Quote:
I'd be amazed if I ever went into a boulangerie in France and you didn't have a little "Bonjour Madama...Bonjour Monsieur" type of exchange. It's a nice little social custom and norm. A little formal acknowledgment.


I learnt something interesting from the wife when we were in Provence a month or so back.

In the UK (and, I assume, in the US), a shop is a public place. It's treated as an extension of the street. In this way, you can wander in, wander around and wander back out, without any conversation with the staff.

In France (and maybe other places in Europe), a shop is treated kinda like the proprieter's living room. It's their shop; it's an extension of their domain. You're meant to be polite when you visit, even if it's just a simple "bonjour" and "au revoir".

If you don't, then you're being impolite.

I don't know how universally true this is, but it certainly rang true in Provence.
_________________________
-- roger