I myself hold the fork in the right hand and the knife in the left hand, which I understand is normal in Europe,
Point of information: nope, definitely not! The only Europeans I've ever seen eat like that were convention-defying left-handers, and in fact almost all the left-handers I know still eat with the knife in the right hand, as the right-handers do. However...
Here my understanding is that folks pick up the knife with their right hand to cut, and then rest it on the plate, and then pick up the fork with the right hand and so forth back and forth. This seems way to complicated to me, but the fact that I didn't 'naturally' notice what others do and immitate them shows some mild motor planning issues/attention issues. Frankly, while I'm eating I want to relax and not worry about a dirty knife sliding off the plate and one the table cloth.
Yes, that American way of eating looks weird here! Here's what British people do:
1) Usually, and always in formal settings: hold the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left. Use both to cut and use the fork to lift food to the mouth. Importantly, the fork always stays in the left hand and always has its tines curving downwards: irrationally, you're simply not allowed to turn it over to make it a more effective shovel.
2) Informally, with food not requiring cutting: use a fork only, hold it in the right hand, and use it with tines curving upwards.
If you're going to use method (2), you have to use it for the entire course; you can't start with (1) and then switch to (2).
We also have a French family who are family friends, and my husband warned us that table manners are a much more deeply held value for them than for us.
Yup, and beware also the things that are compulsory good manners in France which would be bad manners in Britain - e.g. the need to have hands below the table, when not in use, in Britain, but on the table in France, and the different positions to leave knife and fork in at the end of the meal. Argh!
