I can still remember the time, when, even in Paris, a simple ‘Parlez-vous anglais?’ would be met with the annoyance hat-trick of raising the eyebrows, pursing the mouth and looking up at the sky with an expression of distaste for the foreigner who comes to France not speaking Dieu‘s own langue. How times have changed. […]
Michelin inspectors and guides: the insider info
Let me start with a disclosure: I have co-written the Michelin Green Guide to Singapore (about two-thirds of the book is mine) and the Michelin Guide to Rio (a fifth); I have extensively rewritten the Michelin Green Guide to Switzerland (German part); and I have updated parts of the guides to Austria and Greece. But […]
French Opening Hours
There always comes a time in a traveller’s French itinerary, when you arrive hungry at a restaurant at 2pm in the afternoon only to hear “Fermé monsieur”. This is a shock to Anglo-Saxons who live in a world where customer is king – only to realize that there is an alternative Universe with a Gallic […]