It’s often around this time of year that most of us think about giving to others. The city of Carcassonne organizes a “Gift for All” program that encourages residents to fill a shoebox with presents that shut-ins, homeless people, and even their dogs might appreciate. For the people who help us during the year, Bill likes to take the time to design gift cards, craft the appropriate message, and then print them so that we can include a cash token of appreciation inside. Refreshingly, the recipients, who might include our postal carrier, the recycle and trash collectors, and our favorite vendors at the Saturday fruit and vegetable marché, are always taken by surprise by this small gesture of thanks. I compared our experience with what others do around Christmas and even with tipping in general the rest of the year.

Sticking with the current season, there are generally 3 groups of people who come to our door offering calendars with an unspoken request for a “donation”: firefighters, trash collectors, and postal workers. Everyone is in uniform and although we don’t know the firefighters we know the others on sight so there’s no concern about imposters. Apparently 10€ is an appropriate amount to give in exchange for a calendar. By the way, these generally feature photos of the employees on-the-job, nature scenes, puppies or kittens; nothing risqué—at least not in Carcassonne!

Friends in Paris who live in an apartment building have another consideration, the gardien, that is the person who takes care of the building. One website said that up to 50€ was good for this person while another suggested 10% of your monthly rent. The site Paris Rental says that an average monthly rental for a 1-bedroom apartment is 35.50€ per square meter so at 50 square meters (538 square feet) that’s 1775€ or 178€ for the caretaker. Mustn’t forget a gift for your housekeeper of at least 50€.

Even if you don’t live in France, when you come to visit you’ll still encounter situations where you might want to know if you should tip someone and how much. Restaurant menus will often say Service Compris meaning that the service charge has already been included in the prices that you see listed for the dishes and beverages. This helps pay for the employees’ health insurance, paid holidays, and retirement benefits. If you ask a server if the tip is included they will answer “no” because here that extra money is a genuine bonus rather than a vital part of their salary as it is in many US restaurants. Like most people it seems, we round any restaurant bills up by a few euros and hand the money directly to the server who helped us.

In hotels we generally take care of our own bags but if we do get assistance then we have 1€ or 2€ per bag handy. The same goes for a taxi driver especially if she or he takes the bags out of the trunk. 

On every website that I looked at regarding this subject, the advice was always the same: in France tipping is not required and often not even expected. Hospitality workers earn a decent minimum wage with benefits but will of course appreciate a gratuity if you have enjoyed their service.

One final tip on tipping: we had read and now have observed that, in general, the French find obvious displays of wealth as crass and in poor taste. Perhaps giant chateaux and opulent palaces were once en vogue but now they are merely tourist sites to visit. And a special warning if your name happens to be Richard—that’s the term (un gros richard) we hear used to insult an obnoxious, flashy showoff who might give a server 50€ for a 10€ bill while saying, “I am very rich!” A reasonable amount to show your appreciation will likely be much more warmly received.