Parisians

I love Parisians! I worried about negative reactions to being an obvious American who spoke very limited French. My worries were for naught. Throughout our ten days, Parisians, including waiters and shopgirls, were infallibly polite and helpful. I did try to be respectful and patient and was rewarded 110% for my efforts. One lovely young woman saw two of us standing in the Les Halles area consulting a map and stopped and walked us directly to the Metro station, warning us that we were in a very bad area for pickpockets; she seemed worried that we were lost and didn%26#39;t speak French - she was an ideal ambassador. Thank you so much to her and to all of you out there who generously tolerate and help travelers!

The only rudeness I saw during our trip came from two big groups of poorly-supervised teenagers. Both groups happened to be German, but similar behavior wouldn%26#39;t have been surprising in under-supervised American teenagers... two adults for 20+ teens just isn%26#39;t enough. I noted many, many groups of French schoolchildren, BTW, every one of which was well-supervised and respectful.

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Love it, Love it, Love it. I just talked to a friend of mine who was in Paris two years ago and hated it! Scared the *%26amp;%#@ out of me!! So that was a wonderfully reassuring report thank-you!!

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hi Moonwisper76,

I have always been respectful to the people of Paris and

they have responded in kind. Never a problem.

During my first several trips I found myself looking at a

map on the street and had Parisians, who spoke no english,

stop to help me out.

The waitstaff still enjoy my sign that says (in French)

%26quot;Excuse me please, I am about to murder your language%26quot;.

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YAY! another case of shattered stereotypes! People do not believe me when I tell them that every person I encountered in Paris was nothing less than kind, helpful and friendly. So I%26#39;m always happy to hear someone else thinks so too.

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You can%26#39;t imagine how good it is to read such appreciations.

I spent about 3 years in the US, I can%26#39;t count the number of times I had to explain that those stereotypes are as wrong as the one in France saying that the Americans are brutal, feeded with hamburgers and coke and without any ounce of culture.

I guess that every country has a stereotype for another, but it%26#39;s sometimes hard to hear.

Thank you.

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We%26#39;ve been to Paris about 10 times .. twice in the past six months. I can%26#39;t agree more about the kindness of the people. At CDG we accidently got into the wrong line to check-in and a Frenchcouple in front of us realized we were probably looking for Air France to the U.S. and kindly redirected us.

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Based on my many travel experiences abroad, I think that stereotyping any nationality, culture or race is just a lazy excuse for ignorance. Travel is what dispels these stereotypes. I have encountered more generosity from strangers in France than I have ever received here in the States under the same circumstances. Yes, I have experienced the occasional rude or aloof person in every country we have been in, including here at home. But by and large, I think that most people will take an interest in us if we show an interest in them.

I was prepared when we went to Prague last month for the cold indifferent attitude and poor service I was told to expect. What I found was a genuine curiosity about foreigners, particularly Americans, together with an eagerness to show off their country. The stereotypes just don%26#39;t fit unless that is what you want to see. IMHO

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a girlfriend of mine just came back from Paris for her honeymoon.As it was,she went there with the stereotype notions that Paris is,so she thought she would be even more gung-ho to resist it.Much to her disbelieve,this was not to be!She was feted with kindness,spontaneity and charm all around by Parisians.And now she%26#39;s suffering from %26#39;If it is Paris,then i must return%26#39; syndrome..she%26#39;s now driving everyone nuts!

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well said M. Navaro! it%26#39;s laziness and ignorance combined to create the worst possible image of something or someone when a person has no first hand experience.

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Thank you, Much2. I must agree - in all the trips (five or six) to Paris I%26#39;ve made, I can count the unpleasant experiences on one hand a have a finger and thumb left over.

I don%26#39;t speak excellent French - in fact, it%26#39;s probably a little sloppy, tinged with a bit of quebecois, but it hasn%26#39;t mattered to the kind people with whom I%26#39;ve dealt. I think hordes of under-supervised teenagers are much more irritating, but they can be found anywhere, not just Paris.

I think if we visit countries with the genuine curiosity which snavaro mentions, then our visits will be rewarded with kindness from people who are proud of where they live and are happy to share it. Neither complex nor complicated.

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I am going to Paris shortly and don%26#39;t speak french beyond merci and bonjour (in a bad american accent). I have spoken with some other people who have been there recently and had hard times in restaurants - wait staff that just left them in a huff or didn%26#39;t provide them service.

This seems to be the opposite of your postings, but I am wondering how many of the postees speak servicable french?