I live in Paris and here are the WORST faux pas Americans can make in France

An American woman living in Paris has offered up some savvy advice for any fellow US residents planning to head to France on a trip – revealing the worst etiquette errors that people from her home country tend to make when visiting the European country. 

Singer songwriter Nina Cretan – better known on social media by her stage name Soldana – has revealed in a TikTok three major ‘faux pas’ travelers should never commit when visiting France.

The 27-year-old, who relocated from New York to Paris in 2020, says firstly, it’s very important to ‘always say bonjour when walking into a café, restaurant, shop… [or] anywhere.’

She explains that ‘if you try going up to a worker without starting a conversation with bonjour, they will turn to you and be like “bonjour!” They are insinuating that you probably should have started with “bonjour” before you asked them for help.’

Singer songwriter Nina Cretan – better known on social media by her stage name Soldana – has revealed in a TikTok three major ‘faux pas’ travelers should never commit when visiting France

Firstly, she says it’s important to say ‘bonjour’ when visiting stores. Her second piece of advice focuses on restaurant etiquette and she says that doggy bags aren’t commonplace in France

Her second piece of advice focuses on restaurant etiquette and she says that doggy bags aren’t commonplace in France. 

The artist does highlight that this ‘may have changed slightly because of Covid and everyone doing food takeaway but it’s not really a French custom to ask for your food to go.’

Instead of going overboard on food orders, Nina recommends only ordering an amount you will ‘eat at that moment in the restaurant.’

She continues: ‘Like I said, this might have changed following Covid but a lot of restaurants used to not even have the supplies to pack things up and give them to you.’

Sticking with the food theme, Nina’s third piece of advice is to ‘eat less with your hands and more with a fork and knife.’ 

French people, she says, are ‘really not hand eaters’ and ‘they even eat pizzas and hamburgers with a fork and knife.’

By using cutlery instead of your hands, Nina says your will be considered ‘polite and fit in a little bit more with French culture.’

Nina regularly posts clips detailing what life is like in France. 

French people, she says, are ‘really not hand eaters’ and ‘they even eat pizzas and hamburgers with a fork and knife’

Nina regularly posts clips detailing what life is like in France

In a recent TikTok she revealed how French people stop recruiters from stalking them on social media by using ‘code names.’

In the video, shared with her 51,000 followers, Nina detailed how French people tend to put short strings of consonants in their social handles rather than typing out their full names, especially when it comes to surnames.

By way of example, she mentioned that her boyfriend, whose last name is Baudouin, represents his surname as simply BDN.

In another TikTok, Nina reveals how her lifestyle had drastically improved after she left behind an $80,000 job and moved to Paris.

The performer listed a whole host of benefits that came with the relocation, including a lower cost of living, increased paid vacation time and more opportunity to make friends.

And social media users were quick to praise her for taking the leap.