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Five etiquette tips for taking an elevator in France

The Local France
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Five etiquette tips for taking an elevator in France
Photo by OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI / AFP

France has a definite lift culture and it pays to know your stuff. Learn the ups and downs here.

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Depending on where you come from and the lift protocols in that country, your first elevator experience in France could be one to to remember or indeed forget.

Here are some tips to make sure you don't press your French fellow passengers' buttons. 

1: Say bonjour

Bonjour is the most important word in the French language and it's strictly necessary to use this word when you step inside an elevator and there are other people in it (you don't need to say bonjour to the elevator itself).

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In fact, the only times you shouldn't say it is during the evening, when it's bonsoir

If you enter a lift without saying bonjour you've instantly broken the first etiquette law of France. And this goes for doctor surgeries too, and shops, restaurants, bakeries...

2. Say bonne journée on the way out

It might seem like overkill, but you say bonjour on the way in, and then bonne journée (have a good day) on the way out.

If it's afternoon you might also hear bonne après-midi or the slightly more formal passez une bonne après-midi (have a good afternoon), bonne fin de journée (enjoy the rest of the day) or in the evening bonne soirée (have a good evening).

If you work in an office block and you're obviously heading out to lunch, people might wish you bon appétit too.

If someone beats you to the bonne journée, you can respond merci, et vous aussi or également (you too).

And if you get in the lift with someone you've already been in the lift with that day, then remember it's re-bonjour to greet them.

3. Engage in small talk... sometimes

But just because you have exchanged greetings, that's not necessarily a signal to start small talk, especially if the person is a total stranger, in which case awkward silence is more likely.

Small talk in an elevator typically revolves around the weather, according to Camille Chevalier-Karfis, the founder of French Today.

She says typical phrases include: "Il fait beau en ce moment, n'est-ce pas"... "quel beau temps pour la saison" (lovely weather we're having/lovely weather for the time of year) or on the contrary "quel temps de chien, c'est insupportable" (what foul weather, it's unbearabale).

Of course, different rules apply if you're in a work lift or a residential one. 

"If you are running into an acquaintance, like a neighbour you'd ask about them and their family. "Bonjour Monsieur Dupont. Votre famille va bien ?" she says.

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"If they are total strangers, you say pretty much nothing. And an awkward silence maybe."

A survey by pollsters Ipsos, carried out for France's Elevator Federation, found that 60 percent of the French said they'd engaged in conversation with a stranger in a lift.

4. Don't treat it like your home

It might sound terribly obvious, but don't even think about eating on the go while you're in the lift, says France-based business etiquette expert Kara Ronin.

"You should never eat inside a lift, but carrying a takeaway coffee outside for a cigarette break is fine," she says. 

The same goes for eating on the go in general, the French aren't big fans of it, and might consider you to be rude if you do it. Meals are for enjoying, you should be sitting down. 

5. Be prepared for a bit of flirting.. or more

A full 12 percent of French people admitted to flirting with someone during an elevation, according to the same Ipsos survey.

And if you thought that those 12 percent were just creepy workplace flirts, then think again - 4 percent of respondents said they'd had sex inside a lift (and over 1,000 people were surveyed).

Report author Alice Tetaz said at the time that lift-lovemaking could be explained by the fact that an elevator is "an enclosed area, full of fantasies", and she even pointed to a scene from blockbuster sex romp Fifty Shades of Grey as a potential inspiration.

We need hardly point out that you should only attempt this if there are no other passengers in the lift.

Bonus advice: Take the stairs if in doubt

If you live in a city appartement block, especially in Paris, you might not have an elevator at all, and if you have it's likely to be pretty small, especially if you live in an old building.

If you come across one of those tiny apartment lifts, you should carefully consider whether it's worth squeezing in with others.

Lifts have a maximum weight they can operate with, so you want to think twice before entering the small ones, otherwise you run the risk of getting stuck in a tight situation with one of your neighbours when the lift breaks down. 

Taking the stairs is also better for your health. 

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iainnoble49 2023/02/22 20:17
The best thing to prepare yourself for a trip in a French lift is 'Ascenseur Pour L'Eschafaud' (Lift to the Scaffold) by Louis Malle. It has: great performances by Lino Ventura and Jeanne Moreau, moody footage of Montmartre and Paris and an ace soundtrack by Miles Davis.

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