Ticket Restauration

I have become integrated into another specialism of France, and so I am learning again. The "Ticket Restaurant" has arrived and it is "modernising" the way the French pay for meals.

What is a "ticket restaurant"? my English friends will ask.

Well it is the credit card version of the "cheque restaurant", and since you probably won't know what that is, let's take a moment to describe it. 

In fact it is new to me. To be sure I have seen the cheque restaurant signs and even seen one handed over, but I had never been in the system before. Here in France there are certain rules that foreigners may find odd. My French company, for instance, has to pay at least 50% of my travel costs. They also have to provide a canteen or pay a subsidy for my food. And here is the source, I think, of the "cheque restaurant" idea. The company provides a book of cheques to a certain value. The value is made up in part by the employee, and in a larger part by the company. Up until this year my company had simply made a donation to my bank account. That worked fine for me, but now the new, modern, "ticket restaurant" has been conceived and I have been co-opted in. Many emails soon arrived describing the advantages.

All to my advantage, they said. True the value on the card is more than they deducted from my salary, though it felt better when they added to it. The card is like a credit card but it is credited with a cash value that can be used. I have another pin number to remember. My card arrived in the post and I followed the instructions and registered on line. I also downloaded the "app" for my phone. 24 hours later it was activated and I could see I had a credit of zero. Early days.

To help me transition, most of my food allowance was to come by the familiar cheque route. Except that I had never had these so I needed to learn this system too; just as it is being phased out. Still I am the exception here, not the rule. A registered parcel duly arrived, and I was required to collect it from the collection point round the corner. To my relief it was not an official government document but a book of cheques. About the same time, my card was credited with a small sum.

I thought I would start with the card. "Not until April" I was told, so I switched to cheque. 

My normal eating place is selected for its proximity to a good and free WiFi signal. Nothing to do with the quality of the food, although that refined my choice. Evangeline is available in the evenings, and that relates to my lunchtime. If I can use a Wifi we can chat. A good signal means we can video chat. So I asked if this eatery would take the card thing when it started. She screwed her nose up and asked what it was, so I explained. However, it was already clear what the answer would be; yet they did take the cheques. I gave her one for the meal I had selected and she gave me change. I hadn't expected that, and it helped later with the coffee machine.

Now there are rules limiting the use of my food cheques and card. They limit me to buying food and not goods and they don't work on Sunday or bank holidays. Some supermarkets take them, but there is a limit to the amount you can deduct from the card, 2x the daily allocation per day. My supermarket knew what the card was, but does not take it. I began to notice establishments with posters advertising their acceptance of the "ticket restaurant" card.

In an effort to break my duck, I tried using it last Saturday. I chose a restaurant near home (but far from work) that I had been in before. There was a poster in the window, but by way of being safe I still asked if I could use my card on Saturday. "Certainly", was the answer, so I sat down and ate. When I came to pay it was a different matter. "Ah, I thought you meant a cheque!" So I referred him to the window poster. It appears the software necessary for the POS machine had not arrived. "2 or 3 months" he prophesied. My French bank paid.

So today is Friday. Evangeline is not free Fridays and I decided to try again in the grand mall. I had to collect something from there, and the mall has lots of restaurants on the 3rd floor. It is the WiFi location too, but on the 3rd floor there is almost no signal.

I walked past the Italian place. They refused me a table in the past, although many were free, because I was alone and the tables were for 4 or more. The food is ok, but I did not care for the attitude. I passed the "Bollywood Café" next door and looked more closely at the "Ranchero". Across the way there was a "Hippopotamus" and a place advertising couscous and tajines. Both looked too heavy a meal for lunchtime, and the "Fruit Paradise" next door did not sound like it did main courses. There was a "Subway" and a "McDonald's" too; so the "Ranchero" was looking good. They did a chili at a good price under their "menu rapid" selection clearly aimed at me. The waiter waived me in. "On your own?" he asked, obviously not concerned to turn me away if I said "yes". I affirmed it, but then asked if they accepted the food card. "No". A shame. I apologised but explained my desire to use it and passed on.

The "Campernelle" is a barbecue restaurant, a steak would be too much, so I looked at the crepery next door. I had eaten there before and there was an encouraging poster in the window. I asked if the "ticket restaurant" card was usable. "Sorry no speak English" she jested but I persevered, still in French, until she explained the POS machine was not ready for the card. Another waitress said they did accept cheques but she was put right by an explanation about the card version. More thick-skinned that I used to be, I said good-bye and headed back for a chili.

So far 2 credits, and therefore quite a bit of money, has gone onto the food card. But I have yet to find where I can use it. No wonder they are "phasing it in".

And : -

One footnote that is another puzzle to me. I ate at the Ranchero for 90 cents more than the cheque restaurant value. They take the cheques so I used my last one with them. Remembering the change I got at the other place, I fished around for 90 cents. "No, that's ok", she said, and I reminded her I was short. But no, it was really ok, and she appeared really happy about it. She took the cheque and the 90 cents was forgotten. 

Perhaps that's why they are so popular in France? 

Terence Westoby