So the way to get along in Paris is: "You must be firm, non-smiling, and direct -- look them straight in the eye" <BR>Well this may help but it is also good to give them a good hard slap up long side the head to get their attention first!

<BR>Is it possible to ban the word <BR>"rude" <BR>on this site--especially its use whenever it precedes the word french? <BR> <BR> <BR>

1. Always start any encounter in France with a "Bonjour/Bonsoir, Monsieur/ Madame". <BR>2. Then proceed with "Excusez-moi, parlez vous Anglais?" <BR>3. To Stacey: I doubt there are many Europeans who like Canadians more than Americans. Most Europeans are intelligent enough to realise that there are nice and friendly, and also rude and loud people everywhere, and that it doesn't have anything to do with nationality. Personally, I laugh about the thousands of Canadians (or Americans with Canadian flags?) that I see here in Amsterdam. <BR>

Don't slack off on the "Parlez vous Anglais" part! I was pretty good on my last trip and followed the method of Bonjour messieur/madame, parlez vous anglais. Usually I got good responses in English. However, the one time I just had enough with the parlez vous thing was when I was asking a police officer a question by the Arc de Triomphe. There is absolutely no way to cross the street to get to the Arc de Triomphe, at least I couldn't see a way. So I went over to the officer and just started speaking in English, he looked puzzled and in French started showing/saying he didn't understand. At that point i started gesturing with flailing arms that I was trying to find out how to cross the street to get the the Arc de Triomphe. He started gesturing that I should just cross, just go (he was saying this while cars were whizzing by at 75 mph!) I couldn't believe what he was saying, so I started to turn around and walk away when he burst out laughing and said in perfect English that I need to go down a flight of stairs that I hadn't noticed, which goes underground and leads to the Arc de Triomphe. I was so embarrassed! It was actually pretty funny, and learned my lesson to always ask "Parlez vous anglais" before asking a question in English!