Tonight I am going to my first dinner party here. The host neglected to say what time it started, so I foolishly assumed it would be at the Usual Time-- which in Paris is inevitably 20h30/ 8:30 p.m.-- and it's polite to show up slightly later than that, so that someone always arrives around nine.
But the email this afternoon said, "We are asking people to come at 6:30." I was horrified. There is no way to be on time now!
What an early town. Last night we got out of a movie and tried to have dinner at 10 p.m. and almost all the restaurants were closed.
At first this bothered me too when I relocated to the US, but now 1 year later my husband and I are routinely eating at 7PM (which is late for the US but early for us)
Posted by: J.Doe | 08 April 2007 at 01:33
I have it on good authority that in New York City you can dine (nicely) after 8 pm.
Posted by: Peggy | 08 April 2007 at 20:37
I had the hardest time after I moved back from France in college after a year abroad for a similar situation -- only more pronounced. At my university in France, the student RU (restaurant universitaire) opened at 7pm; at my university in the US, the dining hall closed at 7pm.
And, after 11 years in LA, I've come to accept the narrow window for restaurant dining. It's from about 7-9pm, and that's it. Anything else and you'll find an empty restaurant.
Posted by: mikey | 08 April 2007 at 23:59
When we moved from Paris to Bainbridge Island and received our first dinner invitation I thanked the hostess and said we would love to join them at 7 PM. She called back five minutes later and asked if I would bring dessert for twenty? I had not asked what I could bring! Potluck! Nobody invites twenty people for dinner here.
Posted by: Patricia Erskine | 09 April 2007 at 06:51
Dessert for twenty people! This may not be the kind of hostess you want to know.
Posted by: Sedulia | 10 April 2007 at 03:09
When I moved to the U.S./California, we were invited to a lot of parties and BBQs = potlucks = up to 50-100 people (Monday night football, Oscars, Superbowl, 4th July, Thanksgiving, birthdays,...) No quite my type, but I figured I had to blend in.
Being French, I tried to make it up by inviting those inviting us to dinners of 6 or 8 max, so that we could enjoy a good conversation around a good meal and good wine. Meaning: to get to know each other.
I quickly realized that the "locals" were extremely uncomfortable with the idea, and that it was almost like a torture for them to sit at a table for 3-4 hours and make *real* conversation. I gave up (I still do it but only with Euros and other expats.)
Customs are not the same here and in France. Dessert for 20? I'm not even flabbergasted anymore.
Posted by: LA Frog | 10 April 2007 at 05:11
This brings back such sad memories of dinners we hosted the year that we returned to the States from France, that I can't even write about them...not enough time has passed yet.
Still, it's not always easy to find a meal in France at "off hours" either. Ever try to find a sandwich at 15h in a non-touristy town? Kind of like a 22h dinner in most of the USA.
Meilleurs voeux!!
Posted by: blueVicar | 12 April 2007 at 20:27