Culture Smart France: A Quick Guide to Customs and Etiquette

Culture Smart / Cultuur Bewust

by Barry Tomalin

Whether your customers are traveling in luxury or with just a pack on their back, it's important that they have a safe, fun, and easy-going trip. Bad etiquette and a misunderstanding about customs can put an otherwise very exciting trip on hold faster than a bad case of food poisoning. Readers are going to want to know about the Culture Smart! customs and etiquette series and will find them as indispensable as their passports. The Culture Smart! titles are not your basic travel guides: they are consistently updated customs and etiquette references for more than twenty-five countries, with six new titles available this fall. Now more than ever, travelers are more than just sightseers and tourists; they're ambassadors making impressions of the United States wherever they go. Readers will find these to be invaluable for pointing them on their way to a safe and fun trip abroad.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, France, History, Cultural

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another one of the books I read in preparation for travel. This was part of a Culture Smart! series, the first I have read of this series. I found it to be easy to consume and helpful. It began with sections on geography and history, neither of which I was expecting in this type of book, but which I found beneficial, especially the history section. My knowledge of French history is a bit weak and could use a more significant refresh, but every little bit helps. The rest of the book, which focused on customs and culture, as the title indicated, was very informative although a bit repetitive at times. I found this book aimed at both the vacation tourist and the business traveler, so some sections could be skipped depending on your purpose. I still found the sections that were not directly relevant to me to be interesting.

Overall, short and beneficial, but could have been even more concise.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

35: Charles de Gaulle once said "The French will only be united under the threat of danger. Nobody can simply bring together a country that has 265 kinds of cheese."

[Gadi Nissim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart and useful

A useful short book that combines witty observations about France and french people with helpful tips and advices about getting along there, particularly when doing business.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There must have been more than 1 author writing this book. There’s a lot of repetition on certain subjects, such as food and clothing.

[Kasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author didn’t say anything about the quintessential coolness of the French. The land of „whatever, couldn’t care less“. It seems to me as if Barry Tomalin has lived in Paris for a long time.

[Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished a quick run-through of France - Culture Smart!. With my trip coming up in a few months, I wanted to get a head start on understanding the local customs. I’ve always preferred books over videos—there’s something about the depth of a written guide that aligns better with how I learn. It was a fast read and a very helpful starting point for the journey ahead

[Oana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent little book on customs and ways of communicating. This book would be useful to short-term visitors to France and can be read in 2-3 hours by even the slowest readers. (The history section was confusing as it jumped around a bit.)

[Rossie]

Quite a good book to have if you plan to go to France :)

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice, quick read on France & culturally favored etiquette expectations by the natives. "We are all different." My grandson said about age 5. He's right!