I want to thank everyone for their responses. My husband sat down and read all of them and he is now willing to look at going to France! You have all made a major impact on my future! Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out

I'm very happy to hear that, rolfene. I hope you have a wonderful trip, and that you'll share your experiences when you return.

I'm sure that even a troll like that has a useful psychiatric value for all of the people who posted with sincerity.

Kerouac dude, clearly you need to leave the psychiatric assessment to those with appropriate medical training. It was with total sincerity and honesty that I posted my question. My husband grew up in a small town where there are very rigid values....looks like you don't have the ability to realize that other people may not be as "worldly" as you and have much more limited experiences. The remarks posted here were pleasantly surprising for him and helped him realize that maybe the viewpoints he was raised with may not be totally accurate.

So despite what your cynical reasoning may tell you, the remarks posted here truly made a difference in my life as we will be heading to France next spring

Okay, the troll has now out and preening. The two different styles of writing absolutely confirm my original evaluation. Sweet little "Mrs. Naive-and-submissive" is now calling people "dude" and talking about psychiatric assessment -- which is the term that "she" would have used regarding her "husband" in the original post if that had been the least bit authentic.

Dude, if you are going to troll, at least maintain your gender assessment until the subject finally dies.

This will be my last response. Uh, I am a female medical student and most of us in med school are in the habit of calling each other dude after long nights on call(again I ask that you leave the assessments to professionals)....I'm very comfortable with psychiatric diagnoses and definitions and clearly you need to see someone to help you with that trust problem.

Again, I want to thank everyone for your contributions!

Well looks like I'm late to this party, but no I have never experienced hatred or rudeness from the French as an American tourist.

rolfene:

I SO understand your husband's disbelief that Paris/France would be enjoyable, and I hope your experience will reward both of you.

My father's sister and her entire progeny have never left the borders of the US (Canada would be too exotic of a destination, and you just know Mexico would scare them to death), and they are firmly convinced that we are "wrong" about liking the French. Yes, I'm sure they were "Freedom Fries" idiots.

Now that I think of it, my own father, who did see South America and part of France and England, for years thought we had to be "wrong" by visiting Paris over and over and over again until we finally dragged him to Paris with us.

And then he became a ridiculously over-the-top Francophile.

Nevertheless, I'm going to differ a bit from some of the above posts:

Someone MIGHT be rude to you. It will have nothing to do with your nationality. It might have something to do with your command of language--but even then, it just won't be that big of a deal. Everything else will be SO wonderful!

Happy planning.
AZ

When I was 18, I disliked my visits to France because I did not find the people friendly. I returned in my 40s and found the French the friendliest ever! They loved to help a big totally lost American family of 5. If we so much as opened a map, help was offered. If we asked for street directions, we were escorted! We asked the apartment lady for a restaurant and she walked us there. An old man chased us down with a handful of Euros, thinking they fell from my husband's pocket (I wish they had! But Lord knows we didn't have nearly that many Euros!). While waiting for pizzas to take on a boat, the proprietor served us wine then corked it to go. My personal favorite was staring blankly at the wine supply having no clue what to buy. A young guy (just another customer) made a recommendation of a wine popular with Americans (said Trader Joe's carries it!). It was cheap and fabulous. No wait. My favorite was the old man in Le Marais who designed an historical renovation and was so proud he summoned us into the courtyard to see it.

My husband would differ slightly but he doesn't smile and make eye contact before asking for something. Proper greetings are key. I don't speak a word of French and they loved me. But I am a big smiler.

Ah yes, smiling. I have read here that the French think people who smile too much are weird. Well, I can't help myself, I smile a lot. And I have not noticed it to be a problem in France.

As of this moment, I still don’t know if this thread was a troll, or not.


Rolfene, I still find it curious that you did not find one moment to reply even ONCE to any other threads that you OP’d from 2006, including this one, until long into the thread.


We all replied, I think, with sincerity. After several days, you finally, after a 6 year silence, chose to reply to one of your own OP’s. Does this mean that you are a troll with second thoughts, or, that you are innocent of the fact that it is simply courteous to at least respond minimally to those people who have taken their personal time to reply to your questions? Given that you have now told us that you are a medical student, it strains credulity that you are unaware of common courtesy.


You have obviously been jolted by Kerouac’s words to actually respond to one of your own OP’s… the first time in the last 6 years. I doubt that Kerouac needs psychiatric treatment (as you suggest). From my readings of the key Paris forums--- Fodor’s , TripAdvisor, AnyPortinaStorm, ThornTree-LonelyPlanet, OurParisVariations---he is a valued, intelligent, and honest contributor to all forums. I respect his thoughts and extreme creativity. Sometimes I disagree. Certainly, his writings,( about 60,000 posts?) give far more of a base to think about, contribute to a trip to Paris, and mull over, than your limited posts of the last 6 years. ALL of your own OP’s were UNANSWERED by you until very late yesterday…roughly 115 posts and several days into this thread. Perhaps you are shy.

I read that too, so many times, but found my smiling helped me.
I speak a little French, They were always patient with me
and always had fun with the French who really have a great sense of humour once you know them.

I am going to disagree with a lot of people here. I have met many rude French people. If I had to guess, I'd say that exactly the same percentage of rude Chinese, Americans, and Namibians and everyother nationality O've come across. Probably because the French I meet are human just like the rest of us.

AND it is not because you're American, or because you say bonjour, or do not say bonjour. It is because the person is a rude person. Or because they are having a bad day, or because they didn't realize they were being rude.... human nature is a fairly universal thing.

I certainly agree that there are rude people everwhere, but I believe the percentages are small. Our first trip to Paris, we were lost in the depths of the Metro and someone stopped to help. Another time exiting the Metro a women stopped to ask if we needed help and pointed us in the right direction. When we were hopelessly lost in the hinterlands looking for our Abbey Hotel, a trash collector attempted to help, but could not speak english. Walked us over to a home, rang the door bell and we had our directions. Sitting at a breakfast table with eight French people, they included us in the morning conversation. And at another B&B, when we left after three nights we were like family and I received a big hug. My wife and I love the French as we love all the the people in all the other countries we have visited. For us, it's all in how one reacts to others. If someone is all business, so be it. We just don't take offense. Besides the waiter mentioned above, I can only remember one other instance where I was upset and it was in a shop in Budapest. If someone snaps at you and says, 'don't touch the fruit', big deal. We have only spent 251 days on the ground in Europe, always had a great time and never came home with any complaints about the people. Actually, have never had any complaints about anything. Well perhaps my wife with that bed in York, UK. Oh, and that dinner I had outside of Auxerre. I didn't understand the menu and it was the organs of the animal. Wife had a lovely meal.

Who gives a flying if the OP was a troll or not. The other answers I assume were honest.

If someone is an obvious troublemaker, have fun with it. If you have a direct answer, what difference does it make who posed the question.

People seem to derive great satisfaction from thinking they are unmasking some anonymous scoundrel. They think they are highly sophistaicated and will score points when they enter cyber heaven.

And another confirmation that Kerouac is a trusted and earnest contributor here and offered one of the funnier home made videos on these boards.

Jill--My husband said the same thing. He first toured France in the late sixties, so when he took me to Paris in 1998, he was astounded at the difference in rudeness quotient. By the second day of "new 'tude", he was converted to total "I'm coming back here as much as I can" mindset.

We love to irritate the small-minded back home by telling them that the only people who consistently brought up the war in Iraq to us in our many travels throughout Europe were the Irish. And OMG, don't misunderstand--we love the Irish and have been there three times.

Of course, my father's side of the family with mini-minds automatically distrusts the Irish and all Catholics, too, so I can't irk them with it! Darn!!!!

I think the answer also depends if you are talking about Paris or other major cities, or out in small towns in the countryside. Like anywhere else in the world, typically big city dwellers may seem more stand-offish (think NYC).

Kerouac and rolfene decide to put an end to the madness:

http://tinyurl.com/bnucqpf

You're aging well, Jack.

learn some of the language, please, thank you, etc. just the basics.. paris was one of the most walkable cities.. very friendly.. super food, the countryside just as nice... act like a guest.. not a demanding american.. dress appropriately.. no shorts for me.. no jeans... no tennis shoes... but that is just me... paris was my first trip to europe.. will never forget it...