Tips on tipping in France.

The most frequent question I am asked about dining in France is "What about tipping?"

Here are the basics:

You are not required to tip. A 15% service fee is automatically included in all bars,  cafés, and restaurants. Servers in France do not live off of tips. They get paid vacations, health care, and living wages.

A service charge is almost always added to your bill. Depending on the service, it’s sometimes appropriate to leave an additional 5 to 10%. The menu will usually note that service is included (service compris). Sometimes this is abbreviated with the letters s.c. The letters s.n.c. stand for service non compris; this means that the service is not included in the price, and you must leave a tip. You’ll sometimes find couvert or cover charge on your menu (a small charge just for placing your butt at the table). 

Don’t ever call the waiter “garçon.” Though sometimes in bars a Parisian will use this word, travelers should never use it.

Ordering a taxi in Paris just got easier.

G7 taxi (which has good service in general) has an online app for ordering a taxi, whether immediately or in advance. 

http://www.taxisg7.com/reservation-taxi-internet-mobile-iphone?tg7=5cd444ddf27570dae71038a93b06754e

(Click on the "Discover the iPhone application" button for a video - you can even choose a "green" taxi or a "low floor" taxi, etc.) If you order a taxi for immediate pickup, the app will tell you how long it will be before your taxi arrives.

G7 is now also offering shared taxi rides to and from the airport for a discount price. 

Paris News: Museum update/Using the Metro

The Louvre


The Louvre's pre-Classical Greek section will reopen in late 2012. The new wing featuring Islamic art will open this summer.  


Musee Picasso


The Picasso Museum will remain closed for renovation through at least the summer of 2013. 

Musee d'Orsay

The top-floor Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection has reopened.

The metro (subway)

Metro stations with ticket windows are being phased out and replaced by ticket machines. Remember that most U.S. credit cards don't work in these machines, so make sure that you have small bills (20 euros or less) and coins to use in the machines.

Europe's Best Walks (ebook)

Open Road Publishing has released a new ebook "Europe's Best Walks." The book includes detailed walking tours with color maps and photos of Madrid, Barcelona, Provence, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin (by Andy Herbach). Additional walks are included in London and Rome (by other Open Road authors). Here's the link to the Kindle version:

http://www.amazon.com/Europes-Walks-Travel-Guides-ebook/dp/B005FY64VU/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330010062&sr=1-3

Best cities in the world for students.

Berlin has been named one of the best cities for students. Berlin ranked eighth in the world because of its low cost of living. A high number of courses offered by the city’s universities are taught in English. In 2011, 13,500 of the 84,000 students in Berlin were from abroad. On average, students were found to be paying thousands less per year in comparison to students in other top ten cities. Here are the other (more expensive) cities for students:
Paris
London
Boston
Melbourne
Vienna
Sydney
Zurich

The study was conducted by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British education services specialist.

Paris cinemas: La Pagode

On the Left Bank, you'll find one of the most interesting cinemas in Europe. La Pagode is a Japanese-style building surrounded by an oriental garden. In 1895, the director of the large department store Bon Marche' had this structure built for his wife. In 1931, it was converted into a cinema. The ornate Japanese room is a great place to take in a film. info: 7th arrondissement, 57b rue Babylone.

Shakespeare and Company bookstore

This famous bookstore is named after the publishing house that first released James Joyce’s Ulysses. Hemingway and Fitzgerald were patrons. It’s a favorite hangout for expatriates from English-speaking countries. George Whitman, who died this week, ran the Paris bookstore for decades. His daughter will continue to operate the store. It's just across the river from Notre-Dame, so next time you're in Paris, stop in and soak up some history.

Info: 5th/Métro St-Michel. 37 rue de la Bûcherie. Tel. 01/43.25.40.93. Open daily noon to midnight.