Latest news with #LeParisien
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Snooty Paris restaurants are secretly up-charging US tourists by 50%, investigation reveals: ‘Disgrace to the profession'
An American ripoff in Paris. Parisian servers have always been notorious for their rudeness, but now it looks like they're ripping off customers as well. Paris restaurants are charging US tourists up to 50% more than local patrons, an undercover investigation has found. Following several online complaints about the so-called American tourist tax, the city's leading rag Le Parisien sent two reporters to a cafe on the heavily-touristed Champ-de-Mars near the Eiffel Tower to see if the servers were guilty of fry-way robbery, the Telegraph reported. Paris has become the City Of Light wallets for American diners. Ever – One of the journalists went dressed as a typical Parisian while the other, writer Mathieu Hennequin, masqueraded as a classic US traveler with a baseball cap and Eiffel Tower T-shirt while putting on a passable American accent, the Independent reported. To conduct the experiment, both men ordered a lasagna, Coke and water, wherein Hennequin noticed he was consistently charged quite a bit more. The bona fide Frenchman was offered a choice of a small can of Coke or a medium or large glass. He chose the can for €6.50 ($7.63). Meanwhile, Hennequin was not offered the smaller option and ended up forking over €9.50 ($11.15) for the medium size. While the French customer was offered a free carafe of water, the faux American was given no such choice and instead had to pay another €6 ($7) for a small bottle of Vittel. All told, Hennequin was charged €9.50 ($11.15) than his fois gras gobbling brethren. To ensure that the culinary tariff wasn't a coincidence, the epicurean narcs went incognito at another establishment to test out its tipping policy. When the bill arrived, the French customer noticed he was given an obligatory 10% service charge while the 'American' patron was asked if he wanted to leave a gratuity because 'service isn't included.' Franck Trouet (not pictured), of GHR, a hotel and restaurant group, called the fleecing 'a disgrace to the profession.' Andrii Iemelianenko – He attempted to leave a 10% tip to match his compatriot's service charge, but the waiter sneakily upped it to 15% while shielding the payment screen so he couldn't see. In both instances, the 'American' paid 50% more than this croissant-crunching companion. Franck Trouet of GHR hotel and restaurant group called the fleecing 'a disgrace to the profession.' 'You can't even call these people waiters,' he declared. 'You should know that in France, water and bread are free. One can refuse a bottle of water.' He added, 'The tip is to express thanks for the service if one is very satisfied. Above all, it is not compulsory. This is not the United States.' This was far from the first time Parisian restaurants had pulled the wool over tourists' eyes. In April, a similar probe by Le Parisien found that some City Of Light bistros were pouring cheap wine for foreign diners after they'd ordered top-shelf tipple. Although these Parisian scam artists don't hold a candle to the notorious seafood restaurant in Greece, DK Oyster, which has been known to charge diners $900 for some light bites and aperitifs.
Local France
4 hours ago
- Business
- Local France
Paris baker warns of 'fake' butter croissants on sale in French boulangeries
A morning trip to a bakery for a still-warm daily baguette – and a super-secret croissant to eat on the way home – is one of the joyous cliches of life in France. But one Paris baker has warned that some of the traditional buttery pastry treats sold at boulangeries the length and breadth of the country aren't quite what they seem. In most good boulangeries , croissants come in two types - croissaints or croissaints au beurre . The second type - butter croissants - are usually around 20 centimes more expensive (and significantly more delicious). Advertisement The difference lies in whether the pastry is laminated with layers of butter, or margarine - supposedly a croissant au beurre should use only pure butter. But boulanger-pâtissier Matthieu Bijou told Le Parisien that some bakers are turning to a butter alternative made mostly of vegetable oils and water and added yellow colourant – with just a fraction of the butter you'd expect to find in a product sold as a 'butter croissant'. The reason? Cost. The price of butter and flour has jumped in recent years. As a result, some bakers have turned to industrial alternatives to traditional raw materials. The industrial pseudo-butter is a fraction of the price – it costs around €7 per kilogramme, compared to as much as €12.60 for the unadulterated stuff, Bijou said. The product does have butter in it, but it has other stuff too - its basically a mixture of butter and margarine. If you've – even vaguely – wondered how bakers have been able to keep prices relatively stable over recent years, it's because they have turned to alternatives like this, which contain no more than 25 percent actual butter. The cheaper alternative is the same price as butter was five to 10 years ago, Bijou said. The problem, he said, is that it is almost impossible to spot the difference between real butter croissants and ones made with the industrial replacement, without either asking, or paying a premium – a minimum €1.30 per croissant – for ones made using premium ingredients. A croissant is not the only boulangerie product that has a normal and premium version - there's also the baguette versus the 'tradition'. A baguette de tradition can only contain four ingredients; flour, yeast, salt and water - as specified in the French government's bread decree of 1993. The tradition version is usually between 20 and 30 centimes more expensive than a standard baguette, which may contain preservatives or other ingredients in addition to the flour, yeast, salt and water. Is your daily bread a normal baguette or a 'tradition'?✎
Metro
4 hours ago
- Business
- Metro
How foreign tourists are charged 50% more in Paris than French customers
Americans holidaying in Paris are being charged an extra 50% more that French customers. Newspaper Le Parisien sent out one of their reporters dressed like a tourist from the USA as well as one of their local employees to a cafe near the Eiffel Tower. Both sat down and ordered the same dish – a lasagna, a Coke and water – but given drastically different prices when given the check. The obviously 'French' customer was charged €6.50 for their soft drink and given a carafe of water for free. But the 'American' was charged €9.50 for a large coke which was only half a litre. They were also made to spend €6 on bottled water with no offer of a carafe. The pair moved to a different establishment to test the tipping policy. The 'French' customer had a 10% service charge included, but the 'American' was told it 'isn't included'. When he agreed to add a 10% tip, the waiter discreetly raised it to 15%. Franck Trouet of the hotel and restaurant umbrella group GHR said: 'It's a disgrace to the profession. You can't even call these people waiters. 'You should know that in France, water and bread are free. One can refuse a bottle of water. The tip is to express thanks for the service if one is very satisfied. Above all, it is not compulsory. This is not the United States'. Parisian restaurants and bars were also found to be cheating tourists out of wine last month. A sommelier posing as a tourist ordered a glass of Chablis costing around €9, but instead was served the cheapest €5 sauvignon on the menu – and was still charged the higher amount. Wine merchant Marina Giuberti said: 'It's a pity for the customer and for the image of the wine appellation, for the winemaker and for the restaurant owners who do a good job.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: New £17 travel charge comes into force across popular Greek islands MORE: Lonely Planet founder reveals the Greek island tourists haven't destroyed yet MORE: Sunbed Wars 2025: Worst UK offenders revealed as mum-of-six sparks fury
The Independent
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Paris restaurants caught ripping off American tourists with inflated prices
Tourists visiting Paris restaurants are being charged as much as 50 per cent more than French customers, an investigation by Le Parisien has found. After several online complaints about the practice, the French newspaper conducted an experiment. It sent two journalists to the same restaurant at the same time: one in disguise as an American tourist, the other as a typical Parisien. The men both ordered a lasagne, a Coke and water. Writer Mathieu Hennequin, disguised as a tourist in a baseball cap and an Eiffel Tower t-shirt, was consistently overcharged. The French customer was offered a can of Coke, or a medium or large glass. He was charged €6.50 (£5.64). Meanwhile, Mr Hennequin was not offered the smaller option, instead paying €9.50 (£8.24) for the medium size The 'American' was also not offered a free carafe of water, unlike the French customer. He was charged a further €6 (£5.20) for a small bottle. In total, Mr Hennequin was charged €9.50 (£8.24) more than his Parisian counterpart. In another establishment Mr Hennequin was told that the service charge was not included in the final bill, which Le Parisien says is not true. The reporter said he was charged an 'almost obligatory" tip of €4 (£3.47), and that when he agreed to add a 10 per cent gratuity via the card machine, the waiter discreetly increased this to 15 per cent. In both cases, the paper found that the bill for the fake American tourist was 50 per cent more than the French customer. Franck Trouet, of GHR, a hotel and restaurant group, looked at these findings and said: 'It's a disgrace to the profession. You can't even call these people waiters. 'You should know that in France, water and bread are free. One can refuse a bottle of water. The tip is to express thanks for the service if one is very satisfied. Above all, it is not compulsory. This is not the United States.' In April, Le Parisien unearthed similar tactics during an investigation into the price of wine in the city's cafes. They found that some bistros in Paris were pouring cheap wine for tourists after they ordered more expensive, premium bottles. One of undercover sommeliers, wine merchant Marina Giuberti, found a €7.50 (£6.50) sancerre had been replaced by a cheaper sauvignon priced at €5.60 (£4.86), but she was charged the higher rate.
Sydney Morning Herald
7 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The great Paris tourist rip-off exposed by a fake American
Paris: Parisian waiters have long been famous for being grumpy – but now an investigation has found that some appear to be operating dishonestly, too. Hapless tourists in Paris are being charged as much as 50 per cent more than French customers, the city's leading newspaper found. After tourists complained online about being overcharged, Le Parisien sent out a bona fide Parisian to a cafe on the Champ-de-Mars near the Eiffel Tower. It also dressed up one of its reporters as a typical tourist, sporting a T-shirt emblazoned with the tower, trainers, dark glasses and a baseball cap, and speaking in a passable American accent – albeit with a French twang. They both sat down at the unnamed eatery and ordered the same dish – lasagne – and drinks, a Coke and water, and discreetly filmed themselves doing so. The clearly French customer was served a can of Coke for €6.50 ($11.56) and offered a carafe of water along with his dish. Meanwhile, the 'American' was not offered a small can, only a medium or large Coke. When it arrived, it was half a litre and cost €9.50 ($16.90). As for the water, the 'American' received no offer of a carafe, which is free, instead having to fork out a further €6 ($10.67) for a small bottle of Vittel. The pair then walked to another nearby cafe-restaurant to test its policy on tipping.
