French-style doggy bags – yum yum!

Lately, doggy bags have made French news. There’s a push to prevent food wastage, and to allow people to take the rest of their meals home with them. Restaurants in France are now legally obliged to provide doggy bags.

When I first moved to France, I confused a few waiters by asking for a doggy bag. Taking food out of the restaurant is simply not the done thing here in the French Alps, nor in most other parts of France. When I lived in the UK and Australia, a doggy bag was part of the restaurant experience. For example, I’d order a pizza, but only eat half of it so I’d have room for dessert. The next day, I’d get to enjoy the remainder of my pizza. It was a socially acceptable thing to do.

Here in France, when I asked for the remainder of my pizza to be boxed up in one of those takeaway boxes on the counter, the waiter thought I was crazy. He obliged, but my French dinner partner was beyond embarrassed. The idea in France seems to be to spend hours in a restaurant, eating, talking and drinking, until each course is finished and being digested to the point that the next course may begin. After that first encounter, I’ve opted to eat my pizza and skip dessert — my digestion apparently takes longer than most French people

French style doggy bagRegardless of the new law, I think the real French opinion is captured in the doggy bags already on sale in the supermarket. They’re certainly destined to take something away, but nothing edible. Yes, here in France, the ‘doggy bag’ is used to clean up your dog’s poo. Bon appetit!

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About

I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

6 Comments on “French-style doggy bags – yum yum!

  1. I’d read that it was only law if they sold more than 180 meals per day. Why that number? Our local eateries are happy to bag (or tinfoil) up leftovers and generally it’s for our dog. I’ve always got a small sandwich sized plastic bag for the usual bits that are not eaten by me. The best time – for the dog – was when the next table offered to add to his next meal with really good steaky bits.

  2. I would be delighted if the French adopted clearing up dog pooh – far more so than a doggy bag for left over food. I am always amazed by how much less litter there is in France (compared to UK), but how much more dog shit.

  3. I was amazed to watch a smartly dressed woman wait while her pooch weed and crapped inside our local garden centre. She just walked on…I am paranoid that mine might, only might, cock a leg against an outside pot. We always ‘whizz’ through quickly with him on a tight leash!

  4. Lesley, no idea about the 180-per-day rule, but chefs being chefs and France being France, there’s a good chance each restaurant will interpret it how ever they place! Loving your DIY version and doggy do stories (in a garden centre!?!?).

    Sally, there’s a local lady who makes sure no dog poo is left in her vicinity (http://www.lefrancophoney.com/dogs-in-france/). She will find any reason to yell at people and likes to put out traffic cones/witch’s hats to stop people parking in her large, empty car park when there’s a wedding or funeral at the nearby church. Her nickname is ‘Dragon Lady’ amongst the locals. Party poo-per.

  5. In my neighborhood in Japan these is a LOT of poop around as nearly every family has a dog and some people are lax about picking up after their dog, but there is no street cleaning so we have to wait for the twice a year neighbourhood clean, in which one person from every family must participate(none of this is expressly required, it’s just an unspoken expectation) for it to all get picked up.
    Taking food home from a restaurant (the actual topic of this post!)is not that common here perhaps because portion size is small and people don’t struggle to finish their meals.

  6. Lovely to hear from you! We need one of those neighbourhood cleaning days here (mainly for the poo factor). We’d also need that unspoken expectation to somehow materialise too. Actually, there’s a ski resort cleaning day at the end of the season. When the snow melts, there’s all sorts of things to find – cigarette butts, mobile phones, cameras, food wrappers, bits of ski equipment that was lost off-piste. It’s an eye opener.