Cheaper to eat out in France after VAT cut from 1st July

I just picked up news that on the 1st July the French government dropped the VAT rate on restaurants and cafe's from 19.6% to 5.5% which should result in a nearly 12% cut in the final bill, with a main dish at €15 dropping to €13.20.

French restaurants have been badly hit by the European recession so this reduction comes at an opportune moment. Apparently the French government has been lobbying for this reduction for a number of years but has been delayed by German opposition. Further details on Times Online.

We're off to France ourselves tomorrow (Saturday) for a 3 week holiday in our Gite which'll be a great break that we're all really looking forward to. I've promised to not spend the entire holiday plasterboarding or doing DIY; some spending time with the kids has been booked!

Talk soon