the l'eau-down on French eating and drinking...

One summer I worked in a French-speaking office in Brussels, with mostly French co-workers. The office kitchen (we might call it a break-room, though, no one ever seemed to take a break in there or anywhere else in the office) was stocked with lots of individual-sized water bottles for the employees and of course any clients that dropped by. The cupboards were filled with glasses (and mugs and wine glasses). In the mid morning I would happily meander into the kitchen, snag a water bottle and bring it to my desk, open it, and drink. This would elicit subtle double takes or slightly widened eyes from my polite and mostly reserved office mates. I would have to run down the list of "what I might be doing wrong." Did I have some foreign object on my head or stuck in my teeth? no. Was I using an American verbal idiom that defied translation or somehow offended? not this time. Was I engaging in some taken-for-granted behavior that defied French logic but seemed perfectly normal to me? Bingo.
It actually took a couple weeks, but eventually I realized that everyone else grabbed a glass along with their bottle of water and poured one into the other before taking a sip. They replaced the cap after every refill as well.
It all seemed a bit bothersome to me, but I got the hang of it. I think I actually ended up drinking less water as a result of it, but aside from some mild dehydration, I learned a valuable cultural tidbit and my colleagues saw me as a bit more civilized ever since.


Here is a neat (and specific) article on French dining etiquette. http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/11487