bellac

Just back from a london/paris trip and wanted to tell you of a bad experience I had on a Seine boat tour.
Let me first say we had a great trip and found some anti american sentiment but many very friendly people too.
One night we decided to take the classic boat trip down the Seine. It was a nice night so we sat up top in the open air. There are many bridges that we went under with no problem but at one point our boat was targeted and 3 eggs where thrown at the people on the boat. 2 missed but one hit me.
Thanks to my husband pulling me aside the only damage was to my parka and new handbag.
The people who ran the boat could not have cared less and did not even give me a towel or help in any way.
I could have been the UA (ugly american) but my husband kept me from doing it.
I got over it and enjoyed the rest of our stay. However, I have to say that if not for the quick thinking of my husband it would have been very possible that the egg could have hit me in the face. Maybe even the eye. So just be aware the French will not admit to it, but stuff like this happens. Enjoy Paris but if you do take the boats be aware of this and especially watch small children.

susanteach

In '92, a French waiter I met (cliche, alas true) and went out with while there, pointed and laughed at the river tour boats. I said something like, "What, don't Parisians ever become tourists too? Why laugh at us poor tourists?" He replied with a typical French "pfft...no, no, it just that is very, how you say, typical, that men piss off onto the boat from a bridge!"

Robespierre

Number One, it was not the boat tour that was the problem - it was the jerks with nothing better to do than waste food

Number Two, the above-mentioned jackasses could not possibly have known that their targets were Americans.

And Number Three, there are guttersnipes in every city on the planet.

<i>p.s.</i> I don't know what &quot;anti american sentiment&quot; is. I know that some low-paid drones like to act out their frustration with their station in life by giving non-native speakers a hard time, but what do I care? I am vacationing in another country 5,000 miles from home - something the vast majority of them will <u>never</u> experience.

<i>&quot;The best revenge is to live well.&quot;</i> - Proverb

Dave_in_Paris

&quot;The French will not admit to it, but stuff like this happens.&quot;

How do you know the nationality of the egg-thrower?

portafoy

I'm with Robespierre on this one. There are an awful lot of irresponsible idiots throwing rocks at cars from highway overpasses right here at home.

I did the Seine boat ride a couple of years ago - with HUGE misgivings because I was kind of embarassed about the overtly &quot;touristy&quot; nature of the enterprise. But I could never have seen the details on or under the bridges the way I did on the boat, and I had a wonderful time.

I guess I was just fortunate not to encounter egg-throwing or pissing idlers overhead.

In fairness, most of the boats seemed to be packed with passengers and not to have a numerous crew. Not sure they could have done much to assuage a stricken passenger. So I'm glad Bellac managed to regain her equilibrium and enjoy the rest of her trip. No point in letting an idiot with an egg have a disproportionate effect.

artsfan

I dunno, lots of native New Yorkers go on the Circle Line. No Parisians like to take the boats on the Seine?

FainaAgain

Glad this one incident didn't spoil your trip. This can happen anywhere! How many times have you seen people in ANY city looking up, trying to figure out what hit them? How many times had you said: it's good the cows don't fly

My neighbour loves flowers, keeps them outside, and sometimes unsuspecting pedestrians get a few drops on them.

It's a usual pass-time for USA teenagers to drop something from a highway overpass on the cars below, didn't you know that?

And I can make this a long list!

Sorry it happened to you, but I woudn't attribute this rude behaviour to anti-american sentiments.

AnthonyGA

I've never encountered any anti-American sentiments in France. I do find that visitors to the country generally find what they expect to find, and project their own personalities onto others. So people who expect anti-American sentiment and/or feel anti-French sentiment invariably report experiencing hostility in France, whereas those who have no such prejudices do not. Since the country is the same in both cases, the source of the problem must be with the visitor.

Mary_Fran

I take the original post as a reminder that adolescent jerks can be found in every country, and no city holds a monopoly on idiots acting out against strangers with what they think are hilarious pranks.

I loved our boat tour of the Seine in September 2000 and am so glad that we got that amazing view of Paris our first day in France. Our boat was covered by a glass top, with no opportunity to view the city from a deck not shielded by that glass cover. I see now that there was probably a reason for the cover.

So, in short, I would not hold the actions of some adolescent punks against their hometown.

amelia

Beautifully said, Anthony.

Re statement...
&quot;I've never encountered any anti-American sentiments in France&quot;...

I can't say &quot;never&quot; but it's been darn rare, and as to the

&quot;I do find that visitors to the country generally find what they expect to find&quot;

Absolutely true. Must admit am willing to make some other types of stereotypical assumptions: probably a teen,likely drunk, invariably stupid.

Same in any country.

GeoffHamer

I've known people on bridges in London to spit on boats passing underneath, and to throw things, including stones, but I'm sure this sort of behaviour can be found anywhere (it also happens sometimes from bridges over roads). If you have time, pointing a camera at the culprits usually scares them away.