Faux pas
 

Well, did I feel stupid. I didn't read my Rick Steve's close enough. Went to a "Hotel de Ville" in a small village thinking it was a hotel. When I inquired about a room, the staff had a great laugh. They told me they were a "hotel" but didn't have any rooms, and laughed away. (I could tell once I was in the lobby, it looked like a government building)

I've tried for years to book a room at the popular Hotel de Villes in France. They have the best dang location in almost every town. :-D

gb, I hope you handled it with quiet dignity and some good-natured flair. No hurling fanny packs at the amused clerks and angry american-style finger pointing!

Write and let Rick know what happened. That's got to be worth a free guide book!

Do I smell a troll?

Maybe if you had told them that you were a visiting dignitary they would have found a room for you.

Pup tells me Cruella lives there :)

betsy,

I had the same reaction. Who couldn't tell the difference between a hotel and a city hall once inside the building. And though I haven't read of Rick Steves' book, would the city hall be in the same area as a hotel? And why would you go to a "hotel" that you haven't read about....troll!!! or certainly not a nominee to the menza society!

"not a nominee to the menza society!

I wouldn't be too quick to put gb down. For one thing, gb has posted more than 100 times, so I doubt gb is a troll.

Secondly, it's called Mensa, not menza, so we all make mistakes...even you.
((H))

I'm not a troll, and obviously not a member of the mensa society.(but I do have a graduate degree). This particular Hotel de Ville was just several blocks from the beach and in an area of hotels. We had to unexpectedly stop half way to our destination and decided to enjoy the beach (explain why there was no research). This was for real. From the outside, the building did not look like a city hall, but rather an older but well-kept Holiday Inn and on the the main door had large lettering that said Hotel de Ville, and looked very much like in could be a hotel. The"lobby" was nicely, yet simply decorated and took did take me more than a few seconds to realize it was a place of business, not a place to sleep.

it should on the main door there was large lettering.

Oops, sounding more like an idiot- it should read on the main door there was large lettering that read "Hotel de Ville".

gb, what were you wearing when you went inside? It makes all the difference in the world to those snotty hotel/city clerks!

gb, I never doubted you for real. I would guess that if every person who posts on this board listed their top five faux pas in Europe, it would make us all look like idiots.

And if we can all laugh at ourselves regarding the faux pas, it usually adds a great (and fun) trip memory. Thanks for sharing yours.
((H))

SHORTS! (Well, it was the beach) Actually, they weren't snotty. They were dressed like bellhops, er, security guards, and just laughed among themselves thinking we were quite silly or stupid.

gb, I am sure most of us have made mistakes our first time in a country.
I know you are not a troll.
We're surrounded by too many smug people.
I think it's a very funny story, gave me a laugh, remembering my mistakes.

To make it worse, it wasn't my first time in France! (But, it was the first time I was on the trip that wasn't planned by someone else.)

Please accept my apology, gb! #o

Just to let you know you're in good company, gb, I'll tell you our recent faux pas.

Arriving Venice, Italy, after much research and seeing many photos of vaporettos and their landings, we made slight idiots of ourselves. Thank goodness no one was really around to pay much notice.

We got on the platform for the vaporetto (water bus) and got ourselves some really good front view spots, then waited for the "boat" to start moving. That is...until we finally saw the actual vaporetto show up.

Faux pas are just part of the traveling adventure and experience, in my opinion. We all do our research, but we aren't perfect. Well, maybe with the exception of ThinGorgus.

Oh my gosh...another faux pas! Excuse my spelling. ThinGorjus.

gb, after reading through this, I must share this long-repressed memory with you so you won't feel so bad about your faux pas. (After you read it, you'll know why it's buried.)

Setting: Ireland. Me, at fourteen years old, with my three younger siblings, and my parents. All of us piled into a rental car, out on a sightseeing mission. Driving aimlessly, as my mother was a navigator with a "you're not lost; you're on an adventure" mentality. Down a long country road, surrounded by emerald green hills and vistas, we come across a magnificent castle. In very good repair; definitely worth a look. "Stop the car, Ted!" says my mother, "we're going here." Out she goes, full steam, frumpled to boot from a jam-packed day...into what turns out NOT to be an ancient ruin, but a very elegant five star resort. I cannot forget the teenage mortification and embarassment that accompanied the realization that we were in alien territory.

Now that I have my own teenagers I think it's pretty funny! Like my mother, I too have been prone to mistaken identities.

gb, here's a true story that will make you feel better.

Many years ago in a far away land, I had way too much to drink and had to stay in a local home due to the military curfew.

I woke up with a blinding headache, it was snowing cats and dogs outside and some sleeky boy had stole my size eleven boots from the porch (the custom was to take them off at the door). I tried to put on some boots from the locals but all of them were way too small. The whole housing compound got a good laugh at me trying to make them fit.

I stumbled out to the street and demanded that a taxi driver take me to back the base. He laughed and refused. I got mad and insisted so we eventually hopped in drove away. The driver stopped at the end of the block and pointed to the base about ten yards away. Duh!

Still, I walked with head held high through the gate, the guards saluted smartly and I was feeling pretty relieved until overhearing one of them hiss to the other: "Another dumb second Lt - must have been some newbie party in the village."

When I got to the bus stop, two other young officers were hopping up and down on the icy pavement without benefit of any boots.

We were meandering around the Camargue and thought we were stuck in traffic.
The next thing we knew, we were on a ferry. We laughted at our faux pas but didn't mind as we had no destination that day.

>>Secondly, it's called Mensa, not menza, so we all make mistakes...even you.<<

Typos are a terrible thing...and I'm glad to hear GB is not a troll... but maybe I'm just obsessed with research before going somewhere that it was hard for me to believe such a thing would happen. Sorry, GB...

Sometimes even the best-laid plans lead you to a village where a hotel is not a hotel.

We covertly merged with a large spanish tour group going in to St. Paul's in London to beat the long line. We tried to drift away once inside, but a perky little assistant tour guide kept urging us to hurry and catch up to the group. When we stopped for a short lecture, the tour guide pointed to me and asked a question. I don't speak spanish and had no idea what she was talking about. All I could do was shrugg my shoulders and turn beet red.

*LOL*

You know what they say: the Hotel de Ville you know is better than the Hotel de Ville you don't.

LOL -I feel much better. (By the way, this was an unplanned stop. We were in Cinque Terre, and needed to drive to Dordogne. But didn't want to make the decision about staying longer in Cinque Terre until we got there. Depended on the weather, whether or not we saw all,etc. Our family decided to make an unplanned stop at Palavas les Flots where we heard there was a good beach and cheap lodging. I had a back up plan of a Star hotel in the area, but when we got there, we found it was way too far from the beach, so we went exploring, and found that we wanted to stay right near the beach. Hence, the first "Hotel" we saw in the center of the little town near the beach was the "de Ville". )So, in part, things were sort of planned, but we wanted to change them. Also, to please the hubby who doesn't like to get involved in the hotel planning until he is there, I always try to leave a day or two to "chance". He is happier, and we have a "memory". Someday, I'll tell you about our unplanned adventure to Juarez!

gb,

dont worry about, life is full of Faux Pas. Just think of how many times you have made people laugh, and thus how many good deeds you have made during this period!
I salut You, :)
Take Care

Thanks, you don't know how much I needed that (aside from the board)

I don't think gb is a troll but still wonder how small was the village she/he went. Hotel de ville is a city hall and normally for a village it should rather be called "la mairie". Maybe it used be an important "ville" in older time and that's why they still call it the same?

Correct me if I'm wrong (like I had to ask for that around here!) but I believe a hotel de ville refers to old city mansions where the wealthy folks once lived. Many are now converted into use as offices or, as in this case, the "mairie".

Hi babette,

I think that you are partly right. An hotel is a city mansion. The Hotel de Ville, however, is the place where the Mayor resides.

This 'faux pas' happened in a country where English is the primary language: yes, England! We were on the 2-hour city tour provided by our package, and my husband saw a small sign over the driver's seat that read "NIL STANDING". After having a friendly conversation with the driver, it dawned on my husband that the sign was not reflecting the driver's name, it was instructing passengers not to stand. We still laugh about that one...

A bit of clarification for those who may be wondering, "un hôtel" means :
1.a mansion
2.a public office building
3.a hotel
(From my old dictionary)

1.may be the original meaning of "hôtel" but at least today when you hear HOTEL-DE-VILLE, it is usually referred to city hall as IRA already said.

My question still stands : gb, did you really find "hôtel de ville" in a small village?

And a Hotel particulier isa private home.

"hotel" from the OF (Old French) "hostel"

"hostel" from the ML (Middle Latin) "hospitale"

"hospital" fr. L (Latin) "hospitare = to receive as a guest". Derived from "hospes = guest"

So, there! gb, you are absolutely right in your assumption that a place sporting "hotel" as a name is a place meant for "guests"!

Have a nice day!

The place was Palavas les Flots (south of Montpelier. I couldn't tell you how many people live there year round. I might say it was larger than a "village",but certainly not a city. You could probably walk end to end in a half hour. Maybe a large town. And the lettering did read Hotel de Ville. And it honestly, did look a bit like an older styled Holiday Inn from the street front.You couldn't see the back. I thought maybe it was a real hotel/motel at one time in its life.

gb, I can't help but respond. We were in France for the first time this year, and in Paris I saw the "Hotel de Ville." My comment was, "Look at that place! That looks really nice... I wonder what they charge for a room."

Then we went to Provence and while touring the hilltop towns I noticed another "Hotel de Ville" and I said... "You know, I think I've seen a couple of "Hotel de Ville's" and we saw one in Paris. It must be a chain." While I shy away from chains, I thought this must be a very upscale chain, perhaps an exclusive bed and breakfast because the buildings are all smallish and so well preserved and impressive looking from the outside.

I saw another in our travels, but this time the "Hotel de Ville" had a sign on the door that said "tourist information." Maybe that was in Digne, I can't remember. Well, we walked in and picked up some brochures and that was that, and I realized that "Hotel de Ville's" must be tourist information centers, not hotels.

Then in Castellane when we bopped into town looking for lodging (we just showed up)we saw the "Hotel de Ville." It seemed to be right there in the square with the other hotel choices, only with a nicer looking facade....and we joked, "well, if we can't find a room we can always try the HOTEL de Ville!"

I think I once stayed at a hotel in Rome called Hotel de Ville near the Spanish Steps. Possible?

LOL! Thanks