Market Trader Tasters in France

How to deal with free tasters and pushy stall owners

Eat them, or refuse them, it’s up to you. Try more, ask to try other things, and then buy or don’t; it’s up to you. The British idea of politeness is very different from the French, who often do not have words for ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ in their local dialects, and can find British people thanking them constantly quite irritating. But they don’t seem to mind if that same view of politeness obliges Brits to buy their wares. Of course, traders know that foreigners are more likely to buy than the French if they’ve had a taster, so they sell hard. What is very difficult is to remember that one’s feelings of guilt are totally a construct of one’s brain, rather than a reasonable response to the situation! Enjoy tasting, and then selecting what you actually want, according to deliciousness and price.