What are some of the negotiation approaches least likely to achieve mutually satisfactory resolution of a deal obstacle in Germany?

Even in Western Europe, the cultures are very different in my opinion. The French are so totally different than Germans. We had a client from France who was buying a German company. They should have signed the deal at the end of July, but when it was delayed to the beginning of August, the big French law firm said they couldn’t negotiate in August, because they were all on holiday. If I said that in Germany or the US, they would think it was a joke. The law firm called me on September 1st and said they were ok to continue, but there was no signing because we lost momentum from the deal. I would never have left the table for holidays in that situation, I would have skipped my holidays for the deal.