Our close French friends, she signs off with: Grosses bises à tous les deux.
I don’t. And find the easiest is just: XXX
I sympathise re the tutoyer stuff - got there eventually but very much left it to them to set the pace.
This copied from Connexion may be timely:
By Théophile Larcher
Even if you speak and write French well, it can still be difficult to know how best to construct more formal communications, whether by email or letter.
We look at the different formulas employed in France, and the context in which they are normally used.
My mother has been able to get her hands on Le Guide du protocole et des usages, a 1972 guide on French traditions and customs, which was owned by my grandmother and which contains a dedication to her by the author, Jacques Gaudoin.
The book includes phrases to be used to open and close letters, adapted to different situations. Emails do not require quite such strict formalities, however, as they are generally more casual.
Reading the book in 2022 highlights the evolution of our increasingly technology-driven society, where emails have replaced letters and promoted forms that convey more straightforward and clear messages.
Unlike letters, emails combine both writing and speech constructions; for example, you might see someone write ‘ Comment ça va ? ’ which would never appear in a letter.
Email sign-offs use more relaxed phrases such as ‘Cordialement’ and the most familiar ‘Bien à vous’, in comparison to ‘ Veuillez agréer…’ , always used in letters to official bodies.
Emails also reflect constructions derived from English, a fact which summons up echoes of the Académie Française’s recurrent complaints about the intrusion of ‘global English’ or ‘Globish’ into French.
However, those wanting to write letters to official bodies or institutions can continue to use traditional closing phrases, which remain the norm in this context.
‘Cordialement,’
‘Cordialement’ is the French equivalent to ‘Regards’ with ‘Bien cordialement’ serving as ‘Best regards’.
‘Cordialement’ is the form most often used in emails. The word derives from ‘cordial’ (cordial). It is employed in a professional setting when you know the person, do not want to sound too familiar and remain…cordial.
I spoke with The Connexion’s office building concierge, who said he learned at school to only use ‘Cordialement’ when writing professional emails.
‘Cordialement’ was mentioned in Le Guide du protocole et des usages, but only as a ‘latino-anglo-saxonne’ (Latin and English-speaking) phrase, rather than a term in common use in France.
It therefore appears that it has become more popular since the emergence of email technology.
‘Amicalement,’
‘Amicalement’ derives from ‘ami’ (friend) and should be employed when referring to a friend or someone you know. ‘Affectueusement’ (with affection) can also be employed.
‘Bien affectueusement ’ and ‘ Bien amicalement ’ work the same.
‘Bien à vous,’
‘Bien à vous’ is another phrase which has become popular in work settings. Several French experts on language agree it is normally a more familiar form of ‘Cordialement’.
‘Bien à vous’ ranks among the most used forms in professional emails along with ‘Cordialement.’
‘Confraternellement,’
This form applies when writing to other professionals within your industry since it is a neologism derived from ‘confrère’ (colleague).
‘Confraternellement’ also suggests a sense of camaraderie and a show of support.
‘Musicalement’, ‘espadrillement’ and all sorts of others
Now onto the less common, bizarre and unconventional.
Some French people will employ any word and stick the suffix -ment on the end when closing an email. This is meant as a lighter and funnier way to end a message when not in a professional setting.
One Connexion journalist recently received an email signed off with ‘Espadrillement’ from the founder of an espadrille company.
I can only remember a ‘Musicalement’ – derived from ‘Musique’ (Music) – sent to me by the owner of a guitar that I intended to buy.
‘Veuillez agréer’ + insert formula
‘Veuillez agréer’ is the formula that ends most professional letters addressed to official institutions or people.
The phrase also used to be used for personal letters, but this has now fallen out of fashion.
Likewise, it would look strange in an email, both in personal and professional settings.
‘Veuillez agréer’ is always followed by something, as it only signals a polite order to accept what follows. It would technically transcribe in English as ‘Please accept.’
Formulas are often fussy and outdated. ‘Veuillez agreer’ is most often followed by ‘l’expression’ (the expression) or ‘l’assurance’ (assurance, guarantee) and then a phrase reflecting the writer’s most ‘sincere’ or ‘distinguished’ regard for the recipient.
Examples provided in Mr Gaudoin’s book - alternating between ‘assurance’ and ‘expression’ include:
- ‘Veuillez agréer l’assurancede ma parfaite considération’ (my perfect consideration)
‘de mes sentiments distingués’ (Yours sincerely or Yours faithfully)
‘de mes sentiments les plus cordiaux ’ (my most cordial regards)
‘de mes sentiments les meilleurs’ ( my best intentions)
- ‘ Veuillez agréer l’expression:
‘de ma très respectueuse sympathie ’ (my respectful sympathy)
‘de mes trè s sincères condoléances’ (my most sincere condolences)
‘de mes sentiments dévoués’ (my devoted regards)
My mother recently received letters from the interior ministry and they were signed by officials using ‘ Je vous prie d’agréer, Madame, l’expression de ma sincère considération ’ and ‘ Je vous prie d’agréer, Madame, l’expression de ma considération distinguée’ .
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Susannah, that’s very informative.
Thanks to you all for your advice. Nothing in French is easy for me.
I just want to hit the right note when I write to friends. They know my French is not top notch and I expect they’ll read whatever I write in a forgiving way.
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For friends it really doesn’t matter as long as the sentiment is clear, formal letters can be a bit complicated if you aren’t used to them.
Je vous prie mesdames, messieurs, d’agréer l’expression de mes sentiments distingués. I got an absolute belter from some consular person when I was renewing my Fr passport aeons ago.
Edited to add you can have a lot of fun with your formal formulae 
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Personally I would never use e-mail for a formal reply, but to friends…and others, I usually sign off with ‘te voir quand tu seras plus grand’.
No but sometimes you have to communicate by email with people with whom you are on formal terms - and that is where cordialement/ bien à vous etc come in handy. You aren’t going to say ciao vieille branche/ a+ to them 
That reminded me of a similar one I received in English from an Indian counterpart - well, I knew that the legal profession in India could be somewhat archaic in their formulations, but even I sat aghast when I read it. Unfortunately, it was in a typed letter, and I didn’t scan it, so don’t have it to hand, but it was at least nearly 3 lines long on the page.
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Was wondering why all my clients looked at me askance when I met them 
I’m intrigued to know why? It’s been my method of formal business communication for more than 20 years.
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In spoken French, I tutoyer literally everyone (see exceptions below) friends, neighbours, strangers etc anyone I am having a chat with over and above the common greetings to strangers and shopkeepers. So, much so I that I have to really concentrate hard when I need to use the vous form in conversation. To be fair, I make an effort when dealing with shop attendants and CEOs.
I came here just after finishing as a student, and working at a University I learnt a lot of my French informally from student friends in bars and pubs. Tutoyer has always been my default position. People might address me with a vous, and if I think I might have offended them in my reply, I just blame the absence of the formal form in English: They usually reply with a conversation about how cumbersome the vous form is… and off we go.
Most people don’t even bat an eyelid, and I have been corrected only twice, once directly when I tutoy’d the head of my research institute when I was a postdoc, and the second time, I was corrected rather obliquely when I tutoyed the family patriarch (rolls eyes).
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Actually in English we say vous to everyone only the formal form of address remains, the informal form is absent.
And just because we are polite don’t think we aren’t judging you, you can only genuinely get away with indiscriminate tutoiement if you’re under about 11.
Edited to add I’m afraid people saying the vous form is cumbersome are just being tactful.
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I find that rather rude really. It’s a struggle sometimes, especially when you are having a conversation with several people where you have to use both forms. And I do get it wrong, but it can be be useful. Would you really tutoie someone significantly older than you who you’d never met before, or a doctor or a police officer?
I particularly like using the vous form with someone I detest as a way of keeping my distance.
(Edit: And if you constantly tutoie when the other person resolutely sticks to vousvoie don’t you find that uncomfortable? )
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True, thee and thou are/were informal.
By ‘We’, you mean the whole French community at large. Of course they are judging me. My accent is so thick that I am playing the ‘fresh of the plane’ card.
I think the point I am trying to make here, is that I have rarely ever offended anyone, you might be the first and for that I apologise. I just don’t see it as critical as it is made out to be to people learning the language. Yes, it is important to understand the difference, and when to use them, absolutely, but critical, no.
On your other points, I am trying to think of my older acquaintances and no, from memory, no offence caused there even in the first meetings, but as I mentioned, the first interaction is often formal and luckily I have never had to deal the police anymore than a Bonjour.
On the last edit, I can’t think of one single occasion where that has happened, maybe by switching to the tu, they are showing their contempt for me, much like your post.
Haven’t you been here rather a long time to continue with that?
Personally I find it very cheering when people try not to offend others and make efforts to match local customs. After all we come to France presumably because we like the French culture. Deliberately not to bother seems a touch juvenile perhaps?
Yes. I mean French people - we do judge but we don’t judge foreigners harshly for making mistakes like that.
It is quite different when another French person does it though, if someone I don’t know tutoies me I wouldn’t consider it normal at all and would think either that they had no manners and were badly brought up, or drunk or on drugs, or that they were being deliberately rude. This is why, even though a foreigner may make mistakes and we make allowances, if they are here for any length of time they might like to think about fitting in. The 2nd person plural of the verb is really no harder to learn than the 2nd person singular.
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Hold on, what I am making is a counterpoint to the pernicious concept that foreign speakers must master vous / tu and that you are able to fit in just fine while using predominantly tu. No gendarme is going to deny you help, nor your Doctor, and the retired couple down the road will still talk to you. My experience has been quite the opposite it seems.
The point I think we agree on, is avoiding offense. If you read my comments, you’ll see that I do use the vous form, it is that I just quickly leave it behind, and yes, if they continue to use vous, I will either switch back and apologise, or I will request that move to tu, a request to which I have never had refused, but don’t jump to conclusions, I only do that when I judge the vous to be unnecessary (like neighbours chatting), and again, I have not managed to offend anyone.
As you’ve mentioned I have been here long enough to know, indeed. I’d request politely that we leave out adjectives such as ‘juvenile’ or make references to age groups,
Not everyone is gifted with the ability to learn languages easily, and yet we can still fit in and live happily here even if we don’t have complete mastery of the language…
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This description is rather different from your earlier post on this subject
And juvenile can refer to an attitude as well as an age,
It is still my default position. I need to mentally switch to ensure that I vousvoie, and sometimes that switch doesn’t happen and I use tu to complete strangers.
My reference to age groups was to Vero’s comment.
Edited to cause less offence…