesitation.

As a foreigner you will naturally have more questions about dishes than the average French person would, besides which you may be asking them in English. Answering questions is naturally a part of the waiter’s job, and many waiters are indeed accustomed to responding in English. But from the point of view of a waiter striving for efficiency the foreign client can come across as slow and demanding, even if he’s simply a client in need of assistance. Your waiter may or may not enjoy the frustration of trying to explain the difference between an entrecôte, a faux-filet, and a rumsteack. In either case, since French waiters are not good at faking a smile, yours may not have the facial reflex to hide his impatience.

An efficient waiter has nothing against you taking your time when ordering, he just doesn’t like you taking his time, and so he will be quick to leave your side so that you can reflect on the issues of the day without him.

An efficient waiter isn’t necessarily friendly, charming, or cheery, nor will he stop by frequently or even occasionally to see if everything is alright. As a general rule, if you need an efficient waiter he will come, if you don’t need him he will not come, and if you need him too often he will ignore you.

Discretion. Some travelers start off on the wrong foot by trying to get a waiter to laugh at their jokes. Big mistake! Unlike the tight-bunned flight attendant in business class who will open her heavily painted mouth in exaggerated delight to every dull-witted comment an upgraded client may make, Parisian waiters do not laugh. They don’t laugh in French and they don’t laugh in English. Kind and amiable French waiters do exist, but don’t expect even those to be overjoyed to see you or attempt to impress you with their outgoing personality.

Many Americans believe, wrongly, that the lack of expression of a French waiter is a result of their livelihood not being dependant on your gratitude since the gratuity in France is always included in the bill. But tipping is almost equally obligatory in the U.S., the only real difference being that in the US we do the math badly and in France they do the math automatically. So it isn’t exactly the tip that makes French waiters appear or act cold or aloof to us. It’s French culture, one of whose prime tenets is discretion: don’t ask, don’t tell.

Discretion is a guiding force in business and service and neighborly relations in France. Discretion involves a combination of reserve, detachment, disinterest, and politeness. In a restaurant, this implies a certain distance between the staff and the customer. The French restaurant-goer is accustomed to that distance and often demands it. The French waiter is not expected to be a part of the entertainment.

A discreet waiter keeps his distance, speaks minimally, answers your questions succinctly, and takes your order. When he approaches the table he does so in the least obtrusive way, so that you may continue your conversation as he clears or delivers plates. One naturally expects and receives greater attention from waiters as price and space between tables increase, but such attention generally leads to glasses that never empty rather than to increased dialogue with the staff. (Actually, in finer restaurants you will encounter someone interested in an engaging conversation with the table: the sommelier or wine steward.)

Otherwise, forget any preconceived notion that good service means service with a smile. Service with a smile is rarely on the menu here. Do not feel snubbed by your waiter’s lack of expression. Au contraire, discreet French service means gracious dispassion.

Professionalism. In France, waiters are not hopeful actors, part-time students, nurses with a second job, job-hunters who haven’t yet found something better to do. French waiters are professionals in the restaurant business. Their career ambitions likely involve owning or managing their own restaurant or café. And they get employee health coverage. Sometimes their very professionalism leads them to approach the table like a surgeon with no bedside manner; you need some veal kidneys, you’ll get veal kidneys.

As a service professional, your waiter expects to serve, but he also expects to be treated like a professional. A request for a waiter’s attention should begin with S’il vous plaît. If you wish to address him by title you would call him monsieur—madame or mademoiselle for a woman.

Your professional, efficient, discreet waiter would like to believe that he is very much in tune with the rhythms of your meal. In theory, then, you should barely have to instruct him at all once you’ve ordered. As the meal proceeds you may then find that your waiter is so accustomed to French rhythms (e.g. coffee served after dessert rather than with dessert) that he may unintentionally (we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt) ignore a request that goes against the cultural grain.

Do not take this (or any of your waiter’s reactions) personally. If you do, and if you approach the French, particularly French service people, with the attitude “If not for us they’d be speaking German,” you may be setting yourself up for a bit more confrontation than is called for.

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If you’d like to experience a top or very popular restaurant, it’s of course advisable to reserve several weeks or more in advance. Lunch reservations in such restaurants are typically easier to come by than dinner reservations. If you’ve got your appetite set on a top restaurant, then it’s likely that you’re staying in a luxury hotel, in which case your concierge will be the best bet for getting the reservation. Having said that, one way to snag an elusive table is to call the day you wish to go there or the day before. Since top restaurants require confirmation the day before (sometimes by noon for an evening reservation) you may luck into a recently cancelled or unconfirmed reservation. There’s no harm in trying.

If you have your appetite set on any other particular restaurant you should at least call (or have the hotel call) before showing up. If you pass by a restaurant of interest during a touring day you might stop by and reserve then. Most bistros, brasseries, and regional restaurants will be able to accommodate you with little or no advance notice.

Lunch is typically served noon to 2 p.m., though you may stay seated later. Aside from brasseries, some bistros, and very touristy or fast food places, restaurants rarely open for dinner before 7:30, and typically not until 8 p.m.

(If you are invited to a Parisians home for dinner the invitation will usually be for about 8. Don’t arrive early unless you wish to see your hosts in a panic to get ready. Arrive 10 minutes after the appointed hour and you’ll find them cool as cucumbers. Dinner is served after the aperitif, and only a nervous host rushes the aperitif.)

The time of the last order in a restaurant, meaning the latest you can arrive or reserve, varies from place to place and often depends on the type of restaurant. In Paris most restaurants will accept new arrivals until 10/10:30 p.m., perhaps later. (In small-town France you may be out of luck after 9:30 p.m.) You can then generally stay seated well past midnight. There is a natural tendency for thriving restaurants to funnel reservations into two dinner seatings, one beginning 8-8:30 p.m., the other 10-10:30 p.m. Citadels of high gastronomy typically have a single seating.

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