Why You Have to Drink Wine in France

There is many a great difference between French and American cultures. One of those differences is water, in both its liquid and frozen states.

I wrote about Pierre Sang Boyer last week, the restaurant that launched a 3 year tradition of weekly dinners, and it reminded me of something that is a typical difference between France and the States.

During that first visit way back when, my friends and I were incredibly impressed by the mere fact of ice being provided in the carafe of water. 

Excitement, disbelief, awe. It was something I had not seen prior and perhaps have never seen since.

Ice doesn’t exist here. Only fish mongers, artisan cocktail makers, and Starbucks have free flowing ice. Otherwise, there appears to be a nationwide shortage. If you wish to see the rarity that is ice, you may get one or two cubes when you order a coke at a cafe. But seriously, one or two cubes.

Please sir…Can I have some more?

No is the answer.

By comparison, you come to realize how freakish Americans are about ice. We are overflowing with ice. Can you imagine getting tap water at a restaurant, and it comes to you room temperature? You’d flip the table over, call the Better Business Bureau. Boycott that restaurant for life. It would be an insult to your very character to think you’d accept such a lowly thing as room temp water.

That’s the norm here in Paris, though. All room temperature, all the time. Served in a shot glass. I kid you not, the water glass sizes can be comical. I’m the kind of person who drinks 9 liters of water a day, and I go into a panic if I don’t have water readily available for long stretches of time, like an afternoon spent wandering the city.

So of course I just love getting that thimble of water to go with a 5 hour meal. I sound bitter, but it’s actually one of my favorite things, because it really is ludicrous sometimes.

On the flip side, in many establishments in the U.S., a server will hover at your elbow waiting to refill your water glass the millisecond you take a sip from it. I’m not saying this is better – In fact, I go crazy now over U.S. restaurant servers because it feels invasive to me to have someone constantly checking in every second. But I digress.

My point is that the chances of you not getting or seeing water for a long while in your Paris eatings-about, even at dinner, is relatively high. Your table of 8 will get one small carafe to split, just enough for that one shot glass each. You must ration your water drinking like you’re on the Oregon Trail. I only take a sip of water when absolutely necessary, like if I’m choking.

How and why do the French do this, you ask? The French drink wine. Why would they need water?

My theory is that this dates back to a time when water was unsanitary, so wine was the main drink at hand, and people just got used to that. Plus you’re not allowed to use an establishment’s restrooms unless you buy something, so walking around the city all day means you don’t want to be over-hydrated.

In the end, the ice thing is just a matter of preference. Now that I’m used to room temperature water, I don’t really want or need ice. But it’s something to be aware of when visiting. And it’s not always a given that you’ll get a giant glass of water with whatever you’ve ordered, so adjust your expectations.

The French cultural lesson we all can learn here is: Wine is a must.